Cultural Dance Genres

[Leanna Perr]

TheCultural Dance program is the largest dance program of its kind in the United States and has been at BYU for over 65 years. It is the home to the International Folk Dance Ensemble and Living Legends performing groups. In addition to the two principal performing companies, the Cultural Dance program supports preparatory dance ensembles that also perform in the community and at various BYU dance events.

Students have the opportunity for mentored learning with expert faculty, as well as to interact with guest artists and scholars invited to campus from throughout the world to teach, choreograph and lecture. All courses offered in the Cultural Dance program are open to both dance majors and non-dance majors. A Cultural Dance minor is available (16 credits).

IFDE performs an extensive repertoire of dance and music from around the world in stunning traditional folk costumes. This program provides dancers with rigorous technical dance training in recreational and staged cultural dance through practice and theory. Performance opportunities for the IFDE are abundant, locally, nationally and internationally. Performance tours occur annually, which may include performances at international folk dance festivals or in professional concert venues. Full and half tuition scholarships are available to selected students who participate in this ensemble.

Living Legends captures the essence of ancient and modern culture in a celebration of Latin American, Native American, and Polynesian song and dance. Traditions come to life as talented descendants from these cultures blend authentic choreography, intricate costumes, and heart-pounding music into one captivating show. Members of this company also have the opportunity to travel in the US or abroad on tours during the summer months.

Traditionz, a folk dance performance outreach program, provides cultural education through dance assemblies at local Utah schools for children during the month of May. Members of this company also perform in folk dance concerts held on or off campus during the winter semester. Traditionz auditions are held in November and are by invitation only.

Getting to learn the artistic practices of another culture, especially one so ingrained in the region I grew up in, led me to a greater appreciation for the value that the arts, and specifically dance, has to facilitate connection, respect for, and dialogue with others. In those classes, I got to learn more than just the technical skills required for the dancing, but about the history of the states in Mexico that each piece was from, with the varied costumes, music, and dances representing different traditions and stories important to the people of each particular region. The classes inherently helped me form a deeper sense of cultural awareness and appreciation for the communities I was growing up in and ultimately, I realized as I grew older, for people different than me.

In our current hyper-competitive dance culture in the US, we often see dance as just a physical activity or sport with technical skills to master, separating it from its other functions, such as a form of social ritual or cultural practice. For dancers who grew up in the studio world doing ballet, tap, and jazz, how often have you stopped to reflect on where those styles came from and what cultures influenced the movements you do today?

Dancers could benefit greatly as artists by taking the time to reflect on the styles they do, their origin, and historical/cultural context. Consider spending time watching or learning a cultural dance style that has informed a style you enjoy, such as African dances that make up the roots of jazz, tap, and hip hop styles we do today. Whether the dance style is relatable to your own cultural identity or completely different from your own, learning a dance style from another culture can improve your performance by helping you better understand the root of the movements you do in your other classes.

A native of El Paso, TX, Khayla began dancing at a young age in ballet and Folklorico classes, eventually moving to LA to earn her BA in dance and English from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She went on to earn her MA in Arts & Cultural Management from Kings College London before moving back to LA, where she currently works as a commercial dancer. When she's not dancing, you can find her teaching Pilates and freelance writing about the intersection of dance, fitness, and wellness.

Jamison started off by distinguishing between cultural assimilation and cultural appropriation. He also discussed cultural syncretism, a phrase new to me, that describes when components of different cultures create something new. He divided his presentation into three sections: dance music, song traditions, and square dance. While I had expected to be drawn most to the square dance segment, it was the history of dance music that I found truly fascinating.

Those who think fiddle playing morphed from the violinists of Europe to Southern Appalachia may be surprised to know that in West Africa, a tradition of fiddling dates back to the 12th century. Jamison explained that those who were enslaved adopted the violin, as it positioned them for a better place in life. As early as 1690, enslaved Blacks played the fiddle at plantation balls in Virginia. Black fiddlers left a lasting legacy, one that influenced Southern music styles, with syncopated bowing, rhythms, slides, and tunes. Several of these Black musicians are known to have mentored white fiddlers and other musicians from 1755 up through 1996.

Prompting (verbal step reminders, used in contra dancing) and calling (same, but in square dancing) are phenomena unique to this genre of dance. Calling is differentiated by improvisation, reflecting the African tradition of call and response, and is chanted in pitch with the music.

Darcy Grabenstein is a freelance writer and poet who has had a lifelong love affair with dance. Her earliest dance memories are of her stereotypical ballet teacher, Mrs. DeMarko, frowning and banging a wooden staff on the dance floor for added emphasis. An avowed ballet school dropout, Darcy later was introduced to the genres of international and Israeli folk dance.

thINKingDANCE gratefully acknowledges support from the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and from our readers and other individual donors like you! thINKingDANCE is supported by Critical Minded, an initiative to invest in cultural critics of color cofounded by The Nathan Cummings Foundation and The Ford Foundation.

Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the kagura tradition, or folk dances relating to food producing activities such as planting rice (dengaku) and fishing, including rain dances.[1] There are large number of these traditional dances, which are often subfixed -odori, -asobi, and -mai, and may be specific to a region or village.[1] Mai and odori are the two main groups of Japanese dances, and the term buyō (舞踊) was coined in modern times as a general term for dance, by combining mai (舞) (which can also be pronounced bu) and odori (踊) (which can also be pronounced yō).[2]

Mai is a more reserved genre of dance that often has circling movements, and dances of the Noh theatre are of this tradition.[2] A variation of the Mai style of Japanese dance is Kyomai, or Kyoto-style dance. Kyomai developed in the 17th century Tokugawa cultural period. It is heavily influenced by the elegance and sophistication of the manners often associated with the Imperial Court in Kyoto.[citation needed] Odori has more vigorous stepping movements and is more energetic, and dances of the kabuki theatre belong to this category.[2]

There are several types of traditional Japanese dance. The most basic classification is into two forms, mai and odori, which can be further classified into genres such as Noh mai or jinta mai, the latter style having its origins in the pleasure districts of Kyoto and Osaka.

The mai style is reserved and typified by circling movements where the body is kept low to the ground. The odori style includes folk dances performed at annual Bon festival events and dances that were part of traditional kabuki performances. The odori style features larger movements and is typically more energetic.[3]

Traditional dance forms in the present day have also been influenced by Western dance forms like ballet, which were introduced to Japan during the Meiji Restoration. In Sagi Musume ('The Heron Maiden') the dancer's role is the spirit of the heron. In classical versions, the spirit assumes a handsome, strong pose at the end of the dance. However, this classical ending was altered in later versions (which borrowed heavily from Anna Pavlova's performances of The Dying Swan) so the spirit gradually became lifeless, ultimately sinking to the floor.[3]

The history of kabuki began in 1603, when Izumo no Okuni, possibly a shrine maiden of Izumo Taisha Temple, began performing a new style of dance drama in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto, and they were then called "strange" or "unusual" (kabuki).[4] This new form of dance drama is thought to have been derived from folk-dances performed only by women, furyū-ō odori and nembu odori.[4] Kabuki became a common form of entertainment in Yoshiwara, the registered red-light district in Edo. During the Genroku era, kabuki thrived. The structure of a kabuki play was formalized during this period, as were many elements of style. Conventional character types were established, as were many of the most popular and still-performed plays.

The origin of Noh mai can be traced back to as far as the fourteenth century.[5][6] Noh mai is a dance that is done to music that is made by flutes and small hand drums called tsuzumi.[7] At various points the performers dance to vocal and percussion music; these points are called kuse or kiri. Noh mai dances are put together by a series of forms.[5] Forms are patterns of body movements that are done elegantly and with beauty.

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