Keith Shaheen
ARTS 100
August 11, 2014
Robert Germann
Styles of Dancing
There are several styles of dancing that range from ballet, modern, folk, jazz, and many others. Here we will discuss the folk and jazz dance. This will cover some of the histories, how line, form, repetition and rhythm were part of each of the dances. This will also discuss how each dance affected the artist while performing the dance.
The jazz dancing can be traced back to the 1800’s. The jazz dance was thought to be an American creation, but this dance can be traced back to the slave movement. The slave’s used this dance to obtain exercise and release his or her emotions. Slave traders allowed this to continue during the long voyages to keep the slaves in tip top condition. The jazz dance has a very diverse history, with Europe adding classiness, Africa provided the rhythm and moves, and America provided the publicity and popularity. Leaps and turns are customary in jazz, but the artist should convey his or her creativeness to make his or her dance appealing to the audience (Warta, 20014).
Folk dancing is several centuries old. It is unknown as to the original date folk dancing originated. Folk dancing is a traditional type of dance handed down from generation to generation. Folk dancing was part of the social gatherings. This was part of celebrations and agricultural happenings. Because of the various events folk dance was used, different styles of costumes were created for each folk dance. Folk dance is performed differently in various parts of the world. This is because, until the last several years, other parts of the world were unable to see the cultures of each other. Each of these countries will still fall under the term folk dance, because of tradition and not the individual cultures (Hanson, 2014).
The structures of the dance include the line, form, repetition, and rhythm. The line is the bodies design or path the artist takes. The form is the planned of organized movement patterns. This is the order of