Dance

Dance and Development

People often start to dance at a young age, usually in spontaneous response to music. Young children might move around in a way that adults identify as dancing, even before they have any understanding of the concept. As they grow up, children might take dance lessons in school, often as part of classes in physical education or drama. In many cultural contexts, however, the majority of dance education takes place outside school, in specialist clubs and classes.

Dance education tends to focus on developing the skills to perform dance, as an artistic act. However, in addition to formal dance education, dance takes place in multiple social contexts. The social role of dance differs across cultures. In some indigenous cultures, dance is a way to communicate and an essential part of daily life. In many cultures, dancing is done at parties to mark celebrations such as weddings and birthdays. From childhood to old age, parties often involve dancing together. Clubs and live music events also provide other contexts for dancing. As teenagers, people might dance at special discos or parties, whereas older youth often visit clubs to dance together.

Many children attend dance classes, which are often seen as a way to improve posture, health, and confidence through the bodily training and development of performance skills. For some, this training is continued to professional level. In classical ballet, serious training starts very early, sometimes as young as 7 or 8 years, with full-time training options starting at 10 or 11 years. In contemporary dance, some students start full-time training later. Although they are likely to have danced from a young age, students often enter full-time training around university age. Training often takes place in specialist conservatoires; however, in many countries, students might also undertake dance degrees within universities, which involve a combination of technique classes, creative education, and academic study.

Training is highly demanding and competition for performance work is fierce. However, there are many other ways that people can work in dance other than as full-time performers. Graduates might become choreographers, teachers, arts managers, researchers, and so forth. Those who do not go on to professional training still continue to take [Page 516]dance classes throughout their adult lives as a way to keep fit, socialize, and express themselves.

Historically, in Western culture, dances have often been used as a form of courtship. Couple dances, such as the waltz and Foxtrot, were undertaken at events during which men and women would dance together in pairs, often with a view to finding a partner. This tradition is rare in the 21st century, but these dances have seen a renewed popularity, perhaps due to TV programs such as Strictly Come Dancing (United Kingdom), a new version of Come Dancing, a televised ballroom dancing competition, which began in 1949.

...