Category: Established and Fringe Art

Is dance a language?

To me, language is defined as any set form of communication. This communication does not have to be through words, hand signals, or symbols. Ideas can easily be expressed through body movements and dance. The fact that there is a concept known as “body language” proves in itself that the answer to this question is yes.

Dance proves a very good medium through which emotion can be conveyed. The dancing in West Side Story clearly portrayed themes of conflict and tension. Dancing filled with touch and embrace can clearly depict love, a solo dancer can express loneliness through his slow movements and steps, and joy can be seen through fast, upbeat movements. Pauses, changes in pace, and dramatic shifts in style all act as punctuation in dance and contribute to telling a story.

Our meeting with Dante Adela further proves that dance is a language. In the video he showed us, a dance sequence was able to tell a detailed and beautiful story, without the aid of words. We were all able to understand the meaning of the story just through the dancers movements in regard to each other, their sweeping motions, and their speed and rhythm. We cannot limit language just to the realms of words, as it is clear that thoughts, ideas, emotions, and even stories, can be told without them.

A student slouches into class one early morning, drops his bag unceremoniously on the floor next to a desk, and slumps into a chair. He rubs his eyes a bit, then lets his arms fall slack at his sides, sliding back slowly to stare at the ceiling. This student has not spoken a single word, but to the people around him has spoken volumes. Clearly apathetic, he is not thrilled with the prospect of being awake so early and announces through his movements that he is bored and uninterested in the class. This is an example of body language.

Body language is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “the gestures, movements, and mannerisms by which a person or animal communicates with others.” Simply by observing a person, you can often deduce their current state of mind, particularly their mood, because is transfers directly to their body movements. Someone feeling bright and energetic might appear to have a spring in their step; another feeling determined might appear to walk with strong, decisive steps. As our most primal form of communication, we need not to learn a spoken tongue to understand it: body language is universal, transcending the boundaries of spoken word.

Dance is an extension of body language, a conscious effort at communicating through body movements. It allows for great personal expression and the dancer controls the message they want to convey. I have found dance similar to spoken languages in that different styles remind me of certain tongues. A dance with great fluidity of movement might evoke a romance language whereas rough, raw movements could be akin to German. However, each person is an individual in dance, they have their own language. Another person can perform the same moves as the first, but slight nuances will be different and it cannot be a carbon copy, unlike the way humans can learn multiple spoken (and written) languages. Even though one cannot copy another’s dance exactly, it does not mean one cannot understand the emotions being expressed. The exact message might be perceived differently, as it often is in interpretive dance, but the general feeling remains the same. Thus, watching someone perform a dance is like a story, but more of a personal experience.

Fundamentally, language allows communication between people. It uses shared and accepted representations of both concrete and abstract ideas to give people ideas of others’ experience, thought, or knowledge. Among all cultures, even those in which language has evolved for thousands of years independent of other influences, language is recognized by its grammar, context, and meaning. The word “language” commonly represents spoken and written words that, although learned, seem to originate in common human capacity for reason. In several respects, however, dance is also a human language.

Dance, as a form of language, communicates ideas. It uses an accepted vocabulary of movements to express ideas of things and thoughts. Emotions especially can be almost universally conveyed through movement. As people from different cultures can understand the emotions in unfamiliar music, so too can they in dance. Dance, like language, can have grammar. Phrases of a series of movements, such as a series of jubilant leaps, or timid, tiny steps, may convey one idea or tell one part of a story. These phrases are punctuated by pauses, like the commas of language, and stops, like periods. When a choreographer defies accepted grammar, especially in a formal dance such as ballet, they use the very lack of grammar to make a point. The change in center of balance that Mr. Adela spoke of serves such a purpose. Like language, dance can be further abstracted from obvious representations, so that the ideas conveyed are less clear. Poems with gibberish words violate the expectations of the reader, and in doing so prompt thought in a manner similar to modern dance. Modern turns traditional dance vocabulary and grammar on its head, or heel, or knee.

Unlike language, however, dance generally conveys ideas more generally. Rather than a phrase as specific as, “I am in love,” dance conveys the joy and experience of love through the force and rhythm of its motions. It is also used less often to communicate the ideas of individuals than the ideas of communities, as Alvin Ailey’s Revelations tells the shared stories of many people with the movements of a few, or as Native American tribal dances once represented an entire community’s attempt to communicate with a God. Dance, in its general ideas and common group mentality, in fact represents a more universal method of communication than words do, or can.

Language is a way to communicate between people — an ability to convey everything or nothing. American Sign Language, however, shows that language doesn’t necessarily have to be spoken. There are certain gestures people can string together that allows another as much or as little into our mind frame as we please. Dance holds a theoretically similar premise. Dance is widely accepted as an art form, but the message dance can send out has meaning in its own right. A dance can tell a story like a person does while speaking. Under the presumption of these guidelines, a conversation in dance would be a dance-off, in which dancers consecutively string moves together. The problem, however, is that dance-offs tend to have competitive tones, as dancers seem to care less about conveying anything more than “Look at me! My extensions are the bomb!” in this situation.

Presuming dance can both speak and be an art form sets the precedent that literature, paintings, and music also have the ability to communicate in some capacity. There are different languages in spoken word, and in a parallel fashion, there are different dance styles. On the surface, dance does appear to have all the tenets of a language. However, dance is a language we observe rather than take part in. At a dance performance, audience members can’t jump on stage and crunk. While observing dance, we will always be left out of the conversation, like going to a bodega. Even if we are dancers ourselves, it is not our conversation to take part in. It is a language we constantly try to crack because even if we cannot take part in it, we know deep down that the language is relatable and understandable in a sense. When we realize this, we are as relieved as when we come to the conclusion that those guys in the bodega aren’t secretly plotting to overcharge us for the twinkies and doughnuts that keep us too overweight to spark a conversation in Dance.

On a somewhat related note, Mr. Adela’s discussion enforced what I knew about dance and dancers. Yes, it is expressive beyond belief. Yes, it rests on passion. Yes, dancers work harder than imaginable. And, most of all, dance is perhaps the most beautiful language on earth — more beautiful than French, more soulful than Italian. In addition, Mr. Adela wowed me on a personal level with his stamina, dedication, and that awesome breakdancing.

Is Dance a Language?

A certain only encyclopedia states that humans communicate with body language 90 percent of the time. However accurate that may be, we can certainly say that movement can express a lot, whether the motion is done consciously or unconsciously. People dance when they are happy, they tap their feet and bop their heads happily. You can see that a person is happy by how they dance. When a couple dances slowly on the dance floor, shifting their feet carefully, their bodies close together and moving freely, you can see the romance between them. When someone is sad they will sit with thier head in their hands, and if a child is angry he might thrown a tantrum by throwing himself on the floor and acting out. These movements too can be part of dance. Humans express so much through their actions and the way they perform that action. No everything can be said in words. Dance is not only body movement, but body language. Each movement and how it is executed can convey emotions and feelings. Whether the dancer jumps energetically or tilts her head down as she takes tiny successive steps toward her death, dancers can tell a story without words. What dancers do with their hands is also very strong language. Do they bring their hands to their hearts, are they reaching out for something?
Of course, dance needs music to fully convey the story and set the mood. I think that music is half the language in a dance. It aids the person in understanding the performance better, and after all, what would dance be without a rhythm or sound to move to? The meaning of a dance can be changed if music is changed. Every step, stance and turn is important so that taken together, a dance routine is a story book. Dancers might use movements that you exhibit during the day yourself, or they might chaotically thrown themselves about the stage, but whether you recognize the meaning of a movement or not, you will understand the overall message. It is the language to which there is no actual dictionary, but it is rich with feeling and expression.
if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a moving gesture is worth ten thousand.

This is a wonderful interpretative dance. Language is used to tell, among other things, stories. And just like actors are story tellers, dancers can be very good actors too. One of the things I love about this dance is that there is a lot of meaning packed into actions. The camera even highlights the movement of her hands and feet, which are done deliberately and with a purpose. The music adds to the madness of the scene.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of the word “language” has various meanings. Among the many definitions, one of them states that language is “the suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings.” In this sense, it is undeniable that dance is a language. When a dancer performs and moves around the stage, he or she is doing so with feeling; a dancer does not dance without emotion. The feeling of the dancer is radiated to the audience, who make their own conclusions about what the performance is truly about. As a result, even if the audience is not told what the show is about, most of the time the audience will be able to decide for themselves what was going on during the performance based on the dancing.

It is true that dance is not a language in the usual sense, for dance is not done with words. However, we say that animals have their own languages, but do they speak with concrete words? If a dog barks at another dog to let him or her know something, does this not count as language, simply because there are no words involved? The same logic applies to dance, which communicates without words. Just like the common saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” dance may be worth millions of words depending upon the person experiencing it. For some it may have a profound effect, while for others it may have none. Nevertheless, the fact that is has an effect at all is enough to make dance a language.

It was undeniable to see that dance is a language when we met with Dante Adela. It was very easy to see how much passion Dante had for dance. When he showed us a video of one of his performances and asked the class what they thought the piece was about, there were many different answers. Dante listened to all of them and allowed us to decide what the piece meant to us, as a result allowing us to use his actions to draw a conclusion, which is in line with the definition of a language. In addition, when Dante showed us some simple dance moves, he was in effect teaching us the language of dance, just as one learned English in school. By watching Dante dance in front of us, it was very easy to see just how much passion he had for the art of dance.

Dance is not a language. Rather, it is a form of expression, and can be a very powerful one at that. Language must be structured and consistent, it has set meanings and definitions of its words. Dance, has no structured means of communication, rather, it is dependent on interpretation by the audience. In language, ideas are communicated through expression of words, as opposed to dance, in which ideas are communicated through expression of movement, which itself is subject to interpretation.

People in a movement often try and elevate their cause through elevation of diction (there was an article in the new york times recently how the word ‘curate’ now applies not only to those who work in museums, but to anybody who puts effort into selecting something artistic: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/fashion/04curate.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1). But this shouldn’t be the case with dance. To make dance a language would take away the interpretive nature of it. It would make the message of the artist completely supersede the experience of the viewer. There is already a name for language through movement: sign language. Characterizing dance as language instead of expression not only fails to elevate it, it demeans it.