Dancing: The Rhythm of Life

It was the harmonic rhythm of life that created man, so, right from the start, the spark to dance possesses man. Agreeing to Byczkowska (2019), ‘ Dance is a type of human activity that combines the physical and the emotional with the intellectual, the individual with the social.’ However we see dancing in nature, we feel the twirling move of the Jamaican breeze, we hear the Lignum Vitae swaying her hands along with its rhythm, and observe the exquisiteness of the dancing Humming Bird. Even celestial creatures dance and God undoubtedly enjoys the flawless performance of these ancient dancers. Through dancing, we become moving museums and represent our ancestral heritage. Psychologically, we chase away the blues while dancing, putting the mind in a relaxed setting and allowing ourselves a eudaimonic experience. Dancing is a ritual of the highest order and in it, we find a cosmic connection like no other.

Moving Museum

Dancing is cultural, unifies us, and builds our nation through economic development. As we honourably celebrate our nation’s 59th year of independence, we reflect on our past difficulties and celebrate our freedom from cultural alienation and cultural imperialism. What better way to express independence in 1962 than to turn up the sound system with sweet ska music and engaging the Ska dance! All revivals, of whatever nature they may be, birth a dance movement. It was in 1962 that the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) was established by chief founders like Rex Nettleford, Eddy Thomas, and Sheila Barnett who recognized the significance of preserving our rich history through various dance forms. The Festival Office of Jamaica, presently known as the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), was established in 1963, and today, several other creative establishments with the mission of cultural preservation exist. Through dancing, our African inheritance is personified, entrenched, enlarged, and enthusiastically endorsed. Even the costumes, jewellery, make-up, hairstyles, and objects represent an extension of ancestral knowledge (Henry, 2020). We move beyond the aesthetics of a leap or swing and hold our bodily frames as vessels narrating colonial tales of how we prevailed with strength and resilience as a nation. Therein, we discover a collective identity and social coherence is strengthened. We enjoy a sense of national pride as we dance around the black, green and gold flag and infuse a flow of harmony and contrast amongst ourselves.

We rock and release the sweet vibrations of the lively Reggae music as we express with our language our political miseries and ideologies and through this attractiveness, the tourism sector is empowered in the country’s many festivals that positively impacts economic wellbeing. The intense energy of the movements in Dancehall reveals our cultural vibrancy and flexibility as a people and our ancestral spiritual values and practices unfolded in Kumina and Gerrehbenta as we move on a transcendental level. Therefore, we must continue a dance vocabulary that goes beyond an obsessive display of violence and sexuality. We have a remarkable impact on the Caribbean Diaspora and the world at large. Undoubtedly, we can become the place to live, work and raise families as our 2030 vision seeks, through dynamic cultural movement practices and transformational choreographic devices(Planning Institute of Jamaica, 2009).

Movement Therapy: Psychological & Physical

The classic evolution of dancing is from the fertile soil of man’s emotion. Every movement of the dancer is a discharge and display of his highest emotions felt. When he engages in movement, his mind and body become a patient of healing. ‘Dance is the voice of the inner spirit, anthrough dance feelings, thoughts, memories, and histories are in essence shared and discussed’ (Hobi, 2014). Everybody possesses a language and through every choreographic expression, despite whatever the creative intent and narratives are, he makes a soliloquy with varieties of messages to his audience. Every shape he transfigures into,every space he inhabits, every stride he takes, every frequency of current and every ounce of energy, is great vulnerability, he leaves hints about himself on the scene. He tells whether he experiences pleasure, despair, anguish or triumph. These movements he makes have a fixed bipolar law, Janus-faced, he is a voyager on his own interior property and he allows others to discover him and transfers the electric current of his libido, amplifying life and hope.

Our African descendants used melody and movement to cope with the terrible grief and trauma of the Middle Passage. The dynamic sound of the drum and the rhythm of the melody of their songs, raised their souls to dominate their chaotic experiences. They were administering medicine to their bodies and minds. Today, we can employ authentic movement as a form of sublimation whether of our own traumatic cellular memories or of our ancestral bodies. As we move, we build a meaningful relationship with our minds and bodies; mind touching body, body influencing the mind (Goodill, 2005). Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) uses freestyling as a sort of free association. The contents of one’s interior life are made conscious through unchoreographed movement (Goodill, 2005). A sense of control and self-determination is formed through exercising one’s independent will and also nurturing self-esteem and a positive body image. We can’t function with a sound body and an unsound mind, and naturally, an unhealthy mind will contaminate a functional body. Here, dance becomes an antidote and an antidepressant for tension, emancipating explosives of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins (Meszaros, 2019) and increasing the movement of oxygen and nutrients in the body.

A Spiritual Experience

Dancing is a spiritual ritual. There are countless records of dancing in the Bible of those who received victory or liberation. King David shared a sacred dance with the spirit at the recovery of the Ark of the Covenant and Miriam who got a timbrel to joyfully celebrate the freedom from Egyptian oppressors in the Red Sea. All revivals, of whatever nature they may be, birth a dance movement. Dancing is more than a socio-cultural act or body-mind experience but also a mystical experience. Religious groups in Jamaica like Revivalists, Rastafarians and Protestants have all approved a dancing attitude as a medium of connecting to a Divine source and refreshing their spiritual beings. We can see dance as passionate adoration and reverence, spiritual revitalization, restoration, combatand victory. Every movement is representational of paralleling something in the spiritual realm and accessing another dimension.

Creatures of Movement: We All Can Dance

It was the vibrant rhythm of life that aroused us in the womb, making every embryonic act choreographic in development(California Institute of Technology, 2008), the dancing of the heart and the kicking of the child signifying the presence of life. We all remain creatures of movement and so we all own the capacity to dance though some are more gifted than others. Howard Gardner, in his theory of Multiple Intelligence, postulates that bodily-kinesthetics is one of the intelligence and so dance education should be included in teaching practices as a creative and cathartic outlet. We can unquestionably find our own kinaesthetic vibe and develop a strong kinaesthetic consciousness whether we find our bodies on a stage or in our own private spaces.

Dancing brings eudaimonia to our mind, body and spirit!

References

​Byczkowska-Owczarek, D. (2010). Dance As A Sign: Discovering The Relation Between Dance Movement And Culture. Retrieved fromhttps://journals.pan.

​California Institute of Technology. (2008, December 23). Embryonic Development: First Look At How Groups Of Cells Coordinate Their Movements. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com

​Henry, M. (2020). 4E Cognition in Dance Education. Journal of Dance Education. Retrieved from https://www.ndeo.org.

​Hobi, E. (2014). Dance Master, Dance Mistress: Transformative Dance Pedagogy. [ Doctoral Dissertation, University of Oklahoma, Graduate College]. Retrieved from https://shareok.org

​Meszaros, L. (2019). Researchers identify exercise for optimal health of body and mind. Retrieved from https://www.mdlinx.com

​Planning Institute of Jamaica (2009). Vision 2030 Jamaica: National Development Plan. Pear Tree Press. Retrieved from http://www.vision2030.gov.jm

​Pole-Graham, J. (2005). Foreword. In Goodill, W.S, An Introduction to Medical Dance/Movement Therapy Health Care in Motion. Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com.

kaylia Davis