Practicum Performance Analysis: A Dance Through The Ages

In “A Dance through the Ages,” a practicum performance focusing on various social and courtly dances throughout many generations, two distinct sections of the dance are evident: a montage of more formal, courtly dances and a montage of more fun, racy social dances. These two distinct categories are meant to represent a chronologically accurate record while also providing the audience with a glimpse at the evolution of formality in dance. Beginning with the Pavane, the dance progresses to the Minuet and eventually to a nineteenth century Waltz. After a quick break in the music, the performance provides a glimpse of Swing, Disco, and social hip hop dances of today. Although the overall performance intends to depict the progressing decrease in formality over time, a dance historian would immediately point out that one of these dances is incorrectly placed into the “formal” category—the nineteenth century Waltz. …show more content…
However, if a modern Waltz was included in the formal section, the chronological accuracy would be sacrificed. Instead, by including the nineteenth century Waltz in the formal section of our performance, the audience is misled regarding the significance of the nineteenth century Waltz. For the most part, the performance provides accurate representations of the dances according to chronology and formality; however, by including the Waltz in the reserved section of our performance, historical accuracy is lost and historical context is altered, since, during the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Waltz was not yet considered the honorable dance it is regarded as