Anthropomorphic symbolic images in the Ukrainian folk dancing culture

The purpose of the article is to define the semantics of the actional forms and compositional structures of circle dances and dancing pantomimes featuring the anthropomorphic images which are characteristic of the traditional annual calendar, rites of passage, and family routine ceremonialism laying the original background of the Ukrainian artwork. The methodology rests on the grounds of the complex approach and the application of analytical (art-critical, philosophical, cultural approaches to the field of study), historical (the Ukrainian choreography genesis study), cultural (examining functions performed by folk dancing culture in the spiritual life of the Ukrainian ethnos) and semiotic (analysis of dance signs structure and dancing symbols semantics) methods. Scientific novelty: the author has conducted a complex art critical research of the anthropomorphic images that became symbols in the Ukrainian national tradition with the determination of their in-depth semantic meaning and functional role in the national dancing art. Conclusions. Within the imagery richness of the Ukrainian folk choreography, there are a lot of sign-symbols, character-symbols represented in dance space patterns, and figures reproduced by performers’ plastic movements. The study of the structural-verbal and symbolic features of these choreographic patterns gives reasons to claim about their undoubted archaic roots in a play mode reflecting the unique variant of the transitional ritual (passage rite) related to an individual’s life, his status, and the external world.

The Paradox of Authenticity

The book on the Slovakian authentic folklore movement by the American scholar Joseph Grim Feinberg working in the Czech Republic is a special treat for those interested in dance anthropology. It is always inspiring to look at social and cultural phenomena about the East-Central European region through the eyes of a researcher who is an outlander; this applies to the realm of music and dance, too. The title suggests two fundamental issues that may be interesting and important for Hungarian readers acquainted with the world of folk dancing. One of them is the authenticity of folk-dance related practices; the other is folk dance politics, a topic addressed extensively in the international world of dance anthropology.

STUDENTS AWARENESS AND PERFORMANCE INPHILIPPINE FOLK DANCES

This research aimed to determine the students level of awareness and performance in folk dance that served as basis of developing program for promotion of folk dancing skills in Bitin National High School for the school year 2017 to 2018.The descriptive research was used in the study using the Grade 9 students of Bitin National High School as the respondents. A self-made questionnaire and rubrics for dance performance were used to describe the level of awareness and dance performance skills of the respondents. Mean and standard deviation and Pearson r correlation using an alpha level of .05 were used as the statistical tools.The study revealed the following findings. Majority were 15 years old (90), followed by 14 years old (65), 16 years old (53), 17 years old (23) and the least 18 years old (10) with total number of 241.The over-all mean of 3.30 shows that the students are Moderately Interested about Philippine folk dances. For the Level of awareness of the students to folk dance related variables. In terms of the following variables: objectives, has an over-all mean (OM) of 3.30, strategies (OM=3.71), skills in folk dancing (OM=3.77), availability of dance materials (OM=2.88), and training (OM=3.12) were all interpreted as Moderately Aware. While exposure to Philippine folk dances (OM=3.43) shows that the students are somewhat awareto Philippine folk dances. Only the competence of the dance instructor was rated highly aware.With regard to the performance of the Grade 9 students in folk dancing fundamental skills, for the three categories given: poise and grace, timing and rhythm, interpretation of literature, most of the respondents were rated as Moderately Aware.The Correlation of folk-dance awareness variables as to poise and grace shows No Significant Correlation to folk dancing fundamental skills. The second category for folk dancing fundamental skills, timing and rhythm shows Negligible Correlation to folk dance awareness variables. The third category which is the interpretation of literature also shows Negligible Correlation to folk dance awareness related variables.

Vocabulary reflecting the titles of Evenk and Even dances

The paper is a comprehensive description of the vocabulary of the dancing culture of Tungus ethnic groups - Evens and Evenks. The development of Even and Evenk folk dancing art was preconditioned by the peculiarities of their economic activity and way of life and the geographical conditions of the northern region. The dances and games reflect the local features related to the history of Even and Evenk settlements in the territories they currently inhabit. Round and imitative dances, an integral part of all ritual celebrations, are the most typical and distinctive for their dancing culture. Intimate relationship to nature is important for dancing vocabulary formation. The traditional culture of Tungus peoples was considerably influenced by their confession: as pagans, they shaped their mythical and real notions of a totem. The dancing tempo of Evenk round dances was influenced by Yakut round dance osuokhai. The analysis of ethnographic, folklore, linguistic, and the authors’ field materials allowed presenting the titles of Evens’ and Evenks’ imitative round dances for the first time holistically. Common and distinctive features of Even and Evenk vocabulary of the round and imitative dances’ titles are revealed. The notions of dance and song in Even and Evenk languages are often indivisible, expressed by cognate words: Even nѳrgenek “dancing with singing”, Evenk iken, ikevun “dancing with singing”. Most of the vocabulary common to the Even and Evenk languages is indigenous to them, with Evenk-Even linguistic correlations on the lexical and semantic levels, suggesting the commonality of the historical processes affecting the development of these languages.

Introduction

Modernism came to Mexico before its revolution as evinced by its embrace of early modern dancer Loïe Fuller. The revolution spawned social changes that allowed the emerging “new woman” to link revolutionary values and theatrical dance. Defining what post-revolutionary Mexican theatrical dance was to be proved problematic as ballet, folk dance, and modern dance vied for prominence. One of the constants was a desire to be both “national” and “universal.” Educator José Vasconcelos’ decision to incorporate folk dancing into the curriculum of Mexico’s public school system in the hopes of establishing a classical dance culture helped cement a national identity that would prove both locally popular and exportable. Painter Miguel Covarrubias led what would be known as the Golden Age of nationalist modern dance in the 1950s, it would be supplanted by balleticized folk dancing in the 1960s.

Analysis on the effects of folk dance training on players’ spatial expectation levels

Background and Study Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on spatial perception and spatial anticipation levels the effects of control and study groups with 16 week training folk dancing training. Material and Methods: 120 voluntary college students with no folk dancing background, 60 of which is female has participated in the study. The study group had folk dancing training of 16-week whereas control group has not done any training. Brixton Spatial Expectations test was administered to control groups at the first, eighth and sixteenth weeks of the training. Validation of which has previously been done "Prospects Brixton Spatial Test" has been used in the study. A statistical analysis of the data obtained was done with available statistical software (IBM SPSS Statistics 19, SPSS inc., An IBM Co., Somers, NY) and the significance level was taken as 0.05 and 0.01. Similar results were obtained between experimental and control groups in this study. Results: There were not significant differences between groups in terms of measurement time as well as in gender. As a result: Short-term training of folk dancing seems to have no impact on the level of spatial perception. Conclusions: To have a significant effect, a long-term folk dance training is required. In addition, level of spatial perception on folk dance training has no significant difference in terms of gender.

The Research on the Current Situation of Inheritance of the Folk Dancing “Gun Long Lian Xiang” From the Perspective of “Intangible Cultural Heritage”

“Gun Long Lian Xiang” is a popular kind of dancing in Enshi, Hubei. In recent years, the local government in Enshi has taken amounts of measures on promoting the protection, inheritance and development of this “intangible cultural heritage” program. In order to have a better understanding on the current situation of the inheritance of “Gun Long Lian Xiang”, the measures of in-depth interview and field survey are taken in this thesis. The author has made an interview with the “Gun Long Lian Xiang” inheritors of two generations, local people and staff in Cultural Center and Style Bureau and also collected a lot of materials in the form of video and literal data to make analysis. According to the research, “Gun Long Lian Xiang” has a sound dissemination effect in Enshi. It has become a way with the square dancing as the main carrier, which much enriched local people’s life. But meanwhile, there still exist some problems on the inheritance of “Gun Long Lian Xiang”, such as poor education for inheritors, tough living condition for folk artists, incomplete protection system and so on. Based on it, this thesis puts forward with some constructive suggestions.

Together We Move

This chapter discusses the process of creating a large-scale dance event inspired by the early-twentieth-century movement choirs of Rudolph Laban. A brief biography of Laban outlines the early influences leading to his conviction that community dance is a critical component in creating group empathy and goodwill. These influences include his exposure, as a young man, to whirling dervishes, and his experience with folk dancing within rural communities. The development of his ideas on dance and his concept of Festwille—the urge for a group of people to participate in meaningful celebratory activity—are also examined. The article describes the evolution of the movement choir from workshops which Laban held for amateur dancersm, and the cultural circumstances in post-industrialized Germany that contributed to this evolution. Finally, the creative process in setting a Laban-inspired movement choir of approximately 500 participants is described.