What Is the Most Universal Dance?
Preamble: In the words of Adrienne Kaeppler, dance is “a visual manifestation of social relations” (Kaeppler, 5). Arguably the oldest art form, it is a kinesthetic ‘manifestation’ that compels a type of exchange without spoken words. It is a movement (or series of movements) from which one or more individuals can discern meaning. It is a tool with the potential to facilitate communication between people who have nothing else in common. But how does dance become universal?
Linguistically, dance is frequently utilized as a metaphor, including (but not limited to) the following:
- Dance to another tune.
- Dance to someone else’s tune.
- A feather dancing in the wind.
- Dancing with the devil.
It follows, then, that dance conjures a universal concept that conveys, within the utterance of the word, an understood image or idea. While dance has diverse meanings and definitions, the common denominator of “some type of movement” allows the word, itself, to concisely represent a range of social behaviors and phenomena. In parallel, outside of the linguistic realm, the medium of dance is employed across popular culture with the goal of representing universal themes. Per Richard Kislan, “the language of movement can be universal and timeless” (Kislan, 176). On first glance, this characterization signals a shared quality between all forms of movement that informs the beholder of the correct interpretation of this ‘language.’ Movement, however, and more narrowly, dance, take on forms as different from one another as they could be. Nonetheless, curling and water polo are both sports, as ballet and krumping are both types of dance. Kislan reasons: “great movement [read: dance] enjoys its own logic” (Kislan, 177) that is not necessarily unified across dance genres. There must therefore be something universal at the core of how dance looks that viewers recognize and understand as significant.
Off the stage, dance is a ritual. 5000 year-old carvings of “stick figures” and people assembled in a line with raised arms raised marks what archaeologists now believe are the origins of dance (Wilford, 2). Self-expression manifests as dance in simple, daily actions that allow writers like Jane Jacobs to narrate a trip down her block as a performance of movement. What allows universality, thus, is connecting the medium with manifestations that aren’t nominally dance, but rather motions that consistently represent feelings or happenings to most people who would look upon them. For example: upon the prompt “look shocked,” many would raise their eyebrows and clasp their mouth. Similarly, choreography draws on motions that already have significance—hand placement on mouth reading “shock”—using this continuity to create works that resonate with people universally.
What is the most universal dance, then, to the modern beholder? To answer this question, I have excerpted instances of symbolic kinesthetic expression (read: dance) in popular culture that I’m defining as dance. I’ve formatted these examples into GIFs or original artistic sketches, and captioned them in the poetic style of Erick Hawkins.
Dance that is identifiably routine.
Dance that foreshadows a relationship.
Dance that twinkles in the eyes of a child, who has witnessed something magical.
Dance that travels through the body—perhaps, a forgotten thought that re-enters the brain, raises the eyebrows, turns the head, locks the eyes in a new direction, places one foot in front of the other, and flows through the fingers, compelling them to call your mother back.
Dance that results from good news; dance that is celebration.
Dance that results from bad news.
Dance that results from trust.
Dance that depicts love.
Dance that depicts evil.
On the flip side of this universality, choreography incorporates motions of informal dance to communicate these same emotions and happenings:
Dance that is identifiably routine—the ritual dance of the swans in Swan Lake, which recurs as a motif throughout the ballet.
Dance that foreshadows a relationship—the moment in Romeo and Juliet where the eponymous couple meets for the first time, represented by the contrast between movement and stillness.
Dance that twinkles in the eyes of a child who has witnessed something magical—a child’s wonder and excitement represented in Clara’s solo in The Nutcracker.
Dance that travels through the body—the modern choreography of Artem Volosov (created and performed in Ukraine) features sequential movements that seem to ripple throughout the body, signaling the continuity of cause and effect.
Dance that results from good news; dance that is celebration—in High School Musical, the final dance number signals the celebration of the protagonists accomplishing their goals. The inherent purpose of the dance is to join the cast in a response to good news.
Dance that results from bad news—Phantom Limb Company’s Falling Out is a choreographed response to a tragedy. Even though it may not be billed as dance, it is performed choreography.
Dance that results from trust—this lyrical Duo performed at the American Dance Awards embodies trust through choreography.
Dance that depicts love—Siegfried’s extended gestures toward Odette, through the prince and swan’s pax de deux in Swan Lake demonstrate love through choreography.
Dance that shows evil—the sharper movements of Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty identifies the evil nature of this character.
Conclusion:
To the modern young viewer, the universality of dance is the characteristic that allows him or her to glean the same message from an every day instance of sequential movement that he/she would from a choreographed dance performance. It is the reason why “dance” can be found in numerous metaphors that signal distinctly non-dance-related concepts (dancing with the devil insinuates a risky action, as dancing to someone else’s tune refers to the state of being under another’s control).
In conclusion, the most universal dance is that which resonates with one’s own life and experiences.
Works Referenced:
Hawkins, Erick. “What Is the Most Beautiful Dance?” The Dance Has Many Faces, A Capella Books, 1992, pp. 130–132.
Kaeppler, Adrienne. Dance as Cultural Heritage. Edited by Betty True. Jones, Congress on Research in Dance, 1983.
Kislan, Richard. Hoofing on Broadway: a History of Show Dancing. Prentice Hall, 1987.
Wilford, John Noble. “Dance as Center Stage.” New York Times, 27 Feb. 2001.
