Modern culture sees dance as a form of entertainment, art and something to admire. So it’s clear that there’s more than one role of dance in modern culture. Its fun, obviously, cause if it wasn’t, fewer people would be doing it. But it’s also functional; dance is a means of expression, especially in contemporary dance. A dancer puts their emotion into a dance and makes it personal, much the same way an actor might. A dance with passion and fervor makes for a very entertaining performance where the person watching is sitting there thinking “wow this guy/girl really loves what they do, I wish I could dance like them,” whereas when a person just goes through the motions without any feeling whatsoever makes the audience feel nothing. I can say I know this from experience because I dance, while it may not contemporary or modern, its still a form of dance. So I can tell from watching other people dance and from dancing myself, that a performance done without vigor, energy and life serves no purpose.
The role of dance is very important, but it’s also under appreciated at times. People don’t get as excited about seeing a dance performance as much as they would for a Broadway show or a movie. Even if a show turns out to be popular and well worth seeing, it might not appeal to everyone. For example, not everyone likes ballet, they may say its beautiful, but if you tell them to sit through a whole ballet recital they might not be so willing to. It’s difficult to find a form of dance that everyone will like, but on a specific level, certain forms of dance appeal to certain demographics, like a particular generation or age group or ethnicity. Sometimes there are exceptions that make it into those demographics, like on TV, where shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance bring contemporary dance and ballroom dancing into the homes of millions who vote for their favorite dancer. Movies are another form in which dance is now appreciated, any movie that contains a musical number has choreography in it that gets copied by at home viewers, like High School Musical, where every child who watched it can now dance to every song in it.
Dance is now a big part of everyday expression and entertainment, people do it to have a good time, or to exercise, or even just to spend time with friends. Performances give those people the chance to take center stage and move in ways they wouldn’t in public (cause the average person doesn’t break out in choreographed dance on the street [unless they are performing for money]). It lets them be awed at and feel proud. When you see someone perform a step that looks amazing or impossible you stop and admire it. A performance is a chance for a dancer to demonstrate their skills and show off their hard work. A dancer works as hard and as long as any writer, actor or artist on their masterpiece. They dance because they love to and because they enjoy it. A dance performance is their project; it’s as much a work of art as a painting or film.
