Does hip-hop dancing belong in the category of High dance or Don Pedro's beloved Vulgar dance? Like High dance, it is free-form. Like Vulgar dance, it is popular.
I'll put up a poll about it!
Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Just Dance
Sorry to bring up the subject again, but dance is my favorite type of art (not that music and literature aren't amazing, but hey) and I wanted to get some real aesthetical opinions on dance.
Now I definitely favor what I call the "vulgar" dances over current modern "high dance." While traditional high dance in very artistic (a.k.a. ballet and the like) of late most "high" dance seems utterly ridiculous. Case in point is the "ground breaking motion" of the Australian team on Superstars of Dance. I'm still not convinced that doesn't count as gymastics and not dance. It was certainly hard, but this is dance people, not a random aggregate of acrobatic moves without any connection.
By "vulgar" dance I mean dances that were born from people just being social. My favorites are the salsa, merengue, bachata, bomba, plena and the like; however, you are probably more familiar with ones like foxtrot, swing, the lindy, etc... Not only do these dances tend to be very flexible for whatever need (competition, reacreation, etc), they also have morphed into "high" dance which I believe is quite artistic. Case in point the Argentinian duet of the tango on Superstars of Dance. Phenominal! The tango is a perfect example, actually. It began in the brothels of Buenos Aires (what a beginning) and is now the world's most respected form of dance. Granted that there are significant diferences between tango fantasÃa (show tango) and tango arrabal (salon tango), the high dance was born from the vulgar dance.
I suppose I can summarize by saying that the vulgar dances are all that is left. I attribute the decline of high dance to a) apathy towards aethetics b) a desire to be different no matter what, even if you look like an entire retard doing so, and c) an isolation of dance from the other artistic media and cultural celebration. the "cutting edge" of dance is exactly that - something that I want to stay as far away from as possible.
Now I definitely favor what I call the "vulgar" dances over current modern "high dance." While traditional high dance in very artistic (a.k.a. ballet and the like) of late most "high" dance seems utterly ridiculous. Case in point is the "ground breaking motion" of the Australian team on Superstars of Dance. I'm still not convinced that doesn't count as gymastics and not dance. It was certainly hard, but this is dance people, not a random aggregate of acrobatic moves without any connection.
By "vulgar" dance I mean dances that were born from people just being social. My favorites are the salsa, merengue, bachata, bomba, plena and the like; however, you are probably more familiar with ones like foxtrot, swing, the lindy, etc... Not only do these dances tend to be very flexible for whatever need (competition, reacreation, etc), they also have morphed into "high" dance which I believe is quite artistic. Case in point the Argentinian duet of the tango on Superstars of Dance. Phenominal! The tango is a perfect example, actually. It began in the brothels of Buenos Aires (what a beginning) and is now the world's most respected form of dance. Granted that there are significant diferences between tango fantasÃa (show tango) and tango arrabal (salon tango), the high dance was born from the vulgar dance.
I suppose I can summarize by saying that the vulgar dances are all that is left. I attribute the decline of high dance to a) apathy towards aethetics b) a desire to be different no matter what, even if you look like an entire retard doing so, and c) an isolation of dance from the other artistic media and cultural celebration. the "cutting edge" of dance is exactly that - something that I want to stay as far away from as possible.
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