DANCE- THE RHYTHM OF LIFE
The Bible verses don't prohibit the human
beings from dancing while enjoying life. This act of dancing is associated with
songs and praises. This physical movement
means "rejoice". People praise God while dancing,'' Praise Him
with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.''
(Psalm 150:4) The Aaron's sister, Miriam, played the timbrel. The daughter of
Jephthah used tambourines. The music has been accompanied by the dance. Also,
the dance has been an expression of joy in celebrating the victories. But not
all the dances led to a holy state of being. The daughter of Herodias danced
for the death of John Baptist and those who danced for Baal didn't receive any
answer from him. In Lamentations 5:15, it is mentioned, ''The joy of our hearts
has ceased; Our dancing has been turned into mourning.'' Why has the joy
ceased? When does the joy cease? There are some situations very well specified
in the Bible: when people are ''befallen'' by the Lord, when the inheritance is
given to the strangers, when the children are orphans,when the women are
widows, when people cannot drink water without paying, when they sin, when they
are enslaved, when they are starving, when the women are raped, when the
feelings of love are sick in the hearts,and when God doesn't listen to the
prayers.
It is important to know what holds the values in life and how the
human development can falter. It is a
process of understanding the human condition. People need to be happy and to
live a meaningful life. Martin Seligman wrote about ''authentic happiness and
abundant gratification." People can change the negative style of thinking
through dancing. This way, they can
change how they feel and how they think about the nature of happiness. This
dance is a movement of the body necessary for the non-verbal communication.
While dancing, people use the gestural
vocabulary to express their emotions or to explain the story of their life. The
dance ''explores the nature of all movement'' while being a social interaction.
For example, the ballet is a dance narrating a drama '' in the most theatrical
sense of the term''.
The endorphin boost of salsa and the lower
levels of stress hormones together with higher levels of testosterone in tango
are very important to increase the self-confidence. Donna Newman-Bluestein, a
dance therapist, said that "dancing lifts the body to an open, optimistic
posture." Rosa Pinniger mentioned about dance that it ''interrupts
negative thought patterns that contribute to anxiety and depression.''
During the International Day of Happiness,
many people around the world may share their videos in which they dance to be
happy. The dance has become one of the main cultural forces in the whole world.
“Dance is such a universal phenomenon,” said Ahalya Hejmadi, PhD, a psychology
professor at the University of Maryland University College. ''There is no
vehicle more joyful and playful for providing such training than early childhood
music and movement," said Dee Joy Coulter, Ed.D, Neuroscience Educator.
The music is combined with the notions of
motor control, becoming a form of art. Moreover, the music may be the product of the movement,
or the dance may be the movement itself, but generally, it is a synchronization between the body movement
and a recurrent musical beat to include feelings of bonding, empathy,
cooperation, and social identity. Romania has some traditional dances because
its feudal system has lasted until the mid 19th century. The Romanian folklore
still exists in the natural environment like villages. Romanian dances are,
usually, chain dances, men's group, and couple dances and they are accompanied
by loud shouts and calls. An example of men's group dance is the dance called
''Calusarii''. A long time ago, it was considered to be a sacred dance being
performed only in the spring by a chosen number of men while having a mystic
signification. During the time, it remained the most famous Romanian folk dance
being an inheritance given by the Dacians. It is believed that it is a
fertility ritual or a method to cure those people being affected by a kind of
delirium, which is caused by those fairies called “iele”. The dancer who wears
a mask uses to have a sword and a red wooden phallus. The word “calusar” comes
from the Latin word “collosium” meaning a dance group in a secret society that
has the duty to “cure” and to “protect” people from evil spirits for nine
years. An early retirement can lead to
sickness, paralysis, or misfortune. This
dance can be found in Serbia, too. African, Ballet, Salsa, Bellydance, Zumba, Flamenco, Tap
Dance, Tango, or any other, each dance has its complexity and sensibility, making us understand how the dance steps and
the music rhythms are closely intertwined.
REFERENCES:
The Bible
Seligman, Martin
(1990). Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. Free Press.
Seligman, M.E.P.
(Spring 2004). "Can Happiness be Taught?". Daedalus. 133 (2): 80–87.
doi:10.1162/001152604323049424.
Ammon, M. (2003).
Psychological studies on human structural dance: Group Analysis Vol 36(2) Jun
2003, 288-306.
Berrol, C. F.
(1992). The neurophysiologic basis of the mind)body connection in
dance/movement therapy: American Journal of Dance Therapy Vol 14(1) Spr-Sum
1992, 19-29.
Lane Anderson, Mind
Your Body: Dance Yourself Happy /Why swinging your body lifts your spirit
published on July 1, 2010.
Samantha Grossman,
Everyone Everywhere Is Celebrating International Happiness Day By Dancing to
Pharrell’s ‘Happy’, Time, March 20, 2014
Sadie F. Dingfelder,
Dance, dance evolution/ Psychologists’ research on the power of movement is
giving us insight into why we first danced and how cultures built on that
ancient impulse, Monitor Staff 2010, Vol 41, No. 4 Print version: page 40
Steven Brown, Ph.D.
teacher at McMaster University,Is Dance “The Next Wave” in Cognitive
Neuroscience? Dancing stimulates the brain in interesting ways, Nov 23, 2011.
AMZULESCU, A. (1973)
Folk Dances at Desa, Gottingen, Institut fur den Wissenschftlichen Film.
LONEUX, J. (1996) A
Propos Des Danses Roumaines, J Loneux.
Mihaela Lica ,THE
MYSTIC AND TRADITION OF A FOLK DANCE: CALUSARII, July 8, 2008
[MARIETA MAGLAS]
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