Dance, Dance.

It can easily be said that dance is NOT a culture of its own but that it IS a part of culture. I agree with this argument but I also believe that dance exists as a culture creator and to bring people together. Though many dances may have a specific meaning behind them, I believe that it allows people from all different backgrounds and nationalities to come together and have a joyful moment. This week, instead of talking about culture behind nationalities, I want to focus on the culture behind dance. This idea first came to my head while I was watching the dance competition for homecoming 2 weeks ago. In just that one competition, so many different types of dancing styles were showcased. From hip pop to ballet, this competition proved that, no matter your style, there’s a type of dance for you. Dance is one of many things that people around the world use to express themselves. It is way to express yourself without using words. You let the expression flow through your body and create beautiful art. There are many types of dance from bellying dancing to tap dance and everyone has a perfect fit for them.

Dance plays such an important role in entertainment, exercise, and happiness, that everywhere you go you’ll encounter it. Just walking through the hub today, I’ve seen a few people dancing to their own beats. Because dance is so popular it appears often in our media. There are many games, movies, and TV that highlight the importance of dance. Main characters in these series let dance have a major influence on their character. Apart from popular culture, dance also plays a role in religious and worship groups. Many churches have dance groups, called “praise groups” to help with the overall feel of the church.

There are many different types of dances and everyday more types are added over time. There have always been types of dance like hip hop, ballet, or breakdancing but now more specific dances are coming out. Now-a-days when a new dance is released it has a song to go with it such as the “nae-nae”, verses old times when you learned a type of dance that goes with many different songs, as long as you can find the beat. But just as with everything else, time changes everything including dance.

In the 1920’s that rise of jazz became popular in dance culture. Dances such as “the Charleston” and “the Lindy Hop” became popular during this time period. A few decades later, in the 1970’s and 80’s, is when the idea of hip pop got big. This type of dance not only brought on a new way of dancing but cause a change in fashion and media as well. To this day hip hop still has an influence on our style and music. Pop music always begun to be a big hit as pop-star, Michael Jackson, is of course known for his “moonwalk”. I’m not sure to you, but I wasn’t aware that crowd surfing was a time of dance, it’s called “moshing” and is when people dance closely and aggressively. This kind of dance appeared when punk rock also took off in the 1980’s and 90’s. Of course, Line Dancing is very popular especially in country music. And with more current dances of today such as the Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style, it’s all clear that the bottom line of dancing is just to have fun. So whether you only feel comfortable dancing at home in front of a mirror or you’re the animal of the party, have fun dancing because it brings happiness.

Thanks for reading, J