Dance is a language all on its own. It is believed that words are necessary to create a language, yet we have body language and sign language, which require no words. Body language is a prime example of a wordless language. Through the movement of our hands, legs, and body, one can determine the emotions that are portrayed and the needs and wants of the communicator. Dance is a form of body language set to rhythm and beat. Dance is a wordless communicator of emotions, stories and ideas.
There is a connection between dance and speech. Writer Judith Lynne Hanna states, “Our society tends to distrust the body and consider it apart from the mind that creates vocal and written discourse. Schools measure knowledge in words and numbers. One can not dance mindlessly; indeed, dance requires many of the same faculties of the brain as verbal language” (Hanna). Dancing is similar to verbal communication as it uses similar parts of the brain.
While it is more difficult to specify in music, specification in dance is not that difficult in comparison. We can use our hands to point at something or we can use our entire bodies to describe an event.
Dance can hold its own as a language, because it was one of the first forms of communications and is an important aspect in many cultures. For example, Native Americans had dances dedicated to their various gods asking for necessities and the Indians told stories through Khatakali dancing. Dancing is a good form of communications of stories and emotion because it is a universal language as every culture has dance and dance can be understood easily.
Hanna, Judith L. “The Language Of Dance – Research and Read Books, Journals, Articles
at Questia Online Library.” Questia – The Online Library of Books and Journals. 2001. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=20E1BCA70F9064C5B308A8D0C7534A47.inst3_3b?docId=5002399560>.
