Dance History

As a youth, I engaged in many forms of dance expression. I studied tap, jazz, and ballet for fifteen years. During these formative years, I choose to forgo many youth experiences so that I could participate in advance dance programs. The hard work paid off when I received a college scholarship to a performing arts

Dance has always been a huge part of my life, it pretty much is my life. Ever since I have been four, I have been taking frequent dance classes every week in various different styles of dance. I started in Ballet and at the age of six, I started Highland. I have also done hip hop, jazz, modern and contemporary, but Highland was definitely the most rememberable.

At a very young age my mother asked me “do you want to do dance or gymnastics?” and I remember my reply was instantly “dance!”. From that moment forward I completely fell in love with ballet, and a couple of years ago I decided I would like to see myself grow up to become a professional ballerina.

After hundreds of years of evolution and development, tap dancing has become a truly authentic American artform. However, no two people can agree on exactly how or where the discipline began. Emmy-award winning tapper Jason Samuel Smith still holds an enormous amount of respect for the history of his artform. “Tap culture is all about celebrating the past and accumulating its vocabulary over time,” he says. “If we don’t maintain our history, we lose what is valuable about tap.” Despite the questionable and often debated origin of tap, the discipline stems directly from African roots due to articulate rhythmic and stylistic patterns of African dance, techniques consisting of gliding, shuffling and dragging steps, and the introduction of

I was a dancer for fourteen years, beginning at the age of four and ending at the age of 18. I participated in basically every type of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, modern, lyrical, and contemporary. Each year, I would participate in more classes than the last, and it eventually got to the point where I would be attending dance classes five or six days of my week. It definitely got tiring, but I still loved it. Dance is a great way to be able to portray emotions through movement, and I think that is very unique and special to participate in. It was a very huge part of my life, and so were the people teaching me. Dance and everything that came with it was a huge influence on my life, and it helped shaped me into the person I am today.

Since I was a little girl I’ve always been part of something. But none of the activities I did really filled me. I became part of a dance academy when I was 13 years old, and it was because my sister wanted to learn to dance for her Quinceañera. It’s kind of ironic how something that would be very important to me started so simple. But I guess that’s just how the best things in life happens.

Modern dance was created as a rebellion against the prevalent dance forms of the time, ballet and Vaudeville. It is a form of theatrical dance, known for its continual fusion of non-western style and ideas, which allows for a fresh source of movement inspiration. Choreographers rejected what they classified as the inflexible and imperialistic nature of ballet, and in order to be taken seriously as artists rather than simple entertainers they created a new art form. Artists Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, and Ruth St. Denis are considered to be the pioneers of modern dance in America. Dance is a social institution, recognized as being an important function in civilized life. The following essay will focus on the theory and work of artist Isadora Duncan, while incorporating lecture notes and articles of both authors Sally Bane and Ann Daly to explain the historical situations that culminated in the development of early modern dance. Arising from the 20th century modern dance was a form of cultural collaboration and exploration, as well as a resistance to colonial repression. Modern dance allowed for the experimentation of the new as well as a freer form of dance movement. Choreographers drew on exotic sources, and example of this illustrated in the work of Isadora Duncan with her use of Greek culture as a movement inspiration. Artists act as both the choreographer and performer creating their own conventions, or dance language.

Dance has always been a part of my life, and it was always fun to look back at old pictures and reminisce about all of the dance issues I had when I was younger. But as I got older and better, the growing stopped. I wasn’t learning as much new stuff, just perfecting old choreography. Ballet has never been my favorite dance style, my studio is more invested in lyrical and performance styles, like tap, jazz, and musical theatre. I originally only wanted to take ballet here because I wanted to be in the Nutcracker because it was something my studio doesn’t do. But this class brought me back to ballet basics, and I have seen major growth in my ballet technique, enough for my mom to notice. I’ve gotten a lot stronger at certain ballet barre warm

Nonetheless, I discontinued dance after high school to focus on my passion for science. Although, dance is something that I am appreciative of; it is what has made me the person that I am today. It

The history of tap originated in the United States from many styles of dance forms from different ethnicities such as African Tribal, Scottish Dance, Irish and English clog dances and jigs. Ever since then tap has been updated in many types of styles. Tap is a form of dance using tap shoes (shoes with metal plates in the heel and ball of the foot) striking the floor as a form of percussion. It is believed that African slaves and Irish servants had watched each other dancing on the plantations and combined them together to invent tap dancing, before it was believed that tap dancing came from an urban environment such as the Five Points District in New York City, where many ethnic groups lived together. Tap started between the mid and late 1800’s,

Ever since I was six years old, ballet has defined me. I was extremely passionate about making a career for myself through dance, and I spent all of my time in dance classes instead of other extracurriculars or social activities Ballet for me began in a small basement studio, doing twirls and jumps and receiving stickers from the teacher when I worked well. At age six it was fun, but as I turned eight, it became something different. I began attending the Boston Ballet School, and a passion for dance emerged.

I am Shanna Woods, a dancer, mother, life and college student, dance instructor and aspiring choreographer. I have dance before I could walk. I decided I wanted to dance after watching a video of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Giselle in the 5th grade. At that time, I didn’t know becoming a dancer was a possible career. It was just something we all did in the community; shaking our non-hips, doing the tootsie roll, and whatever we saw on the music videos. I remember making up dances for my friends and forcing my cousins to learn routines for family reunions and other gatherings. You can say, I was always a choreographer at heart. I began serious training at Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. I also studied chorus. I became a dance major at Dreyfoos School of the Arts also in West Palm Beach, FL. Through Dreyfoos I was exposed to Graham with Jan Goetz, contemporary modern with Gina Buntz, ballet with Jeff Satinoff, as well as guest artists like Ben Vereen and Reginald Yates. I also trained at Southern Dance Theatre in Boynton Beach where I studied ballet, jazz, and gained my love for Bob Fosse through Dancer’s Edge Dance Company.

My artistic involvement started when I was 2 years old in the sport of gymnastics. Once I was in middle school, I decided to transition into the dance aspect of the arts. Trying out for my middle school dance team was the best decision I've ever made, it has opened many doors for me and I am forever grateful for that. From dance, I have learned how to express what I'm feeling through movement, which is the greatest feeling. I am disciplined, hard working, and a one of a kind leader all because of dance.

On September 10th, I had the pleasure of attending the Shapiro and Smith Dance. The performance was a series of different dance numbers that used different elements of sound and movements to promote their ideas.

I began dancing when I was three years old and have loved every minute of it. For me, dance is an outlet. Whenever I dance it feels like nothing else matters. It makes me forget about all of the things that had been troubling me and gives me a safe place to be myself.