historical insight into the evolution of the ballroom dance

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Historical Insight into the Evolution of the Ballroom dance You may not mind going back in time to the ancient years, when no formal dance lessons were imparted, but yet, the primitive societies practiced community dancing. After all, dancing happens to be an expression of emotions in motion. So, the leading objective was to celebrate a major event such as festivals, and the moments of triumph. Community dancing also finds its association to the magical practices, temple-centric rituals and the funeral rites. In this context, it is interesting to note that the ring dance happens to be one of the oldest forms of dance, if not the most ancient form that survives in the historical record. Evolution of the concept

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Page 1: Historical insight into the evolution of the ballroom dance

Historical Insight into the Evolution of the Ballroom dance

You may not mind going back in time to the ancient years, when no formal dance lessons were imparted, but yet, the primitive societies practiced community dancing. After all, dancing happens to be an expression of emotions in motion. So, the leading objective was to celebrate a major event such as festivals, and the moments of triumph. Community dancing also finds its association to the magical practices, temple-centric rituals and the funeral rites. In this context, it is interesting to note that the ring dance happens to be one of the oldest forms of dance, if not the most ancient form that survives in the historical record.

Evolution of the concept

Dionysus dances were the parts and parcels of the rustic festivals. Both in Greece, as well as in Egypt, dancing had an inextricable connection with the festive and the semi-festive rituals including athleticism and war. The secular form of dancing originated in Greece, way back in time after 4000BC. The peasants were often found dancing in the course of their occupations. The middle ages saw the origin of the social dancing. The commoners danced to give expression to their fleeting emotions of joy. At this point of the time, the nobles and the courtesans took over to give a formal dimension to the concept of dancing. So long, dancing was a simple affair that spontaneously

Page 2: Historical insight into the evolution of the ballroom dance

reflected human emotions, but during the middle ages, it assumed certain amount of grandiloquence. Learning of dance came into being with the rising predominance of the skilled dance trainers.

An exotic form of social dancing

With the predominance and popularity of social dancing, there arose a demarcation between the folk forms of dancing and the social dancing. The latter was rampant amongst the privileged classes of people, while the folk dance forms were meant for the so-called underprivileged sections of the society. The ballroom dance fast emerged as one of the most vibrant forms of social dancing. You need to go back in time to the sixteenth century to discern the roots of this exotic form of social dancing that took place in a large spacious room. The dance form was highly popular in France during the Renaissance, and by the turn of the seventeenth century, it influenced the other parts of the European content including Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Waltz that originated in Germany had a role to play in simplifying the concept of ball room dancing. The form evolved even further with the American influence, in the early nineteenth century, with the additions and introductions of the barn dance, cakewalk and the double-steps.

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