More than steps. More than performance. Discover how dance creates connection, gives emotional expression a new language, and opens possibilities for change.
Dance embodies the idea of change through its fundamental existence as body movement. Once each limb is repositioned, there is not only a structural change but a physiological one. To this end, it is common knowledge that movement helps us regulate the nervous system. Intentional or rhythmic movement helps regulate our sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Also, moving the body stimulates the production of feel-good and calming chemical messengers like dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and endocannabinoids(partly referred to as the “bliss molecule”), while reducing stress hormones like cortisol(stress hormone). But what about conceptual changes? How can dance activate pathways for societal change and spiritual growth?
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Spiritualism in Dance
Dance is a way of coming back to “the source” – true self or atman, plus the universal source or brahman. Dance and music are often used as spiritual tools for connection throughout time and across cultures. From Africa to the Middle East; from South Asia to the Indigenous cultures of North and South America, dance traditions and rituals connect communities to their divine. Ksenia Parkhatskaya, a renowned dancer and choreographer, states that “dance is a spiritual act.”
So, let’s just take a moment to reflect on possible childhood memories. Was there a time when you were alone or with a friend in a field spinning ‘round and round’ in continuous circles like a Sufi Dervish of the Mevlevi order? After a couple of minutes, maybe seconds, you fell to the ground in a bout of laughter. Your heart was beating so fast, and your brain was still spinning, but the feeling of elation was there. It is this act of dance or whirling that brings with it a connection to this elevated or higher state. These acts of ‘letting go’ to find a connection to self are what have driven many Western contemporary dance movements. Finding a way to listen to our bodies to speak a truth without using verbal language.
Contemporary Dance Moving Us Forward
During the mid-20th century, modern dance, which was a reaction to classical ballet, took on a broader direction called “contemporary dance”. Three main techniques in contemporary dance are:
- Contraction and Release: A method of tightening and relaxing muscles to show emotion and energy flow.
- Fall and Recovery: Using gravity and momentum to create movements that fall to the floor and rise back up.
- Improvisation: Allowing dancers to create movements freely in the moment.
It is the last technique of improvisation that opened a door to so many other platforms that touch on the idea of self-expression and healing through dance. During the 70s in North America, spiritualism and tapping into our emotional and energetic selves began another dance trajectory.
Dancing from the Inside Out
Ecstatic dance, 5Rhythms, and Contact Improvisation are three such departures. However, there are many more. To keep it simple, let’s look at these to begin with. All of them focus heavily on improvisation. As well, many involve attention to emotion as a guide for self-expression through movement.
Ecstatic Dance: Ecstatic dance is a form of dance in which dancers, sometimes without following specific steps, abandon themselves to the rhythm and move freely as the music takes them, leading to a trance-like state and a feeling of ecstasy. The effects of ecstatic dance begin with the feelings of ecstasy itself. Of course, this would be experienced in differing degrees. Dancers are described as feeling connected to others and to their own emotions. The dance serves as a form of meditation, helping people to cope with stress and to attain serenity.
5Rhythms™ is a movement meditation practice devised by Gabrielle Roth in the late 1970s. It draws from indigenous and world traditions, using tenets of shamanistic, mystical, and Eastern philosophies. 5Rhythms also pulls from Gestalt therapy, the human potential movement, and transpersonal psychology. Fundamental to the practice is the idea that everything is energy and moves in waves, patterns, and rhythms.
Contact Improvisation was developed in 1972 by dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton. It draws on the influences of modern dance, aikido, and somatic practices. Contact Improvisation emphasizes the interplay of gravity, momentum, and improvisation, fostering an experimental approach to movement that invites both professional dancers and newcomers into its global community. The practice involves continuous physical touch between dancers, where gravity, momentum, inertia, and friction shape their interactions.
In each of these practices, dance becomes a deep dive into the depths of the true self as reflected through body movements. So, an intuitive expression of the energetic being gives a conscious intersection where external dialogues reach a deeper level. This creates much more than dance; it creates conversations of energy both inside and outside of the self.
The Act of Dance as Activism
Moving away from traditional dance such as ballet is an act of resistance itself. During the 20th century, there were dance movements and dancers that rose above the fold. For example, Modern Dance took shape in the early decades through Martha Graham’s work. Many spectators were in awe of the less structured movements of contraction and release; fall, recovery, and its floor work. These various aspects allowed for a more emotive display of dance. With this, audience members were now breaking the fourth wall in a dance performance. A perfect example of this was through the dancer, Pearl Primus, performing “Strange Fruit”. This performance was one among many from Primus during the 1940’s.
Pearl Primus, born in Trinidad in 1919, burst onto the dance scene in 1943. Her family had moved to New York early on in 1921. Early in her dance career, she trained with the politically active New Dance Group. After their influences mixed with her own background, she choreographed a wide array of performances such as “Jim Crow Train” and “Strange Fruit” amongst others. She was a force on stage. Her silent performance in “Strange Fruit” was said to have had the greatest impact on the audience. They could hear the gasping intake of breath while her fists beat on the ground. “The physical iterations are not a metaphor for resistance but resistance in themselves,” states Dana Mills in her book, Dance as Activism. Primus’ impact on a generation of viewers went far beyond the stage. She establishes that, in the end, “the dance itself was not created for a dancer but as a statement to society and the world.”
Street Dancing Roots and Styles
Street dancing emerged in North America in the 60s-70s because minority (at the time) cultures were being excluded from formal dance studios. As an act of resistance and solidarity, African American, Latinx, and Caribbean communities cultivated the genre underground in public spaces.
Regional Roots: Different styles developed in specific urban centers:
- New York City: Breakin’ (breakdancing) and hip-hop social dances grew out of the South Bronx block parties and DJ breaks, while House dance evolved in underground clubs in New York and Chicago.
- California: Popping and Locking grew out of the 1970s funk era on the West Coast, alongside styles like Krumping later in Los Angeles.
- Club Culture: Queer underground scenes in cities like New York birthed styles like Voguing and Waacking as forms of radical self-expression and community
As time moved forward into the following decades, these subversive dance styles gained mainstream acceptance through music videos, film, corporately funded crew battles, and finally a globally recognized category within the 2024 Olympics. HISTORICAL TIMELINE
The street dance umbrella covers several distinct genres, detailed by the Rennie Harris American Street Dance Archive and explored across guides like Red Bull’s Street Dance Overview:
- Breakdancing (Breakin’): Characterized by top-rock (standing footwork), down-rock (floor work), freezes, and high-energy power moves.
- Popping: Built on sharp, sudden muscle contractions (“pops”) paired with robotic, wave-like, or animated illusions.
- Locking: A fun, character-driven funk style defined by sudden pauses (“locks”), pointing, and expressive gestures.
- Hip-Hop Dance: A foundational social and freestyle movement style tied directly to hip-hop music, rhythm, and attitude.
- House Dance: Focused on fast, rhythmic footwork, fluid torso grooves, and floor-to-air transitions.
- Waacking & Voguing: Expressive, arm-and-pose-dominant styles born from queer club culture
NOTE: In a future edition of SeeChangemakers, we will be expanding in depth and detail of Street Dance culture in an anticipated New Year’s Interview. For now, this gives the reader a quick survey of some of the basics of the genre.
A Dance Company that Explores Both
During our Facebook Live interview with Elon Hoglund of Tentacle Tribe Dance Company, we discussed the idea of Dance as a language of the spirit and body. Tentacle Tribe is known for their unique approach to dance, combining both Contemporary and Street Dance themes within their performances. They are currently touring and featuring their most recent show, DIRT at the CULTCH from NOV. 4-8th. Watch the video interview here:
Also explore our previous interview with Tentacle Tribe here to learn more about the dance company itself.