Global Dancing Sensation

AFRICAN DANCE

African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles. These dances must be viewed in close connection with Sub-Saharan African music traditions and Bantu cultivation of rhythm. African dance utilizes the concept of polyrhythm as well as total body articulation.

CHARACTERISTICS There are no singular definitions of African

dance: Africa, a continent three times the size of the United States, is ethnically and culturally the most diverse on the planet. Though similar themes may be found throughout dances across the many countries and landscapes, each has its own history, language, song, background, and purpose and cannot be translated to another dance of the same culture much less another dance from somewhere else on the continent.

Society Traditional dance in Africa occurs collectively, expressing the

life of the community more than that of individuals or couples. Early commentators consistently commented on the absence of close couple dancing: such dancing was thought immoral in many traditional African societies. In all sub Saharan African dance there seems to be no evidence for sustained, one-to-one male-female partnering anywhere before the late colonial era when it was apparently considered in distinctly poor taste. For the Yoruba, to give a specific example, touching while dancing is not common except in special circumstances.The only partner dance associated with African dances would be the Bottle Dance of the Mankon People in the Northwest Region of Cameroon or the Assiko from the Douala people that involves interaction of Man and Woman and the way that they charm each other.

Examples NdlamuAdumuKpanlogoJerusamera Yankadi Macru

HULA

Hula is a dance form accompanied by chant (oli) or song (mele). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islandsby the Polynesians who originally settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli or mele in a visual dance form.

There are many sub-styles of hula, with the main two categories being Hula 'Auana and Hula Kahiko. Ancient hula, as performed before Western encounters with Hawaiʻi, is called kahiko. It is accompanied by chant and traditional instruments. Hula, as it evolved under Western influence in the 19th and 20th centuries, is called ʻauana (a word that means "to wander" or "drift"). It is accompanied by song and Western-influenced musical instruments such as the guitar, the ʻukulele, and the double bass.

Hula dance researcher : Joann Kealiinohomoku

Hula is taught in schools or groups called hālau. The teacher of hula is the kumu hula, where kumu means source of knowledge, or literally just teacher. Often there is a hierarchy in hula schools - starting with the kumu (teacher), alaka'i (leader), kokua (helpers), and then the 'olapa (dancers) or haumana (students). This is not true for every hālau, but it does occur often. Most, if not all, hula halau(s) have a permission chant in order to enter wherever they may practice.

HULA KAHIKO

Hula kahiko performance at the pa hula in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Hula kahiko, often defined as those hula composed prior to 1894 which do not include modern instrumentation (such as guitar, `ukulele, etc.), encompasses an enormous variety of styles and moods, from the solemn and sacred to the frivolous. Many hula were created to praise the chiefs and performed in their honor, or for their entertainment. Types of hula kahiko include ʻālaʻapapa, haʻa, ʻolapa, and many others. Today hula kahiko is simply stated as "Traditional" Hula.

Belly dance or bellydance is a Western-coined name for a type of Middle Eastern dance. Originally a "solo, improvised dance involving torso articulation",belly dance takes many different forms depending on the country and region, both in costume and dance style, and new styles have evolved in the West as its popularity has spread globally.

ARABIC DANCE

NAMES AND TERMINOLOGY The term "belly dance" is a translation of the

French term "danse du ventre", which was applied to the dance in the Victorian era, and probably originally referred to the Ouled Nail dancers of Algeria, whose dance used more abdominal movements than the dances described today as "belly dance". It is something of a misnomer, as every part of the body is involved in the dance; the most featured body part is usually the hips.

TECHNIQUE AND MOVEMENTS Belly dance is primarily a torso-driven

dance, with an emphasis on articulations of the hips. Unlike many Western dance forms, the focus of the dance is on relaxed, natural isolations of the torso muscles, rather than on movements of the limbs through space. Although some of these isolations appear superficially similar to the isolations used in jazz ballet, they are sometimes driven differently and have a different feeling or emphasis.

MOVEMENTS FOUND IN BELLY DANCEPercussive movementsFluid movementsShimmies, shivers and vibrations