Dance Steps Research Articles

Tanzen gegen die Sünde? Zum Tanzkapitel in Meister Ingolds ‚Guldin Spil‘

AbstractIn the 15th century, play and dance were expressively criticised. This makes it all the more remarkable for the Dominican Meister Ingold to identify, in his ‘Guldin Spil’, not only chess, cards and dice as some of the seven games useful to overcome the seven deadly sins, but also dance. Ingold, however, does not praise the outward dance. Rather, he intends to turn the reader towards what may be called inner contemplation or Betrachtung, with the various stages of Jesus’ life are transformed into dance steps. The result is an odd conflict: external dance may have negative connotations, yet lays the mental groundwork for the inner Betrachtung. This article aims to explore this area of conflict by examining the various traditions of interpretation which may have influenced Ingold.

The Medicine of Salsa

Psychiatric rehabilitation aims to promote health recovery from significant losses, both physical and psychological, that have derailed the lives of adults and young adults so that they can actively participate in rebuilding and recreating themselves. The population faces premature morbidity and experiences higher than average rates of chronic and life-threatening disorders, including diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD, trauma- and stressor related disorders, and schizophrenia. When participants join any of the BU Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation programs, they take on the role of student, increasing their knowledge, skills, and supports to further their personal goals and recovery journeys.Several of the mind-body, rehabilitation interventions I design and teach utilize music, singing, and dance to boost mood and motivation, facilitate social connection, increase concentration, improve memory, create new positive memories, deepen respiration, promote movement, and elicit the relaxation response. In addition, I use seated and walking meditation (often combined with nature sounds, music, chanting, and/or singing) to cultivate attention, curiosity, awareness, acceptance, an expanded perspective, accurate perceptions, compassion, and optimism. The poem The Medicine of Salsa was inspired primarily by my 13-week intervention entitled Mindful Music, Dance, and Meditation that I have been teaching and developing since 2014. The students learned to dance a variety of upbeat West Indian and Latin dances, starting with the English language lyrics of reggae, calypso, soca and advancing into the unfamiliar rhythms of cumbia, merengue, cha-cha-cha, and salsa, all sung in Spanish lyrics. My intention was to introduce new songs with wholesome and optimistic lyrics so that they would not trigger negative or distressing memories.Each 90 minute class was structured by a check-in, listening to and singing new music, a review of dance steps from the previous class, learning and practicing a new dance with recorded music (in the large group and then in small groups, and/or with partners), a seated meditation, and a short feedback session. At the end of each class, students reported feeling energized yet calm, present, hopeful, and more positive, confident, connected to each other, happy, and focused.

Квінтесенція соціальних танців

Main objective of the study is to comprehension of possible potential opportunities for presenting social dance in Ukrainian choreography; the identification of the main vectors of the historical conditions of its development as independent forms of choreographic art; to identify and define the key characteristics of social dance; form a definition of the term social dance. Methodology. The general scientific method of objectivity, historicism, comparison and system. The method of objectivity and historicism made it possible to trace the prerequisites, the main stages in the formation and development of social dance. The method of comparison was used in the analysis of sports-ballroom and social dance, makes it possible to identify the common and distinctive features. The system approach allowed a comprehensive approach to the problem. Important elements are the interconnection of its parts – the structural elements of everyday, ballroom, folklore dance. The method of observation is used for the analysis of social dance, has revealed its international character and at the same time the foundations of national and style parameters. Scientific novelty: the scientific researches on social dance in art history research of 20–21 centuries are generalized; specifies the specificity of social dance in the newest artistic and creative forms; the categorical apparatus of descriptions of social dance is specified. Conclusions. Social dance to originate from a ballroom and folk dance formed their respective forms, which nearly a hundred years of history have developed a simple and affordable, the canons of performance, manners, the position of performers in pairs and basic dance steps simplification, clarity of rhythm and dynamics of their implementation. According to the fact that they are performed both at balls, and at parties of rest, and at home. From the foregoing, we can formulate the following definition: social dance – dancing or dance styles of the different nations of the world, which are predominantly for leisure, communication between partners, their main goal is to achieve positive emotions rather than choreographic virtuosity. They are of Latin American and folklore origin. Social dance – a new perception of dance culture of the present, the main of which is easy and effortless execution of any type of dance, whose goal is the satisfaction of aesthetic, social and communication needs of the person, and not for professional performance or sporting achievements.

Collaborative Couple Dance Therapy

Dance has been used as a metaphor by couple therapists such as Johnson (1996) for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) (Johnson, 1996). However, Johnson preferred to have the couples do the leading in the therapy albeit staying at the realm of metaphor. As a result, the therapy is slow and her outcome studies take at least 12 sessions (Johnson, 1996). Whilst dance as a metaphor is useful, couples need more direction. They are like the novice dancer coming to learn some form of dance new to them or to brush up their dance steps of a dance they have not been dancing for a while and expect the therapist to be much more leading as the expert dance instructor. Instead the Emotionally Focused Couple Therapist (EFCT) would spend many sessions doing just validation of both parties - in order to de-escalate their communication dynamics (Johnson, 1996). This akin to allowing the couples fumble in their out of rhythm dance steps. In this paper a new model of couple therapy based on the dance metaphor which is much more directional and collaborative than that used in EFCT will be presented and it will be shown that this model is more efficient and effective as a form of couple therapy and psychotherapy. Of course, the same dance still needs to be adapted for each couple differently as they have different needs - different heights, different tastes and different passions. The specific dance steps for the couple will be collaboratively created by the Couple Collaborative Dance Therapist (CCDT).

Dance therapy for Parkinson's disease: A randomised feasibility trial

Background/Aims: To examine the feasibility of two dance programmes for people with Parkinson's disease directed towards improving mobility, balance, gait, and quality of life. Methods: A pilot randomised controlled trial was conducted in Australia. People with idiopathic Parkinson's disease who scored I–IV on the modified Hoehn and Yahr scale were randomly allocated to one of two groups: Argentine tango or mixed-genre (incorporating several dance styles) therapeutic dancing. Dance classes were conducted for 1 hour, once a week for 8 weeks. Concurrently, participants completed a home dance programme. They received a video with 40 minutes of dance steps to be performed at home once a week. In-person group classes comprised a 10-minute warm-up, 45 minutes of dancing routines, and a 5-minute cool-down. Feasibility was the primary outcome, quantified by the number of people agreeing to participate, completion of pre- and post-intervention assessments, attendance, compliance with the classes, and adverse events. Secondary outcomes included mobility, balance, gait, motor disability, and quality of life. Findings: A total of 42 people were screened and 21 participated in the classes. Of these, 18 returned for reassessments. The average compliance with the eight group dance classes was 70% (six classes). No adverse events occurred. Among the secondary outcome variables, statistically significant improvements occurred in mobility, balance, and motor disability in the tango group. Freezing of gait improved for the mixed-dance group. Conclusions: Argentine tango and mixed-genre therapeutic dancing classes accompanied by home programmes are feasible and safe for people in the early to mid stages of Parkinson's disease.

Polka Heartland: Why the Midwest Loves to Polka by Dick Blau and Rick March

Reviewed by: Polka Heartland: Why the Midwest Loves to Polka by Dick Blau and Rick March Kari Veblen Dick Blau and Rick March, Polka Heartland: Why the Midwest Loves to Polka. Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2015. 200 pp. $29.95. In Polka Heartland, glorious photographs and compelling narrative showcase the polka as a midwestern genre with particular focus on the Wisconsin context. Stereotypes are simple—contemporary cultural practices are anything but. In the case of the polka, this infectious art-form defies easy classification. The polka is both a dance and a loosely defined kind of music. Neither music nor dance steps are monolithic as there are diasporic interpretations through German, Polish, Croatian, Tex-Mex, Irish, Czech-Bohemian, Yugoslav, Scandinavian, and other polka variants. Collaborators Dick Blau and Rick March create an absorbing account here with their combined talents. Professor Emeritus of Film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dick Blau's photography is exhibited in [End Page 100] numerous museum collections. Blau's subjects range from psychological portraiture, to personal family dynamics, to celebrations that include music and dance, ritual and gesture. He has documented polka extensively and co-authored three photo-ethnographies. Musician and folklorist Richard March brings his deep immersion in the polka scene as well as his considerable experiences as Wisconsin State Folklorist and co-host of Wisconsin Public Radio's "Down Home Dairyland." These collaborators are well positioned to continue the growing scholarship of this vernacular practice alongside colleagues such as James P. Leary, Victor Greene, Robert Waltzer, Charles Keil, Angeliki Keil, Paula Savaglio, David J. Jackson, Ann Hetzel Gunkel and others. The book unfolds in ten chapters, beginning with the author's own connections to polka, followed by an account of the 1986 Ellsworth Polka Festival. Chapter two explores origins of the polka, which exploded as a European dance fad in the 1840s. March examines and questions early accounts of traditional origins: Connecting the polka to peasant origins would have appealed to Romantic-era intellectuals, who were infatuated with the idea of peasant culture but had little knowledge of actual peasants and their ways. … In fact, no one can show a specific central European peasant dance that clearly is the antecedent of the polka. (27) March considers the waltz, an earlier couples' dance that shocked conservative sensibilities, to be a more likely model for the later, even more shocking polka. Chapter three traces polka's migration to America as a craze hitting New York in the 1840s. At this time polka was a mainstream dance unconnected to ethnicity and so popular that entrepreneurs linked their products to the dance. Save for the polka dot, most of these commercial enterprises are forgotten. Polka sheet music illustrations memorialize local doings and fashions: fabulous fowls on display for Barnum's National Poultry Show, Punch and Judy puppet shows, and politically oriented themes such as "The Battery Wagner" honoring the Southern Confederacy. The "Hippopotamus Polka" commemorated the 1850 gift of a young hippo to the London Zoo from the Ottoman pasha of Egypt and is preserved in a copper-plate etching of a hippopotamus in suit coat cavorting with a hoop-skirted lady in ringlets and bows. [End Page 101] American variations of the dance are explored through chapter four. Factors such as the development of instruments (saxophone, accordions and concertinas) and instrumental groups such as the brass band and marching band fed into emerging polka variations. March comments that nationally-identified polka traditions were in a period of incubation from the 1880s to 1920s, and that ethnic variations beginning to emerge toward the end of that time period. Chapters five through nine sample the diversity of current polka styles in the Upper Midwest: Wisconsin "Bohemian," Dutchman-style, Polish, Slovenian, and Mexican variations. In this section vignettes, mini-ethnographies, and interviews brings the dance to life. Key figures in each genre as well as instrument makers, important musical families, and influential bands are highlighted. As well, there are interludes throughout the book devoted to beer's long association with the dance, the Polka Mass, the Concertina Bar and other topics. In chapter five, the Wisconsin "Bohemian" style is represented by an array of ensembles derived from town...

Relacije plesova i grupnih fitnes programa

Group fitness programmes are popular exercise programmes, the number of which is large, and the trend of new ones being developed is getting more frequent. In fact, direct practice, the development of the fitness industry, fitness equipment and props impose the need for the emergence of new fitness programmes. The main characteristic of the programme is the performance of the movement to music, which was first realised in the form of aerobic dance, at the beginning of the 1970s. Accordingly, the aim of the work was to determine the relations between dances and group fitness programmes. The paper describes the influence of dancers in the development of aerobic exercise programmes to music, the representation of dance structures and the importance of music in the implementation of a lesson. A special reference is made to the contribution of Jackie Sorensen, Judy Shepherd Miset and Alberto Beto Perez to the emergence of aerobic dance, jazz and zumba. In this context, the division of movement structures into changeable, unchangeable and neutral steps is described, with particular reference to the distribution of dance steps. In addition, basic music concepts important for the implementation of a class, such as beat, phrase, a small music sentence and a big music sentence are also defined. In conclusion, it is stated that dances influenced the emergence and development of group fitness programmes, and that dance structures, phrased and unphrased music represent the basis of most fitness programmes.

‘Southern’ Northern Soul: Changing Senses of Direction, Place, Space, Identity and Time

‘Southern’ Northern Soul: Changing Senses of Direction, Place, Space, Identity and Time

The Biomechanics and Motor Control of Tap Dancing.

Although tap dancing is a popular dance genre, little is known about the biomechanics and motor control of this complex motor skill. We conducted a detailed 3D kinematic analysis of movement timing, amplitude, and symmetry in three experienced female tap dancers. Kinematic analyzes of three basic tap dance steps (nerve beats, brush brush stamps, and heel ball walks) were undertaken. A 10-camera Vicon motion analysis system was used to collect the data. The results showed the feet and knees to play a major role in movement execution. Each step required at least 10° of ankle motion (range: 10° to 66.8°). Knee range of motion varied from 1.3° to 147.4°. For each of the dance steps the hips showed the smallest amplitude of movement, which was not greater than 21° in two out of the three dance steps. Analyzes of movement timing showed that each of the dance steps was fast, accurate, and well synchronized. The nerve beats took on average 0.50 seconds, the brush brush stamps 1.36 seconds, and the heel ball walks 4.03 seconds. A high degree of symmetry in total movement amplitude was evident at the ankles,knees, and hips for the nerve beats and heel ball walks. There was a mild degree of asymmetry at the hip for the brush brush stamp steps (symmetry index 90%). The results showed that experienced dancers had very high levels of proficiency in controlling movement amplitude, timing, and inter-limb coordination across the ankles, knees, and hips. This resulted in skilled, fast, and well executed dance steps.

Experience of Touch in Health Care: A Meta-Ethnography Across the Health Care Professions.

Touch mediates health professionals' interactions with patients. Different professionals have reported their practices but what is currently lacking is a well-theorized, interprofessional synthesis. We systematically searched eight databases, identified 41 studies in seven professions-nursing (27), medicine (4), physiotherapy (5), osteopathy (1), counseling (2), psychotherapy (1), dentistry (1)-and completed a meta-ethnographic line-of-argument synthesis. This found that touch is caring, exercises power, and demands safe space. Different professions express care through the medium of touch in different ways. They all, however, expect to initiate touch rather than for patients to do so. Various practices negotiate boundaries that define safe spaces between health care professions and patients. A metaphor-the waltz-integrates the practice of touch. Health care professionals connect physically with patients in ways that form strong relationships between them while "dance steps" help manage the risk that is inherent in such an intimate form of connection.

A protein’s ‘dance steps’ affect its biological function

A new microspectroscopy technique can track changes in the directions of complex protein vibrations. The method could enable researchers to determine how an enzyme responds when an inhibitor binds to it, for instance, or when the enzyme develops a mutation. At the ACS national meeting in San Francisco on April 4, physicist Andrea G. Markelz of the University at Buffalo, SUNY, reported that by using her group’s technique, anisotropic terahertz microscopy, she found that a protein can undergo large changes in “global vibrations,” which resemble intricate protein dance steps, even though the protein vibrational energy hardly changes (Biophys. J. 2017, DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.12.049). Researchers had assumed that biologically relevant changes in global vibrations would be accompanied by obvious changes in a protein’s vibrational energy states. But until now, scientists have been limited to measuring energy state distributions, and studies have shown that those didn’t really change. So researchers concluded th...

THE TRANSITION OF SINULOG DANCE FESTIVAL IN THE FACE OF MODERNIZATION

This study analyzed the evolutionary transition of the Sinulog-based dance in Cebu, Philippines. It also sought to: contrast the traditional Sinug Dance and the contemporary Sinulog-based dance in terms of the dance steps, musicality, ritual, costumes, and the reason or purpose of dancing; identify the effects of the changes in the Sinulog-based dance in the tourism industry of Cebu City as a whole; generate a theory which serves as framework of the evolutionary transition of the Sinulog-based dance. A collective case study design with naturalistic observation was utilized. The transition of the traditional Sinug dance to the contemporary Sinulog dance was ignited by the change of external factors indicated in the Theory of Cultural Transition. The traditional Sinug dance was on the brink of extinction without the help of certain individuals and organization who took part in preserving this potential cultural heritage, as a response to the essentialist challenge posed by the cultural heritage advocates. The contemporary Sinulog dance transcended to a new culture after the Sinug was obliterated to a more progressivist view of change to increase tourist attraction catapulted to a more commercialized endeavor for tourism and business development opportunities.

Selecting, Teaching and Assessing Physical Education Dance Experiences

Dance is a form of physical activity that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. Students at the elementary level benefit greatly from successful experiences in dance that lead to competency in various dance forms as well as an appreciation of personal expression through dance. Teaching dance, however, may not be comfortable or easy for beginning teachers, and perhaps even for experienced teachers. The purpose of this article is to provide physical education teachers with criteria for selecting developmentally appropriate, structured dances for elementary children as well as to provide tools for teaching and assessing these dance experiences. Specific dances appropriate for elementary-age children are provided along with a progression of dance steps from simple to complex that correspond with elementary grade levels.

Negotiating the contrary craft of the triple-threat

This monograph seeks to develop a strategy through which musical theatre performers can negotiate the contradictory requirements of the three disciplines they must master; dancing, singing, and acting. Additionally, it seeks to further discussion across the disciplines at a pedagogical level. Using an Action Research model, this investigation explores the relevant commonalities and differences between the disciplines through an analysis of pertinent literature and practice followed by experimentation in the studio. The strategy was tested on a small sample group of students and observed by colleagues, all of whom provided detailed reflection and discussion. This experimental workshop revealed the participants were able to implement the strategy with little difficulty, and it was concluded by all present it improved the fullness of their phonation, their articulation, their stress levels during performance, the precision of their dance steps, and their confidence.

Promoting Care Giving Interventions through the Dance of Caring Persons (After Pross et al.)

Health and social care staff work in complex workplace cultures that expose them to human suffering, distress and ‘dis-ease’. To defend themselves from emotional and physical pain, staffs undertake tasks, rituals, customs and practices to ameliorate discomfort. This serves as psychological and physical protection from their clients; alien to the ethos of person centred compassionate care. The dance of caring persons is a metaphor for the physical and emotional interaction of a caring relationship. Being facilitated through each of the dance steps offers one way to reignite caring professions. We outline a workshop process aimed to re-engage care staff with an intention to care. Self-care is the first step, which at an intentional, meaningful level requires a moment of mindfulness as internal bodily awareness. Noticing one’s emotional state increases self-awareness and an ability to focus on the here and now, from which to relish the breadth and depth of human experience. The second step includes a moment of performance; through intentional use of non-verbal communication to welcome and engage with others. The third step of the dance is active and effective verbal communication used to purposefully enter into a caring relationship. The fourth step is critical creative discussion, following mutual reflection of what has gone before. Step five is resonance; delving deeper into understanding the emotional and body senses, exploring the words exchanged, their intention and ‘true’ meaning. Step six is the creation of a ‘collage of caring’. Fragments of mutual learning, emotive expression and reactions (impact) are captured in the final exchange undertaken by all involved in the caring process. The dance of caring persons aims to identify the dance steps each person contributes to the context of caring. Such a compendium of caring provokes a deeper understanding of self in relation to the other, within the context of health and social care interactions.

The winged figure in the “Villa dei Misteri” fresco and the spinning top in ancient rituals

This paper focuses on the megalography of the “Villa dei Misteri” and its winged figure provided with a scourge. A few literary sources suggest a new interpretation of her action. In particular, I believe that this character hints at a whipping actually echoed in Dionysiac rituals. This whipping was aimed at prompting the acolyte to a whirling dance step. This choreography was based upon the parallelism between the dancer and a spinning top, traditionally put in motion by a δάκνον-πληγή of an οἶστρος-stimulus. The infernal shape of the figure evokes the Furies of Iuno, who commonly bear stimuli to produce a Dionysiac mania. The presence of a Dionysiac “spinning top dance” is also consistent with the hierogamic theme central in the fresco, since the spinning top was also connected to the female initiations (which in my opinion are evoked in the megalography) and to the symbolism of love, marriage and, more generally, of life – through the parallelism with the spindle, too.

What Is Shared Decision Making? (and What It Is Not).

Both the practice of medicine and the expectations of patients regarding their care are changing. A point of confluence is in the need for medicine to be more patient centered, and in the need for patients to be more involved in their care.1,2 This confluence is particularly pertinent when more than one reasonable approach is available to manage the patient's situation, and when those approaches differ in ways that matter to patients.3 In shared decision-making (SDM), clinicians and patients work together to understand the patient's situation and to determine how best to address it. Emergency medicine is not exempt from these trends. In this paper we seek to define SDM and its role in contemporary healthcare. Our goal is to set the stage for the active exploration of SDM in the care of patients in the emergency department. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Effects of a dance therapy programme on quality of life, sleep and blood pressure in middle-aged women: A randomised controlled trial

Background and objectiveEvidence suggests that dance therapy may have positive effects in areas such as cardiovascular parameters and sleep. The aim of the present study is to explore whether a dance therapy programme improves sleep and blood pressure in a population of middle-aged pre-hypertensive and hypertensive women. MethodsA randomised controlled trial was conducted, in which participants were assigned to one of 2 groups: standard care (with usual activities and medication) or dance therapy (in which the participants followed a dance therapy programme, in addition to their medication). The intervention was an 8-week, 3-times-per-week, progressive and specific group dance-training programme. The dance steps were specifically designed to improve balance by shifting the body and relocating the centre of gravity. The main measures obtained were blood pressure, sleep quality and quality of life, measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the European Quality of Life Questionnaire. ResultsSixty-seven pre-hypertensive and hypertensive middle-aged women were randomised to either an intervention group (n=35) or a control group (n=32) after baseline testing. The intervention group reported a significant improvement in blood pressure values (p<0.01), as well as in sleep quality (p<0.05) and quality of life (p<0.001), compared to the control group. ConclusionThe dance therapy programme improved blood pressure, sleep and quality of life in pre-hypertensive and hypertensive middle-aged women, and constitutes an interesting basis for larger-scale research.

Learning, Teaching and Assessing Dance in Physical Education

Many physical educators have limited dance experience and may lack the skills, knowledge and confidence to teach dance in their school programs. Yet, including dance units in physical education curriculums can provide positive experiences for students who may not enjoy traditional instruction. This article provides step-by-step instructions for physical educators to learn and teach dance steps. Included are considerations for finding music, sample dance steps, dance sequences, and implementing PE Metrics to assess the performance of students in grades 3 through 12. Alignment to the student outcomes in dance, according to SHAPE America's National Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education, is also presented.

Dance Steps, Nationalist Movement: How Hindu Extremists Claimed Garba-raas

In the fall of 2014, I drove two hours from my little college town of Manhattan, Kansas, for a participatory Garba-raas (a Gujarati dance form) event at a big convention center outside Kansas City....