Dance overture

DANCE AND THE HUMAN BODY

REPORTERS:

LYCE ANN G. ALBALADEJO

KAIZER ROMMEL ALBA
SHANAIAH BETITA FANTILANAN
 The body can perform such as
actions as rotating, bending,
stretching, jumping and turning. By
varying these physical actions and
using different dynamics, human
beings can devise an infinite
number of body movements.
 
EXAMPLES:

1. Eye contact and

eyebrows are involved
in classical dances of
INDIA in addition to
gestures and postures.
2. Hip movements are
important in the dance style,
gestures are important much
like the Hawaiian HULA in
Hawaii.
3. Emphasized hops, skips
and jumps characterize
many dances of the
EASTERN EUROPE.
4. IRISH dances make
considerable use of
complicated footwork
with practically less use
of the arms.
5. Torso movements are
emphasized in many
dances of equatorial Africa
while high kicks are
features of many dances of
the Zulu of SOUTH
AFRICA.
6. Arm, hand and
finger movements are
considerably used in
of the SOUTHEAST
ASIA.
DANCE AND THE HUMAN MIND

REPORTERS:
DEVID ANAZARIO
MARLEX JUN BALTAR
RICSSON PANES
How does dance affect the mind?

The short term effects of dancing on the mind

are related to mood and satisfaction, while the
long term effects are related to discipline and
memory. Dancing is an excellent form of exercise
because it not only burns calories and builds
muscles, but it also contributes to an overall
sense of happiness.
How does dance benefit your mind and body?

Dancing can be a way to stay fit for people of all

ages, shapes and sizes. It has a wide range of
physical and mental benefits including: improved
condition of your heart and lungs. Increased muscular
strength, endurance and motor fitness.
Dancing offers plenty of benefits for your emotions,
intelligence, and relationships. Learning and practicing
dance can:
Improve self-esteem
The amount that you respect
and value yourself is your self-
esteem. Showing yourself that
you can learn and master new
moves and skills through dance
can improve your self-esteem
and confidence.
Help you meet new people
Social interaction between
groups of people is
important to your mental
well-being. Talking and
spending time with others
improves your mood.
 Improve your mood and
attitude
Dancing can improve your
mood while you learn, move,
and perform. In fact, many
people take dance classes
because they put them in a
good mood.
 

Ease depression and anxiety

Dance is an effective type of
exercise that raises your heart
rate and works your muscles.
Exercise can help with symptoms
of depression and anxiety by
releasing certain chemicals in
your brain.
 
 Dance – as a ritual, therapy, and leisure activity – has been known for
thousands of years. Today, dance is increasingly used as therapy for cognitive
and neurological disorders such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
Surprisingly, the effects of dance training on the healthy young brain are not
well understood despite the necessity of such information for planning
successful clinical interventions.

Currently, there is increasing interest in dance as a therapeutic intervention

for various clinical groups, ranging from developmental disorders such as
Down syndrome to neurological disorders such as schizophrenia and mood
disorder neuromotor disorders such as Parkinson’s disease to dementia
prevention and management.
 Despite the popularity of dance as a cognitive or mental therapy,
recent reviews question the effectiveness of short-term dance therapy in
neurological disorders such as schizophrenia (Ren and Xia, 2013) and
depression (Meekums et al., 2015), concluding there is no evidence for
or against dance as a treatment. Conversely, epidemiological studies
found that people with a life-long history of dancing were less likely to be
diagnosed with dementia or to experience age-related cognitive decline
(Verghese et al., 2003). Indeed, in a recent randomized clinical trial we
have shown subtle yet promising benefits of a 6-month, 3-times per
week dance intervention on the microstructure of the fornix in healthy
older adults (Burzynska et al., 2017). Surprisingly, similar trials using
neuroimaging to study the effects of dance in neurodegenerative disease
patients are still in the early stages (e.g., Earhart et al., 2015).
 DANCE AND HUMAN NATURE
REPORTERS:
ARJIE BOLISIG
MARKO DANUGO
VINCENT DE JUAN
WHAT CAN DANCE TEACH US ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH
NATURE?

Dance has been a way for people to connect

with each other and the environment around
them for many years, but what can dance teach
us about our relationship with nature? Gemma
Collard-Stokes, Research Fellow at the
University of Derby, explores how forms of
dance, especially the newly emerging
ecosomatic dance, can help us connect more
frequently with the nature around us.  
 Dancers experience body and place in a profoundly
different way to non-dancers. Through their training and
practice of particular forms of movement, dancers develop
highly attuned, conscious bodies that read, respond and
acknowledge the interconnections between body and the
natural world. The field of dance has largely remained
unacknowledged in discourse about the preservation and
cultivation of human relationships with nature. This may be due
to a lack of awareness outside the field, or dance’s failure to
communicate the depths of its knowledge in this area.
Nevertheless, there is a lot we can learn from the ways
dancers come to know and work with nature.  
 The intensity in which we are experiencing global
environmental challenges – climate change, Covid-
19, mass extinction, increased human suffering –
has energised activists and scientists alike to
consider new ways to strengthen universal
environmental consciousness. At present, it achieves
this by urging people to re-establish a connection
with nature based on evidence of its power to
improve wellbeing, social connectedness and
encourage pro-environmental behaviour.
 Fostering meaningful connections
with the natural world
Environmental dance artist Andrea Olsen (2014)
argues that it is time to shift focus towards
“experiencing ourselves inside rather than outside the
natural world”. During this time of “disembodied
rhetoric and environmental destruction”, our best hope
of bringing about change, inciting action and healing, is
to listen to the experiential knowledge of the body.
 DANCE AND CULTURE
REPORTERS:
JAIRYL DELOS SANTOS
JUSTIN CARMELO FACINABAO
JAY-R LAURIANO
 
Dance occupies an important place in the
social structure of all human cultures
throughout history. Dance is most commonly
defined as a way of human expression
through movement. But dance simply cannot
be reduced merely to movement. While it is
true that movement is indeed a fundamental
feature of dance, because dance can also be
defined as a specific art movement, based on
the expressive moves of the human body,
dance is also much more.
 A number of theoretical definitions of dance define it
as a conscious way of rhythmic movements of the body
in a defined bounded space, but these either sport-
kinesiological or art theories of dance usually overlook
many symbolic aspects of dance. In many cases, they
reduce dance to its physical component in terms of
aesthetically perfected rhythmic physical activity, but
they overlook the multiple roles and meanings that
dance has for the society in which it appears.
 Dance is a performance art form consisting
of purposefully selected sequences of human
movement. This movement has aesthetic and
symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance
by performers and observers within a particular
culture. Dance can be categorized and
described by its choreography, by its repertoire
of movements, or by its historical period or place
of origin.
 Historically, as Sachs (1997) notes, dance was at all
times and in all cultures (from the magic and animism of
Palaeolithic man to the indigenous religions of African
peoples and tribes; from the ancient civilizations of the East
and the ancient societies of medieval Europe to the Western
capitalist societies) tightly embedded in the life of a
particular society. It was a form of communication and an
integral part of the reproduction of the social system. To
paraphrase Bourdieu (1994: 4), I can argue that dance as a
specific language is a socially-historical phenomenon,
dependent on the space and time in which it exists and
dependent on the power structures that rule in that time.
Dance is a learned cultural practice; Polhemus (1993: 8)
says that societies create dances and that dance is actually
a ‘metaphysics of culture’, because a culture of specific
society is embodied in the forms of material and physical
culture, and the latter is also stylized and schematized in the
form of dance.
 Dance to different cultures may serve for the
purpose of:
1. expressing emotions, moods or ideas.
2. telling a story
3. Serving religions, political, economic or
social needs or
4. Being an experience that pleasure,
excitement or aesthetic value to
performers and audience.
 
REASONS WHY PEOPLE DANCE
REPORTERS:
FREX OFALLA
CHARAMAE SANCHEZ
IAN RAFAEL JAPSAY
KHIER HEBREW AGUAS
 Dance is the way we express ourselves when words
are insufficient.
 Dancing has become another way to communicate
with people.
 Great way to exercise and stay fit.
 We dance for mental clarity.
 We dance for emotional stability.
 Dance is the medium through which we show the
world who we truly are and who we can be.
Fitness
Getting in shape doesn’t have to be
boring. Dance offers numerous health
benefits including building strength and
endurance, better muscle control and
coordination, strengthening your heart
and posture, and increasing your
flexibility and overall strength
Self-Empowerment
Every individual dancer’s skill
set grows at a different rate.
Dancing requires self-discipline
and personal goal setting to
advance. Achieving one’s own
goal is very rewarding and offers
a priceless sense of
accomplishment.
Emotional Awareness
It’s easy to gain a new respect
of yourself and body when
learning new things. This
increases happiness and can
help lead to better emotional
stability and fulfilment.
 
Artistic Expression and Growth
Dancing is a great way to
express your artistic side without
picking up a paintbrush or glue
gun. Dancers use their creative
expression and artistry to create
their own dance routines and
choreography. This fosters
creative growth and helps build
their imagination and self-
confidence.
 
Academic Benefits
Dancers use the left and right side of
the brain together to compose and
execute their own routines. Creating
these dances helps build their verbal
and written skill set as well as helps
them with grammar and composition.
Additionally, dancers have a better
grasp of foreign languages as ballet
terminology is written in French.
 
Intellectual Growth
Dancing not only helps your physical
body but can also promote brain
development and increase learning skill
sets. Dancers rely heavily on patterns,
calculations, goal setting and problem
solving. Using these skills often has been
shown to increase overall academic
performance.
 
Social Skills
Dancing is a great way to build up your
social skills both professionally and
personally. Dancers have to work together
and communicate effectively to get their
routines down. Not only are their
communication skills strong, they also
learn how to cooperate with others and
develop social fundamentals that they use
in other aspects of their lives.
 
 
Cultural Understanding
There are many types of
dance styles. Learning a new
style can offer new insights to
other cultures and their history.
Medical Benefits
The other medical benefits that dancers
get to enjoy are stronger bones and a
substantial decrease in blood pressure.
Due to their weight management they have
lower cholesterol and more defined
muscles and muscle tone. All of this gives
them significantly reduced risk of heart
disease and osteoporosis.
Lower Stress
Although dance can be challenging,
it’s also fun and a great way to de-
stress. A stronger body and mind with
the addition of achieving goals aids in
reducing stress and feeling happier and
more fulfilled. It doesn’t get better than
that!
 DANCE OCCUPATION
REPORTERS:
JURVINE SINSON
LERRY JOHN VILLANCE
RYAN ALJHON DESALIT
 
Occupational dances depict the lifestyle and daily work of
the people living in various topographies. The fishing villages
from north to south of the archipelago developed folk dances
depicting their customs in the workplace. The Visayans created
a dance called the Panulo, which literally means fishing at sea in
the night with only the petroleum gas as light This dance offers
wholesome enjoyment to the barrio folks of Cadiz, Negros
Occidental after an abundant catch during fine weather.
Similarly, the An Labasero (fresh fish-vendor) of Catbalogan,
Samar depicts the simple fisher folk who, after vending fish,
merrily dances on his way home together with his friends and
neighbors. Like the dance An Labasero, the Rigatones (fish
vendor) shows a livelihood dance where a fisherman celebrates
his good sales by dancing and drinking. Salat ti Alat (fish
container) also shows a dance after a successful fishing
expedition
 In an agricultural country like the Philippines, the rice
field is practically the everyday-life space for many
Filipinos. The occupational dance called Buhay sa
Bukid(Life on the Farm) features working in the ricefield.
Pagtatanim (rice planting) displays the tedious work of
bending the body and stooping forward for almost the
entire day while planting rice. To ease the burden of work
they sing, play and jest to the accompaniment of a guitar.
Paggapas (harvesting) is danced when the palay (rice) is
ready for harvest. Paggi-ik (threshing) is also a dance
done by treading the harvested palay to separate the
grain from the stalks, or sometimes by striking them
against bamboo poles.
 Paghuhugas in the province of Laguna is a similar dance
activity portraying the swinging and striking of rice stalks with
musical accompaniment. Pahangin (winnowing) is the
women’s role of separating the unhusked grain from the chaff
by tossing them atop an elevated construction to be blown by
the wind. The most exciting of all these planting activities is
the Bayuhan (pounding rice) where all barrio folks gather to
celebrate and taste the fresh grain. The occasion is usually
done during full moon when the moonlight can witness the
pounding, dancing, singing, eating and merrymaking. This
merriment is customarily done specifically in the central plain
of Bulacan province. From these festivities, other dance
types also evolved the Katlob, that pictures men courting
ladies while harvesting. Balangbang from Pangasinan
portrays a dance after a series of planting and harvesting
activities for relaxation and fun.
 The Tiruray of Cotabato highlight their hard
work in a dance named Mag-asik (sowing
seeds). The B’laans meanwhile have the Maral
which is a series of dances depicting the
stages in upland rice planting. It starts from the
mabah, the farmer’s search for the kaingin
(swidden) area; the almigo or clearing of the
forest; the amla or the planting stage which
ends with the kamto, the harvest by women.
Upland rice planting is also the subject of a
Manobo dance named Talapak. The talapak is
a unique planting stick used to dig a hole
where the grain or seeds are placed.
 Other economic-based activities of the people is
performed by a dance called Mananguete (coconut
wine maker). Here, the dancer starts with sharpening
the sangot (scythe) followed by cleaning the Kawit
(bamboo container) and then climbing the coconut
tree. Afterwards, there is the extraction of the sap,
squeezing and straining the sap and finally tasting the
tubaor toddy.
The Pinuhag is an occupational dance of Bicol
province demonstrating the gathering of honey from
hives, closely akin to the Aeta dance called Pulot
Panilan performed by a honey collector. Pabirik is a
dance activity of the Bicolano imitating the movement
of gold panners.
 The Ilocano of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, noted for wearing
fine cotton cloth called Abel perform a dance called
Binatbatan. This depicts the beating of cotton pods to
separate the seeds from the fibers with the use of two sticks
called batbat. The dancers jump and hop outside and
between parallel sticks on the floor in time with the song and
music. The stick beaters interchangeably perform with the
dancers and vice-versa. The musical accompaniment
follows the fast or slow beating of the stick beaters. In
the coconut-rich province of Laguna in the Southern Luzon
region abounds the latik (coconut residue). This inspired the
barrio folks to dance the Maglalatik. After the huskers finish
their work, they drink and have fun by using the coconut
shells attached to the various parts of their body as
percussive instruments. The Tanobong named after a kind of
long coarse grass in Pangasinan, depicts the different steps
in making brooms.
END OF PRESENTATION