Introduction
In this report, I chose to study the pop dancing culture in the Dancing Society in the University of Hong Kong (DANSO). The two main foci of this report is to investigate self-expression of members in DANSO and how their social relationship are structured. This report will begin by describing the background information about DANSO and the method of data collection. The two main focus of the study will then be presented based on the data collected.
Background of study
i. The Dancing Society (DANSO)
DANSO is the only dancing society in the University of Hong Kong. It was established in 1960 and was first named as Folk Dance Society as only teach folk dance initially. Since the more pop dance styles were introduced to the society, the society renamed as Dancing Club in 1995. The DANSO has 32 core members. Among the team, there are 10 boys and 22 girls from different faculties. Only 2 of them are mainland students while others are all local students.
The DANSO takes part in various activities. Every year, they launch an Annual performance and join the Joint University Mass Dance. To prepare for these large events, they will have daily trainings at night in months before the large events.
ii. Pop dancing
Pop dancing is a general term describing different genres of popular street dance styles such as Hip-Hop, Funk Jazz, Locking, Breaking and Popping. Pop music is an important element incorporated into pop dancing since pop dancing needs strong interaction with the grooves of the music. Some common features of pop music include uptempo melodies, simple lyrics, strong beats and grooves, prominent hooks (which refers to impressive phrases of lyrics or melodies).
Data collection
To achieve the aims of study, a semi-formal i...
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...rough the conversation with DANSO members and observation of their practices, I have some understanding on the dancers’ view on pop dancing and their beliefs in self-challenge and perfectionism. How people express themselves in dancing varied: some express themselves exteriorly through special dressings and makeups while some express interiorly through deeper understanding of music and interaction of dancing movements. In addition, dancing in the society helps freshmen as well as non-local student to transit to a new life in the University.
In the social aspect, DANSO is a well-organized society with its own culture. Criteria of the admission to the society include self-discipline, responsibility, self-challenging spirit and abandon of individualism and egoism. All these requirements contribute to the development of team spirit and sense of belongings to the DANSO.
...re of different dance cultures within the vocabulary of their scope, then the results would be so astounding as to give that dancer an unspoken quality distinguishing them from among their peers. Movement knowledge is cultural knowledge and remembering that each culture is beautiful and different in its own way can help create a dancer that will resonate with any audience member.
Dance halls were growing increasingly popular, on average, most people attended at least once a week. Twenty-five percent of San Francisco youths regularly attended their local halls, according to American Mercury magazine. Admission ranged from fifty cents to dollar and a half (McCutcheon 217). Many times women would supervise so that the proper rules of dancing were overlooked. Proper dance rules were that the p...
The documentary “Rize” by David LaChapelle, focuses on the lives of Black Americans who live in South Central Los Angeles and the struggles they go through in their daily lives. Moreover the film also introduces two types of dancing groups that they have in the community. These dance groups are meant to keep the youths and children occupied and distracted from all the problems that have been going on in their community, such as the LA riot. The two styles of dancing are Clowning and Krumping. Clowning was created by Tommy the Clown in 1992. Tommy used to be a formal drug dealer, he went from having his life together to losing all his money and house. However, instead of doing nothing productive with his life, he decided to help his community by changing the lives of others through entertainment. In addition, not only did this dancing group help him get to a better place in life but also the group members are like his family. His main goal was to help put similes on people’s faces and help get some of these children and youths away from gangs. On the other hand, Krumping was also generated from Clowning, however Krumpers believe that their form of entertainment is different from clowning. Moreover, these dancing groups main focus is to distract the youths and children in the community by giving them the opportunity to do something they love, which is dancing. Furthermore, passion, spiritual connections and connection to the African culture are conveyed through the film by Clowning and Krumping.
First of all, my interest in dancing arose around September last year and has been kindled even more since late November. In September, I watched a show that was about high schoolers singing and dancing in order to win awards and go into a contest with their idols. That was when dancing caught my eye. However, I have not had a strong urge to follow through with this interest until late November, which was when I discovered a band called 방탄소년단 (also known as BTS). The choreography to their songs seized my attention and I could not help but watch their dance practice videos. Recently, I found one that I would love to learn, and I have already began
Kelso, P. T. (2003). Behind the curtain: The body, control, and ballet. Edwardsville Journal of Sociology, 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/sociology/EJS/v32kelso.htm
Even though people always tend to attribute “authentic” knowledge of a practice or product by tracing its culture, in the currently globalizing world where the cultures are overlapped and intertwine with one another, the criteria is ineffective due to the difficulty of ascribing the practice to a specific culture; hence, the notion of cultural authenticity is no longer legitimate. The cross-cultural origins and further developments of the Contemporary Ballet illustrate that to simply consider this dance form authentically American is inappropriate, whereby demonstrates the high degree of illegitimacy in the pursuit of cultural authenticity.
This paper will be a detailed description of what dance was like in the 1950’s specifically focusing on 1954 to 1959. It will also go beyond to demonstrate how the style of dancing is a direct reflection of the society during that time period. The topic will be presented in class and a brief reflection will be included in this paper.
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print.
... social dance. Many people in today’s society enjoy social; dancing. Chapter eleven dance concert, properly planning and establishing a dance concert is of the utmost importance. The partnership with the lighting designer usually takes priority over all other factors. One of the most important issues concerning customers has to do with mobility. The dancer must be able to move comfortably in the costume. The task of producing a dance concert is an overwhelming and tiring one. Chapter twelve dance in education and career in dance, many dance educators present the argument that teaching and learning dance as an art form is obviously absent from the American student education. There has always been and always will be people who have a love, desire, and passion to instruct and learn the art of dance, will ensure an important place for dance in higher education.
Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.
A great deal of the world possesses a vague sense of the existence of the dance world, but they do not know much past that. The assistance of reality television shows, such as Dance Moms, So You Think You Can Dance, and Dancing with the Stars, present the inner workings of the dance community to the general public. Unfortunately, the publicity can change how society perceives the dance world. Reality television affected the dance world by contributing an air of commercialism to it, influencing younger dancers to suppose the main focus should be in the eye-popping tricks rather than artistry, and it drives audiences focus on the glitzy costumes and dazzling on stage performances rather than exhibit the sweat, blood, and tears that go into putting together the final product.
The first social dance explored was ballroom dancing. Ballrooms were a place of courtship; therefore, these dances were always performed by a male, female couple. Traditional gender roles began the dance as the men always asked the women to dance. As the dance began, the bodies were transformed into vehicles to connect these opposite sex partners. However, societal rules applied to this dance because partners must be from within the appropriate class, the intentions proper, and the movements executed in a specific manner. The woman’s role was essentially to avoid a misstep of tripping on the man’s feet, since the male always led the dance.
Dancing is a form of art that allows many children to express themselves through body motion while developing many skills. Children throughout the world have been dancing since the day they began walking. When a child to take their first steps and puts together the simplest combination of movements, that would be considered as dancing. Music also plays a major role in the development of children understanding dance, because it is can be used as an accompaniment, and can help children get a better feel for the rhythm in dances. Over the past century educators have come to the conclusion that dance serves as a form of art, and should be taught in public schools and colleges to help the growth in children of all ages both physically, mentally, and academically.
A range of contemporary dance actions performed by the two talented young dancers successfully made Michael’s piece world famous, now regarded as an effective example of contemporary dance. The stretching all over Kayla’s body by Kapono’s hands demonstrate sharp precise movements that are normally seen in this style of dance. This sequence of actions begins at 1:54minutes and ends at approximately 2:02minutes. The dancers are seen standing centre stage, facing towards the middle of the audience in a right diagonal. Male dancer Kupono is in a diagonal stance behind female dancer Kayla, hidden from the audience’s view, almost shadowing her while his left hand is positioned on her left shoulder. This ignites an uncomfortable feeling from the audience as his dominant characteristics are already beginning to be exposed to the audience. Kapono’s character has power and control over Kayla’s character in this segment. His right hand quickly comes straight across her mouth, while this action is in motion he begins to emerge from the darkness and into the audience’s view, leaving the audience with an uneasy feeling. Both of Kayla’s hands grab onto his hand in which is covering her mouth; in hopes of discarding his hand. This specific moment in the dance conveys a great deal of symbolism, linking the actions with the overall theme of addiction. The hand over her mouth symbolises the constant addiction that Kayla’s character is struggling with, it shows him as the drug; endeavouring to intoxicate her as she struggles. This is then followed by his left hand running down against her hip in a pressed motion, causing her to react by fiercely pushing his hand off, leading to an aggressive movement from the male dancer as his hand grips her left hip. In contrast to this; she tirelessly flicks his hand off. As Kayla unostentatiously gets weaker, Kupono
Folk dance is also a popular types of dance. Folk dance is a variety of dances that reflect a certain culture. There are many types of folk dance including aboriginal dance, clogging, irish dance and square dance. Folk dancing started in the 18th century, the steps were then passed through the generations. Many children songs and games today come from folk