Spark

Nick Fife
Dance 261: Orientation to Dance

It would be futile to recall and link every performance that has impacted me as a dancer, a
creator, and a person. There are moments that stand out stand among numerous experiences that
have shaped the very being I have become, and I dont doubt that I will continue to have
numberless experiences in the time I spend on earth. But I can distinctly remember the exact
performers and place where the spark of my passion was lit. I will not go into details except to
say that it was the first time I watched dance with no disconnected admiration or apathetic
congratulation, but rather profound desire: I want to do that. Ever since that day Ive followed
that string of desires and hungers which has shaped what I do, how I do it, and informed me on
why I do it.
You Want to Learn, This is Dance!
It is rather logical that in the diverse wealth of dance that exists in our world today, there
exists an equal amount of definition of it. This overwhelming task can be made minuscule when
one looks at dance as either a fine art or a folk art. When dance is a fine art, its primary function
is for the theatrical entertainment and/or benefit of an audience; dance is recognized as a folk art
when it is a function of self-entertainment, or benefits the performer1. This definition allows for
a comprehension of all dance, as we can classify each dance form into one category or the other,
even allowing for a blend to occur. Most of this blending occurs within folk art; you can bring
Native American dance to the stage, but it can and will thrive outside of an entertainment
medium. You can, and many dancers do, dance ballet for yourself, but it cannot exist without its
audience.

Bond, Chrystelle Trump. 1987. "An Aesthetic Framework for Dance." Journal for Physical
Education 86, 88, 90.
1

Yet, whether for an audience or performed for yourself within your community, dance will speak
volumes about our culture. Who we were, who we are, and who we aspire to become is spoken
in this universal language, no matter the form it takes. Ballet spoke volumes of the aspirations of
regality and nobility, the development of point shoes illustrates the desire to defy gravity,
aspirations we still reach for today. Folk dance, whether it is the Haka, or a Native American
Hoop Dance, have a cultural significance, depicting acts of war or the story of a young sea hawk
growing up. Immersive dance theatre shares the story of today, the dreams and desires of today,
the sophisticated fulfillment of a primal need; human connection. More than any generation
previous, we are making efforts to connect with each other empathetically. We seek to better
know and understand what those around us experience, and desire to be understood ourselves.
Dance is a physical vessel of universal symbols that connect us within our personal contexts, and
culminates in a grand, unified understanding, even if a small portion, and even if only for a
moment.
The Essential Ingredient
But to gain this level of connection with another, passerby or nosebleed observer,
demands one has a connection to oneself. This can come through years of experience and
thought until the knowledge seems to appear, having trickled in progressively. For some, it
comes through a connection they made as an audience member, a sudden revelation on a street
corner or within a velvet seat. Most will find that they dance on the edge of discovery, but
whose sights are a degree off. They tiptoe in grand juxtaposition nearer to comprehension and
yet skitter farther away each time they almost attain it. To have a connection with oneself, one
must know who they are. When one makes such connection, the immense depth and breadth of
such understanding becomes simple when one realizes that a discovery of who we are inevitably

leads to a discovery of what we can become. It sparks an unbridled passion to help others attain
some level of connection to who they are, and more importantly, who they can become. This
desire, this passion, is essential for the artists that one becomes and to the successes they are
responsible for achieving.
Inherent Value
I remember a discussion I had with a friend, Ammon, at the beginning of the year. From
Uganda, this friend was pursuing a degree in computer science. My whole dorm was full of boys
like him, desirous for lucrative careers in computer science, sports broadcasting, and every single
type of engineering under the sun; then there was me, a scrappy little, doe-eyed, dopey-smiled
me, pursuing dance education. I voiced this frustration I had to Ammon, feeling as if I had less
value than the men in the hall who surrounded me. Ammon, in his humble voice explained to me
that where he was from, people did not know how to use computers, much less fix and program
them. They not only needed someone to take care of their computers, but teach them to use the
technology at their disposal. He then turned his finger to me and said that where I am from,
there are children who need to be taught to use dance, that where I am from, there is a great need
of dance and what it can do for my communitys people. I feel Ammon shared rather eloquently
the inherent value of dance, of what we contribute to the world. Anything in which we give
makes it valuable, for in giving of even the smallest thing, if it is all we have to give, it has
eternal significance.
The Language of The Soul
ESPN recently did a case study with an ensemble member of the award-winning
Broadway smash hit The Lion King. The results show that the single ensemble member dancer

clocked 2.68 miles in one show (Stephen Curry clocks 2.44 on average in every game he plays)
and could extend her leg 30% higher than the average person2. This gives a lot of weight to
Einsteins claim that dancers are the athletes of God3. My religious beliefs completely shape
how I view and desire to impact the world. It is no shock how it influences how I view dance,
and the body. Neal A. Maxwell eloquently states that dance is a celebration of our gratitude to
God for our gifts and talents4. I can find very few things that showcase more reverence and
gratitude for the divine gifts of body and spirit united than dance, for art is eternal, for it reveals
the inner landscape, which is the soul of man5. Nothing is more noble then reverence for the
human body, and nothing can help us respect and honor this divine and mortal instrument of life
than to use it to create meaningful, even eternal connections with audience and performer, with
oneself to ones divine identity, oneself to God.

Cingari, Jennifer. 2017. "ESPN Sport Science takes Disneys The Lion King into the lab."
ESPN n/a.
2

Einstein, Albert. n.d.

Maxwell, Neal A. 1982. "Creativity." The New Era, August n/a: n/a.

Graham, Martha. 1952. "I Am A Dancer." 6.

Word Count: 1198

Bibliography
Bond, Chrystelle Trump. 1987. "An Aesthetic Framework for Dance." Journal for Physical
Education 86, 88, 90.
Cingari, Jennifer. 2017. "ESPN Sport Science takes Disneys The Lion King into the lab." ESPN
n/a.
Einstein, Albert. n.d.
Graham, Martha. 1952. "I Am A Dancer." 6.
Maxwell, Neal A. 1982. "Creativity." The New Era, August n/a: n/a.