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The important place of women in dance can be traced back to the origins of civilization. Cave paintings, Egyptian frescos, Indian statuettes, ancient Greek and Roman art and records of court traditions in China and Japan all testify to the important role women played in ritual and religious dancing from the start.
Dancing Maenad Roman copy of Greek original attributed to Kallimachos c. 425 –400 BCE at the Metropolitan Museum of Art In Greek mythology , maenads ( / ˈ m iː n æ d z / ; Ancient Greek : μαινάδες [maiˈnades] ) were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue, the thiasus .
Dancing Girl engraving on a piece of red potsherd, discovered at Bhirrana, India. The statue led to two important discoveries about the civilization: first that they knew metal blending, casting and other sophisticated methods, and secondly that entertainment, especially dance, was part of the culture. [2]
Dance may be performed in religious or shamanic rituals, for example in rain dance performed in times of drought. Shamans dancing for rain is mentioned in ancient Chinese texts. Dance is an important aspect of some religious rites in ancient Egypt, [6] similarly dance is also integral to many ceremonies and rites among African people. [7]
Dancing played an important role in the lives of the ancient Egyptians. However, men and women are never depicted dancing together. [1] [2] The trf was a dance performed by a pair of men during the Old Kingdom. [3] Dance groups were accessible to perform at dinner parties, banquets, lodging houses, and even religious temples.
Archeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 5,000-year-old Bhimbetka rock shelters paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from c. 3300 BC. One of the earliest structured uses of dances may have been in the performance and in the telling of myths.
Ancient Greek art includes much pottery and sculpture, as well as architecture. Greek sculpture is known for the contrapposto standing of the figures. The art of Ancient Greece is usually divided stylistically into three periods: the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic.
Faces tend to realism and show humanity and age. Drapery is done with some to great care. The face is generally two-dimensional, the drapery three-dimensional. As in medieval and renaissance western art, drapery and faces are done often by two or three artists who specialize in one particular painterly skill. Iconography follows Buddhist ...