Essay: Generation Representation through Dance

Part 1: The kind of dance that I believe best represents my generation is hip-hop dance, which is a social dance. Popular hip-hop dances include the Drop, the Whip, and the Dab, and hose are only a handful of all the types of hip-hop dances. It allows for people to incorporate attitude, individuality, gesturing, and spirituality.
a. This dance expresses the attitudes of my generation because it can relate to rebellion and change if the dancer wants it do that. It can involve many rapid movements that can resemble the ever-increasing fast-paced lifestyles in which we live in. It also incorporates a large amount of playfulness and exploration based on multiple rhythms and personal, social, and cultural experiences.
b. The link to a culture other than “American” culture with this dance would be some African social dances which could involve the bending of knees and curved spines. They can also involve percussion and improv, much like Hip-hop dances. Koroso dance can be somewhat related to hip-hop in that involves highly acrobatic and difficult shapes, friendly competition dance, and is usually performed by younger dancers.
c. Compared to the youth of my parents’ generation during the 1970s, there are some similarities and differences. Their disco-style dance became popular on TV shows of the day just like hip-hop does now. It allowed for unique creativity and expression as it was often situational, so dancers would invent their own moves as the music kept playing. One way that disco dancing differs from hip-hop is that disco dancers wore extremely funky and glamorous clothing. Disco dancing also tended to be more centered towards expanding freedoms, and it was also a time where drug abuse and promiscuity hit an all-time high.
Part 2: Mary Wigman is one of the founders of German expressionistic modern dance (concert dance) and she was inspired by the Sufi Dance. When she was going through a time of great despair, she noticed the movements she made in this time. It allowed her to express her emotions and worries through sways, contractions, contortions, and pulses. Her choreography was created by “feeling through” or using the sensitive human body. Gabrielle Roth created modern day ecstasy dance as a way to help soul searchers find the true essence of self. It’s a trance dance with a moving meditation that consists of a process of 5 rhythms in which each of them have their own unique properties. They are called flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical, and stillness. To her, it is all about enter a different state of consciousness that opens a greater expression of the true self. Lynn Wood developed a practice called Conscious Movement Process Work. Her purpose for this is to get rid of blocked energy from negative experiences. She indicates that it involves listening to the body and recognizing negative trends in order to smash them and replace them with more positive patterns.
a. Dance and arts provide a means of healing to society as they can provide means for which people can experience a healthy perception of the mind, body, and soul. Through dance therapy, patients can more easily express themselves without having to talk, which can heal their emotional wounds. Allowing the body flow while dancing releases endorphins, which in turn help people feel a greater sense of well-being. Dance and the arts can be as a means of healing the psyche through complete surrender to the spirit, escaping from reality, and being at one with the universe. As discussed earlier about Wood, her process brings about benefits such as renewed energy, improved relationships, and a reduction in physical pain. These things are all beneficial to society.
b. I do believe that dance and the arts can provide a means of healing to society. That is because I have experienced it with my own self. It doesn’t matter if it is a simple tap with my feet or using my whole body because either way I experience a feeling of release. I feel joy, relieved, and more positive after expressing myself. With this in mind, I do truly feel that dance and the arts can by a way to heal society.