The Dancer & the Labyrinth

 

I

Introduction

 

According to Kassing (2007), from its origins dance served as a medium for magic and religion through rituals and ceremonies. For early societies, a ritual was a series of acts established through tradition. Ceremonies, on the other hand, signify or celebrate an important event.Ceremonies are performed by enacting strictly prescribed rituals.


II

Learning Objectives

 

  • Understand the outer and inner aspects of dance in non-literate societies during prehistory.
  • Explain the importance of dance ornaments
  • Gain an awareness of the role of the mind's eye in the development of art
  • Discuss the role of the shaman in these early societies
  • Articulate what cave art suggest in reference to dance 
  • Experience the labyrinth


III

Main Lesson


1


The Dancer

Take a look at the diagram on page 29 of Kassing (2007)

 

Source: Kassing, Gayle (2007). History of Dance: 

An Interactive Arts Approach. Human Kinetics

 

Question 1

Which are the outer and inner aspects of the dance in non-literate or prehistoric societies?



2

 

LINK 

Evolution of Art in the Hominid Lineage

Pag. 429 - 430 

Question 2

Why individuals creating and wearing adornments presumably out-reproduced those who did not? 

Question 3

Why is the development of the mind's eye important for the evolution of art?

 ----------------

 

  3


 

Question 3

What does cave art suggest in reference to dance? 

---- 


4

 

Source: Kassing, Gayle (2007). History of Dance: 

                                    An Interactive Arts Approach. Human Kinetics

Dancers and Personalities (Page 20) 

 Question 4

What was the role of the shaman?



5

Reading

 

Read this excerpt on page 35 of Kassing's.

"Labyrinth dances suggest mystery or secret societies and often were associated with initiations." 


Question 5

Why would you say the Labyrinth dance suggest mystery?

 

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IV

A Note to Remember

 Prehistoric dance was very basic. It used everyday movements. It served as an important means of communication. Since nearly everyone in early communities danced, the movements were simple. Dance unified people as they celebrated family and community life events. As a medium  to express and communicate critical information, dance was integral to survival, hunting, war and healing. 

 

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V

 Case Study

Anna Halprin



Anna Halprin (born Hannah Dorothy Schuman; July 13, 1920 – May 24, 2021) was an American choreographer and dancer. She helped redefine dance in postwar America and pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to herself as a breaker of the rules of modern dance. In the 1950s, she established the San Francisco Dancers' Workshop to give artists like her a place to practice their art. 

 

Exploring the capabilities of her own body, she created a systematic way of moving using kinesthetic awareness. With her husband, landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, she developed the RSVP cycles, a creative methodology that includes the idea of scores and can be applied broadly across all disciplines. Many of her creations have been scores, including Myths in the 1960s which gave a score to the audience, making them performers as well, and a highly participatory Planetary Dance (1987). Influenced by her own battle with cancer and her healing journey, Halprin became known for her work with the terminally ill patients as well as creative movement work in nature. 


In 1978, together with her daughter Daria Halprin, she founded the Tamalpa Institute, based in Marin County, California, which offers training in Life/Art process, their creative methodology. Halprin has written books including: Movement Rituals, Moving Toward Life: Five Decades of Transformational Dance and Dance as a Healing Art. A documentary film about her life and art, Breath Made Visible directed by Ruedi Gerber, premiered in 2010.

 

Circle the Mountain



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VI


 Activities

 

1

Link: How to Draw a Labyrinth

See the link above and choose the labyrinth model you like best. 

Draw your own labyrinth on a piece of paper.

 

2

 

  • Observe an animal
  • Incorporate some of the movements.
  • Trace your labyrinth on the floor.
  • Use the labyrinth you drew as a pathway for your dance
  • Reach the center of your labyrinth 
  • Decide on the intention of your dance
  • Become a symbolic shaman 
  • Create your dance.


3


Work in teams. Use the chairs in the room to create the group's  own labyrinth. Choose who will play the Minotaur; who sits in the middle? Organize the passage of each member through the labyrinth, making a stop in the center where the Minotaur and the student exchange a symbolic gesture, to then continue to exit.

Following Anna Halprin's premise that a dance ritual is a dance with a purpose, they choose what to walk for prior entering the labyrinth.


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VII


Student's Work 

 

I. Discussion Questions

 

 II.   Labyrinth Dance

Dance with Chairs

 

Dance with Mind's Eye




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