Dance History Research Paper

In my world, the sesamoid bone is pushed to unusual extremities, the ankles are turned out to a slightly less than perfect one-hundred and eighty degrees, and the back is always straight as can be. While it can be painful and so far has caused me a stress fracture, hyperextended elbow, and chondromalacia in both knees, it is what I fell in love with, and so have many others. The art of dance has been around since 3300 B.C. in paintings and as a way to pass stories through the generations. It has evolved from its origins, and some dancers have revolutionized the art. By not being afraid to take a chance and express themselves, people like Michael Jackson have revolutionized dance by creating their own styles, movements, and beats. Original dance moves such as Michael Jackson’s “moonwalk” are recognized internationally. It is rare, however, that dance can be said to be a revolution. If one has seen Stomp the Yard, they have also seen Footloose and Step Up, because it is all the same base …show more content…
I have been practicing ballet, hiphop, jazz, and lyrical all in a traditional studio setting, ending my years with fouettes across the floor of the Sovereign Performing Arts Center. While some styles are newer than others, I am still taking the work of others and passing it off as my own through the movements and emotions I portray through my body. There are strict instructions my muscles have been trained to follow. “Point your toes”, “straighten your leg”, “press your shoulders down”, all the basics, and all these rules have been set in stone by previous dancers. Watching the other dancers and myself as a whole, we are merely copying one another, picking up on the shoulder shrug or hip movement one does better than ourselves and mimicking it. The only difference from dancer to dancer lies within the emotions we portray. Allowing our emotions to spin out on the dance floor hides the plagiarism and makes each step appear different between