According to the research of art historians, the earliest art produced by human beings is dance. Before the ancient language came into being, people used gestures and expressions to convey all kinds of information and exchange feelings and thoughts. After all kinds of sounds developed idioms and tones, poetry and music came into being one after another. In labor, because of making tools, people's hands gradually became dexterous, and paintings and sculptures were born. With the evolution of human beings and the improvement of thinking ability and understanding of things, Quyi, novel, drama and other arts have emerged one after another. So, as one of the oldest arts, where did dance come from?

According to the myths and legends of ancient China and ancient Greece, humans learned to dance from the Emperor of Heaven, or were inspired by the goddess in charge of dance to create dance. We know that the ancient ancestors' understanding of the concepts of God and man was not as clear as that of modern people. At that time, people often regarded some people with extraordinary talents, people beyond ordinary people's wisdom and strength, or people who made great contributions to mankind as incarnations of God or people who could communicate with God. Now we know that all kinds of gods are created by people through imagination according to their own image. It is God who created dance. In the final analysis, it is we who created dance. So, how do people create dance?

Some scholars believe that human imitation is instinct, and dance imitates the actions and habits of various wild animals with rhythmic movements. Some dances imitate the dynamic images of some natural scenery, such as the swaying of willow branches, the rolling of waves, the floating and rotating of the wind and so on. People can imitate them to dance. Some scholars believe that imitation is important in the origin of art, but it is not the real reason. The cause of art is the impulse of the game, and the game is the expression of repenting human nature. Games are also a sign that humans finally leave the animal kingdom. Pleasure here refers to people's aesthetic needs, that is, taking illusion as happiness. If people imitate the dance of animals, they will get happiness and vent their emotions through this imaginary game. Some scholars believe that because primitive people can't distinguish between subjective and objective thinking, and think that everything in nature has the same soul as themselves, totem worship, primitive religion, witchcraft sacrifice and so on have emerged, and these activities are inseparable from dance, and even dance is the main content and the most important means of expression of witchcraft activities. Therefore, some people assert that all dances are originally religious. Many scholars regard the reproduction of the next generation as a very important thing for primitive people to survive, and dance is the main way and means of mate selection, marriage proposal and love training, so they think that dance originated from sexual activities. However, some scholars believe that dance not only expresses people's love, people's intense emotions, but also expresses important emotions and activities in people's lives. There is no artistic behavior that can mobilize and inspire all mankind like dance. In China's ancient music and dance theory, there are: moving in the middle and acting in words, lamenting if words are insufficient; Lament its lack, so sing it; The disadvantage of singing is that you don't know how to dance with your hands. This also vividly shows that dance is the product of expressing people's most exciting emotions.

Many scholars in our country advocate the theory that dance originated from labor, because labor is the first need for human survival and development, and it also creates people themselves, separates people from the animal kingdom and creates human society. In primitive dance, hunting, planting and all kinds of labor and life occupy the largest proportion. We believe that all the above theories about the origin of dance have some truth, but they are not complete and comprehensive, because dance is a social phenomenon in human life, and its origin is not single, just like the composition of everything in the world, but there are many factors, so people advocate the theory of labor integration, that is, dance originated from the needs of human survival, development, labor practice and other life practices. If it is more detailed, dance originated from the simulated reproduction of labor production (hunting measures, farming), sex, fitness, combat training and other activities in pursuit of survival and development in ancient times, as well as the needs of totem worship, witchcraft religious sacrifice activities and the expression of their inner impulses. Combining with poetry and music is one of the earliest art forms in human history.