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Whether or not it's relevant, I have ASD, and while it usually isn't an issue, I've recently realised I just don't understand dance. Nothing about it is intuitive, I've never had an inclination to dance, and I am hopelessly unable to evaluate dance in any fashion (at least for now, I suppose). So, any descriptions that rely on personal experience or dispositions is going to be completely lost on me.
So that I could answer this question well, I put on some headphones and danced in my living room for a while. I also danced because it's fun and I wanted to. I've been dancing (non-professionally) for about ten years now.
From both my experiences and my observations of other dancers and choreographers, here's what dance boils down to:
Dance is movement
Dance is picture making
Dance is storytelling
Dance is expression
Dance is emotional
So let's go through those.
Movement
Dance, like any form of kinetic activity (football, gymnastics, boxing, fencing, kayaking, parkour, etc.) is all about movement. However, what separates dance from these other activities is that the movement is not a means to an end per se, but rather the focus. Moving your limbs to the beat of the music, hitting your mark, moving with musicality, that's what dance is all about. So you might be thinking, but why?
Picture Making & Storytelling
A painter will create a picture with a brush and paint and a composer a symphony with notes, chords, and key signatures. A dancer creates a picture with their body and a story with their choreography. There are so many ways to twist, bend, and otherwise position the human body. Take those permutations and add multiple bodies along with time and you've got a world of combinations to use for your metaphoric canvas.
Expression
But you keep asking, why? What is this all for? Ultimately, dance is a form of self-expression. Some people write poetry, some people carve ice, some people write complex mathematical proofs. Some, prefer to move their bodies to music and/or create choreography with companies of dancers moving in tandem. It's about having an idea and bringing it to life. Creation. It's a huge rush to see something bouncing around in your head come into reality. And lastly...
Emotional
Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon says, "We need emotional content." And he's right. He was far ahead of his time in the sense that he viewed martial arts as not just a combative sports activity but a form of movement. A way of expressing oneself authentically. Movement without emotion becomes mechanical, soulless. This applies especially to dance. You put a dancer who is just going through the motions next to a dancer who is passionate and putting themselves into every single movement... I guarantee you will notice a difference.
Personally, dance is one of the most enjoyable activities a person can engage in. I dance when I'm happy as well as when I'm sad. Moving your body without the constraints of mundane activities - that feels a bit like freedom.
To try it out yourself, I recommend locking yourself in a room somewhere, without distractions. Put on some music. Try not to think too much. Let the music speak to you. Move.
I hope this breakdown helps.
Written Jun 21, 2015 • View Upvotes
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Edward Mitchell
Edward Mitchell, Professional DJ & Dancer - Ridiculous Enthusiast
272 Views • Most Viewed Writer in Dance (activity) with 60+ answers
I really appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into Peter's answer, so I'm going to try not to repeat him (too much).
I'm going to approach your question from a choreographic and psychological perspective.
Without changing anything you do from day to day, imagine that you are dancing. That your actions of waking, working, socializing, etc... It is all one big dance. I don't mean as a metaphor either. But that it is actually one big dance, with choreography, improvisation, repeated phrasing, rehearsals, performances, mistakes and recoveries.
Yours patterns of movement - how you get out of bed, how you brush your teeth, how you travel long distances - this is your movement vocabulary and phrasing. Your repeated actions like going to work, or going to a favourite restaurant or club are your themes - they bring certainty, your unique vacations and detours are your variations - they bring spice.
The notion that some codified dance forms (aka styles, traditions) are the only dances is preposterous. The idea that to be a good dancer is to do one of those dances, and only those dances, well, is too limiting. The language of dance (just as the languages of theatre, visual arts, prose, or architecture) is all you need to have to recognize that you are already an amazing dancer, because if you have the wherewithal to ask a sophisticated question like this, to be self-reflective, then you are living an examined life. And that is all dance is - an examination of the human condition (or a reflection of some other condition through a human vessel) and the expression of your discoveries through movement.
You are a dancer. We are all dancers.
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