Dance is one of the oldest forms of nonverbal communication between people, prevalent in different forms in all cultures, dating back to the early stages of human life on earth. Chances are you’ve done some dancing yourself and may know the basics about today’s most popular dance forms like ballet, breakdancing, square dancing, and hip hop dancing. If you’re curious to know more about this ages-old art form, read on to learn some fascinating facts:
Dancing Away The Great Depression
During The Great Depression, dance contest marathons were a common way for people to escape their woes and earn some extra cash by winning prize money. Participants danced for hours and even whole days straight, taking only very occasional rests. Two Depression era dance marathoners named Mike Ritof and Edith Boudreaux danced for 214 days straight, setting a world record.
Origins of Ballet
Ballet began in Renaissance Italy, around the year 1500, when Catherine de Medici introduced new dance styles into French court life after her marriage to the king of France. In the early stages of ballet, the dancers wore heavy costumes and their garb limited their mobility, requiring ballet to consist of only very small repetitive motions. Later, when the dance form evolved over time and across various nationalities, the costumes became less elaborate and the art of ballet became freer and more complex.
Peripheral Vision
You probably know that dancers enjoy many health benefits because of the constant exercise they undertake. But did you know that professional dancers also develop superior peripheral vision? Since most choreographed dance routines require prescribed head angles, dancers can’t turn their heads, and so they have to use their eyes if they want to look to the side.
Ancient German Dancing
Many experts and dance scholars believe that the oldest surviving form of dance is the Austrian Schuhplattler (from the German for “shoe-dance”). The dance is so old that a written description of it exists in a poem written by a German monk 1030 called “Ruodlieb.” The dance apparently takes its inspiration from the mating ritual of a large grouse-like German bird called the capercaillie.
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