Dance in Ancient Greece

Dance was a very important part of ancient Greek culture. It was quoted by Lawler that, "no people ever appreciated the dance more than did the ancient Greeks" and that "the dance held an important part in their religion, education, and lives" (11). Dance in ancient Greece :

• played a major role in religion
• was done for recreation
• was performed so that it could be considered what we might call a profession for some

Religion was probably the area in which dance was most common for the ancient Greeks. Dancing was included in their ritualistic orgies, private honorings and religious festivals, there was even a muse for the art of dancing, called Terpsichore. "Nearly everything the ancients did while dancing was pleasing to the gods," claims DeMille (40). They used dancing for a large portion of their religious ceremonies, they believed that dance had magic powers. Some dances used for certain religious rites were done secretly, such as those done in honor of the goddesses Artemis, along with her brother, the god Apollo, Hecate, Aphrodite, Persephone and Demeter, by women, and "except in ritualistic orgies honoring Aphrodite and Dionysus, men and women danced separately" (DeMille 40). These ritualistic dances were forbidden for ancient Greek men to see, and were done privately by women usually of high birth or status, or of those that belonged to wealthy families. Many dances of the ancient Greeks are described as being performed by choruses of young girls, sometimes wearing special religious costumes or headdresses, and sometimes circled around a statue of the goddess being honored by the dance, and usually singing accompanied these actions. Religious dances were also performed at festivals, "some by priests, priestesses, or trained attendants of the deities concerned, while others were offerings of the people on special occasions-of all the people, from small children to mature men and women, the high and lowly alike" (Lawler 98). A very large part of the religious dance in ancient Greece has to do with the animal dances, which were used often and very numerous. Early versions of these dances portray the actions of the animal, such as "flight, descent, walk or other actions of the bird" (Lawler 59). Some reasons for these animal dances could be luck in hunting or in hopes to increase the fertility of the animal, for breeding purposes. They dressed in costumes and masks and had different dances for each animal. Some of the animal dances include that of the bear, snake and bull.

The ancient Greeks also danced for recreational purposes. "The feeling for the rhythmical, the recurrence of regular, proportional and measured beats, was highly cultivated and enjoyed by the Greeks" (Grove 36). Both men and women enjoyed dancing, as "it was not considered unmanly to dance; in fact, many men prided themselves on being able to show homage to the gods who had accorded to them strength, agility, and grace of body" (Lawler 98). Because they danced naked most of the time, men and women were not to dance together, but men and boys of all ages danced together, and women and girls together. A lot of their dancing involved gestures and movements with their arms and hands, though, as stated by DeMille, "we see that they liked free running, skipping and jumping…" (40), and also enjoyed all kinds of kicking contests, including one "which consisted in kicking one's own buttocks to the music, as many times as possible" (Lawler 121). It is also said by Lawler that, "the dance was a social activity in the truest sense of the word" (121). An excerpt from Homer's The Iliad, as quoted by Patsidou and Mavromatis, "Here young men and the most desired young girls were dancing, linked, touching each others wrists…". This is describing a social dance, called the labyrinth. Ancient Greeks enjoyed dance because it was a method in which one could express their feelings, or tell a story while enjoying themselves at the same time.

Though the Ancient Greeks generally "deplored professionalism of any sort, and avoided acquiring any skill to the point where they might be associated with those who used it to make a living" there were some people who "were exceptionally skillful dancers…" and "may have been virtually professionals" (Lawler 127). We know that there were dancers and actors that performed publicly, but even they were considered "special servitors or ministers of the god Dionysus," by ancient Greek society as is described by Lawler (127). There were also people who were teachers of dance, often lyric and tragic poets teaching dances to go along with their verses. For example, we know of Lamprus; a teacher of dance and poetry to Sophacles. Public dancers were generally of a low social status, even when paid for their performances. People did not generally respect those who danced publicly, but enjoyed just as well. These "professional" dancers were also a major part of the entertainment at dinner parties and feasts, and they were usually accompanied by a "professional" flute player. Other parts of these performances included instruments, such as a hoop that the dancing girl would tumble throughout, or a pair of castanets, as well as a pottery wheel or balls to juggle. When "professionally" teaching dance, as the well known Sappho, who was "admittedly the greatest of women writers among the Greeks, is said to have taught to young girls, and to have led, dances to her own verses" says Lawler (127). This is evidence of the beginning of our more recent concept of professionalism.

A major part of ancient Greek culture was involved in the dance. It was important to the people and the way they lived. Religion revolved around it, people enjoyed it for recreational purposes and people began to acquire a sort of professionalism from it, as well as being entertained by it. DeMille states that "with the ancient Greeks, dancing assumed a place in civilization it has not held since" and later states that "And so we must grieve that his music and dance have perished" (pp. 40-41).

Works Cited

• De Mille, Agnes. The Book of the Dance. New York: Golden Press, 1963.
• Grove, Lilly. Dancing; A Handbook of the Terpsichorean Arts in Diverse Places and Times, Savage and Civilized. 1895. Detroit: Singing Tree, 1969.
• Lawler, Lillian B. The Dance in Ancient Greece. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1964.
• Patsidou, Lena and Anna Mavromatis. Greek Dance Throughout the Centuries. Online. 7 November 1999.<http://www.firstnethou.com/annam/dancehist.html>