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I. Time line for Dance History

A. Categories of reference to time

1. B.C. (before Christ) or before the common era

2. A.D. (anno Domini) Latin for the year of our Lord

3. A millennium is one thousand years or ten centuries. Each century is divided into ten decades of ten years.

4. Eras, Epochs and Periods

a. Eras are considered the highest level of time organization. Some begin from an arbitrary point and some from an important date or event. They span many years and are divided into epochs.

b. An epoch begins at a reference point from which time is measured; sometimes this is a specific calendar date and sometimes it is an arbitrary date. Historical, political, economic and cultural periods have been

named for events or people who captured the essence of that time:

1. The Napoleon Era (a ruler)

2. The Great Depression (economic period)

3. The French Revolution (Political Era)

4. Prohibition (a social era)

5. Big Band Era (the arts)

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B. People are the driving forces but are influenced by events that transpire through their lives.

1. Dance has been called a mirror of society and a response to historical events as well as political, economic and even religious movements. During

The reign of King Louis XIV of France, the dances in the theaters and on stage were very similar to social dance, while in the late 19th century, social and ballroom dances were very different from those performed in the theater.

2. Dance uses the elements of space, time and force but more specifically it focuses on steps, figures, the relationship of the dancers and the structure of the dance.

C. The history of dance in prehistoric times is based much on speculation

derived from artifacts and drawings. Scientist have constructed theories

about how humans lived, played, worshiped and interacted with their

environment.

1. Prehistory is the period before writing. This period covered

thousands of years and has been divided into three cultural

periods.

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a. The Stone Age

1. Paleolithic-Old Stone Age

2. Neolithic-New Stone Age

b. The Bronze Age

c. The Iron Age

2. Events that mark the end of prehistory occurred at different

times in different parts of the world.

a. Egypt-hieroglyphics-3500 B.C.

b. New Guinea-A.D. 1900

c. The three age system best applies to European studies.

d. Some Amazonian tribes in the 21st century remain in the Neolithic or New Stone Age.

3. During the Old Stone Age, small group of Nomadic hunters

and food gatherers roamed the land with the oldest man of the

group serving as the leader.

a. As the tribes grew in population, nomadic hunting was replaced by village communities settling and growing crops with herd animals.

b. The larger groups of communities then divided into new communities and the political structure became more complex.

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1. Discovering fire and the invention of tools, jewelry, crafts and decorations

contributed to the evolution of the structure of society.

4. During this Neolithic Period, or New Stone Age, a period of about ca. 12,000 to 3,000 B.C. rapid changes took place in human existence and dance was an important part of social interaction in non-literate societies.

a. Men, women and children danced in life celebrations and congregational ceremonies and rituals. The themes of dances were birth,puberty, courtship, marriage and death.

b. At this point in the development of society, the communities are referred to as tribes with a Chief, Village leaders and shaman.

1. The shaman was believed to possess magical powers and was a physician, religious leader and lead dancer. The evolution of this position evolved to the shaman becoming a priest. As a spiritual leader, the shaman kept the community

healthy, prosperous and safe. They also read weather signs, directed the planting, regulated fire and water control and diagnosed illness.

D. Prehistoric dance was very basic and used everyday movements and

was an important means of communication. Domestic and warrior skills were passed on to current and subsequent generations through community dances.

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1. Fertility dances. Fertility was the primary dance theme of early people and focused on the calendar and a reminder of when it was time to plant or harvest. The agricultural communities had dances with leaps for planting and they believed the higher the leaps the higher the crop would grow. Tribes all over the world had rain dances because the success of their crop was dependant on rain. Harvest dances celebrate crop gathering and these dances were to support a fruitful year.

2. Life Span Celebrations

a. Birth. In many tribes, the man was thought not to have a role in conception and it was a miracle. During the birth, the father went to bed and the mother and other

females would dance to expedite labor.

b. Initiation Rites. During puberty, between the ages of 12 to 14, the initiation dances for girls tested endurance and strength as well as the older women teaching the younger women domestic duties, songs and dances.Boys were tested for their strength and endurance to determine their later contributions to the tribe.

c. Courtship and Marriage Rituals.

1. Courtship dances in prehistoric times included women or a woman dancing around a man or vice versa.

2. The marriage dance was part of the agricultural rites. The bridegroom performed a dance in a circle of women.

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d. Death, Funeral and Burial dances.

1. Most funeral dances were performed in the house of the deceased in the presence of the corpse. The shaman danced accompanied by a drummer. In more

advanced societies, mourners followed a procession behind the corpse to the place of burial.

e. Weapon and War Dances. Usually these were danced by men only and included weaponry skills as training for battle. Sword dances have survived since early times as well as spear and stick dances. These dances served to unite the warriors as a team for battle and to work themselves into an emotional state for battle. War dances had three parts: before, during and after. The dance began with a beating of a drum. The women and children danced while the warriors were gone and when the warriors returned from battle, the purpose of the dance was to recount the events and embed in the warriors mind which tactics to use for the next time.

f. Primitive belief dances included medicine and healing dances, supernatural and healing, cosmic and celestial, fire worship, ancestor worship and animal dances. All of these dances paid homage to the particular element and served as a way to understand and gain control of their world. The mask dances of this time were to disguise themselves and trance dances included dancing to the state of exhaustion to allow their minds to enter an altered state of awareness.

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E. Dance design is the number of dancers and the formations of the dance structure. These dances were more planned than spontaneous dances.The positions of the legs and arms are immortalized in rock art. Dances were performed at specific times and most were performed outside at different locations.

1. Circle dances. The focus of this oldest formation was on participation rather than performance and mostly danced around a person or object.

2. Line dances. Line dances have been found in prehistoric societies and are still popular today.

3. Other dance formations. Formation dances were most often associated with military or weapon dances and are still performed today. Labyrinth dances are associated with mystery and often initiations. Few examples of couple dances have been found or of four people dancing together and the couple dances that were

performed are mostly related to the fertility dances.

F. Accompaniment was vocal and percussive and sounds were made from

clapping or patting the body and playing percussive instruments like drums

or instruments fashioned from bones.

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G. Costume and adornment. Costumes developed with the development of the

societies and painting and tattooing, hair dressing and body adornment became

part of the way to identify and signify status. Masks completed the dancers

attire.

H. Early dance types. Historians caution against labels such as (primitive( or

(savage( dance when applied to prehistoric dances because these terms de-

note people who are problematic rather than a description of the times.

1. The two categories of dances are dances which are in harmony with the body and dances which are out of harmony with the body.

a. Harmony expressed joy and celebration.

1. Expanded and closed.

a. Expanded was mostly performed by men with large movements: leaps, skips, jumps and turns.

b. Closed was performed mostly by women with a relationship to the earth: standing, sitting or whirling in one place.

b. Out of harmony were trance dances.

1. Altered state, convulsive movements and spasmodic jerking, frenzied into a final collapse.

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