Brief History of Dance

• Dance has been a part of human culture for a long time, being important in ceremonies, rituals, celebrations, and entertainment even before the birth of the earliest human civilizations
• Traces of dance from prehistoric times can be found in Egyptian tomb paintings from circa 3300 B.C. and the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka paintings in India
• Dance often occurs at rites of passage, ceremonies, courtship, worship, or work
• Teaching of Philippine folk/ethnic dance is now part of the Physical Education curriculum in the Philippines from elementary to tertiary levels in all states, public and private schools
• Dance refers to rhythmic body movements usually accompanied by music and is used as a form of communication
• Dance pertains to a specific set of movements performed to a specific music, and different dance styles like hip-hop, ballet, folk dance, or ballroom dance cannot be interchanged
• Elements of Dance:

  • Body: refers to how the entire body is molded in space or the configuration of body parts
  • Action: includes any human movement in dancing, such as dance steps, facial movements, partner lifts, gestures, and everyday movements like walking
  • Space: the area performers occupy and move in, also known as spatial elements, showing the relationship of dancers to each other