The Power of Dance

The video "The Power of Dance" was a film which explored various forms of dance around the world and how each one related to its respective culture. The video used a multitude of different styles of dance in different geographical locations to pinpoint how dance is a universal language, and the body is used to convey a variety of ideas and emotions. The primary theme behind the film was that dance is a global phenomenon. Dance crosses race, color, culture, social, economic, and class lines.

Dance is found in a whole host of situations, including, but certainly not limited to, religion, theatre, social settings, and film. Dance is used to tell stories, express emotion, and as a form of religious ceremony, expressing praise, gratitude, sorrow, and offered as a gift. It is in this sense that dance is a form of "communication without boundaries."

Life itself is a form dance. Jacques D'Ambrose, of the New York City Ballet theatre, likens the heartbeat to a dance. The heartbeat, he says in the first rhythm of dance, with its primary tempo a basic upbeat. It is this upbeat that sustains us all.

Child