Dance: The Language Of Movement
Dance is the language of movement. The music can be fast paced or slow and melodious but as a dancer you can capture and portray the emotions, images, or thoughts through your body, transforming it into something absolutely beautiful. Dance can be for oneself, the steps bringing delight to the performer in their own little world or can be everyone to enjoy and take part in the experience. Dancers are artists and actors, painting the stage with passion, becoming who they aren’t. To me dance is an escape, a place where I can feel the music, dancing for my own pleasure as well as the people around me, a place I can become a million different characters. With dance I can show people I have never met who I am.
Music for dance can sound like anything, it can carry undertones of feeling beneath layers of intricate rhythms and beats or it can be simple and calming. No matter the melody a dancer can bring it to life in different forms to create a story. A dancer may mime different positions in the story to depict certain events or emotions. Fists crossed in a downward position for death or the right middle and pointer finger held upwards toward the sky the opposite hand placed upon ones chest for promise. Even if the music doesn’t change the message may change depending on the way it is displayed. Dancing a piece a certain way may show urgency and sorrow while another depiction may be illustrating pleasure. Simple head movements or arm gestures can change the whole meaning of a dance. You must show passion when you dance or the audience will not receive the significance of the scene. When you show enjoyment for the art then the audience will enjoy the performance even more. I love dancing because you can take the music and the choreography and manipulate it to render a certain image in the watchers mind.
Dance should bring pleasure to the sender and the receiver. When one dances in the kitchen among the tall stools or in the middle of a field with the grass beneath your feet, the sky being the only witness, you dance for yourself. Your well being benefiting from the world only you can find. When you dance for yourself music is not necessary, motions and movement bring happiness, filling your heart with joy. It is different with an audience; you have not only yourself to please but also the spectators. It brings out different feelings excitement, nervousness, and personal achievement. When we dance for other artists we can appreciate each others talents. We can help each other obtain goals that had once been miles away. The feelings dance brings to me, the ability to escape life, to please others and to help one another are a few reason why I’m drawn to this art of movement.
Dancers are actors without voice and artists without tools, the brush their body, the paint their motions. When you dance it does not matter who you are for if you can dance you can act, you can turn into a crippled witch or a sprightly fairy. You may pull personalities onto the stage and into the movements. On stage you can draw yourself in a different light; you can be someone who you aren’t. You can deceive the audience, they do not need to know you are shy or nervous for you can elude yourself for even just a few minutes or you can show spectators you will never talk to who you are as a person. With dance you can paint a picture to escape into a different character or to allow the audience to capture your true colours. With dance I can evade the nerve wracking feeling I obtain when I meet people, I can become anyone I like, Titania from a Midsummer’s Night Dream or Pierret from Harlequinade.
To dance I am devoted. I can create images and portray emotion through elaborate to plain gestures from sophisticated melodies to unadorned tunes. I can flee reality and enter a personal universe lined with dreams and imaginings or discover the excitement of performing for onlookers and peers. And it is the ability to change who you are for even a moment, or to display your genuine character. There are many more reasons dance has a part of my life, but without being able to display thoughts, to perform for your heart and others pleasure and the capacity to become that you are not, or to elaborate who you are, dance would not have the same aura. To dance of which I adore, I give my salutations.
By Megan Teh
Why I love to Dance
Dance is not something I do, it is who I am. I live dance. I dream dance. When I hear music, my body moves. It calms me down when I’m frustrated. It makes me happy. Most important of all it makes me, ME!
I have been dancing since I was 3 years old, for the past 10 years! I have loved dance since I was in class, pointing and flexing my feet, with Miss Meaghan in a circle. Now, learning harder choreography and techniques, I love the challenge. I love everything about dance! The music, the jumps, the turns, and the wonderful classes with my favorite teachers at Absolute Dance.
Dance, to me, is a lifestyle, not a hobby. To some people dancing is not important, but to me I see it as something I need to do and enjoy, it is everything. Everyone has something they like to do whether its hockey, football, gymnastics, or dance. To me I love dance for every reason! I also love dance because it’s a fun way to get exercise.
I love the studio because it’s like a home to me and everyone gets included. I love to dance with my five best friends.
The year of my first solo I was very nervous and excited. When I first got on stage I was anxious but when the music started I calmed down and enjoyed it. At the end of competition, I was announced “first over all” in my category! I love to dance on stage for my family and friends. My second solo I was more confident and more prepared for what was going to happen on stage. I practiced, and practiced and practiced! I was really proud of myself.
I am so happy that I got the chance to dance when I was younger and express who I am. Now I assist teachers to help the little kids learn new techniques and hopefully love dance as much as I do. That is why I love and have a passion for dance!
By: Dylan MacPhail
