Dance is one of the oldest art forms of mankind. In ancient times, it was a tool for primitive people to exchange ideas and feelings. Its origin is produced with the production and labor of human beings. Action and rhythm are closely related to labor. No matter what kind of work, people's hands and feet are always moving. Hands are used for beating and feet are used for trampling. In the process of repeating some actions, a regular rhythm is produced, and then the most primitive dance appears with shouting or hitting stones and sticks.

Dance is full of sociality in the primitive tribes of human beings. Under the condition of their loose organization and unstable life, they need a kind of social induction to unite them, and dance is an important means to produce this kind of induction. Whether hunting or war, the whole tribe acts together, so the primitive dance is always collective. Tribes in order to have a common symbol, this appeared totem. Totem is not only a symbol of tribal differences, but also the most primitive religious belief. Every time you pray or celebrate, you dance to the totem. It's called totem dance. Totem dance is the same among primitive peoples all over the world. A bison dance performed by North American Indian tribes. They think bison are related to their own tribe. When they dance this dance, bison will appear and let them hunt fiercely. When Australian aborigines dance their totem snake dance, dancers tattoo their faces to commemorate their tribal ancestors. Dragon and Breeze are the totems of ancient nationalities in China. Due to the integration of various tribes, a totem can no longer represent the common ancestor of the whole tribe. Therefore, children's totem features, such as deer horns, snake bodies, fish scales and eagle claws, are integrated into Jackie Chan's image, and peacocks and pheasants are integrated into the image of Phoenix. As symbols of "Dide" and "Tiancheng", they are used to represent the ancestors of the supreme ruler. Later, the dragon and the wind were regarded as the birthplace of the Chinese nation and the symbol of the beginning of culture.

The primitive society disintegrated and mankind entered the slave society. Since then, totem worship has been combined with witchcraft superstition. Thus, witch dance was born. Although totem worship and witchcraft are primitive religious beliefs, their nature and activities are different. Totem is the idol worshipped by primitive people, and wizard is the bridge between man and god; Totem dance is a social collective dance, and witch dance is a wizard's performance. In witchcraft, song and dance are used as a means of witchcraft, creating a mysterious atmosphere to ensure the success of witchcraft. From the perspective of dance development, witch dance has made great progress compared with the original totem dance. It changed from a rough group dance to a professional and personal dance performance, and also showed fabulous characters and stories. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China, witch dances were very popular, with large scale and rich forms and contents.

At the end of slave society, witch dance gradually developed to entertain monarchs and species. Wizards have begun to turn into witches. Since then, witches have lost their original worship status. In feudal society, court dance developed on a large scale; It can be divided into ancestor worship music and dance and banquet music and dance. China's Han and Wei Dynasties and Sui and Tang Dynasties were two peaks in the development of court dance. In the court, there are Yuefu, Taichang Temple, Liyuan and other institutions that specialize in collecting music and dance to train and train court musicians and dancers. Tang Xuan and Li Houzhu of the Southern Tang Dynasty also personally participated in the compilation of music and dance. Eastern countries, such as India, Japan and South Korea, also have music, dance and maiko for the royal family. In Europe, court dances in ancient Greece and Rome were also very prosperous. Since the demise of unified Rome, the whole of Europe has been ruled by religious authorities, and recreational dancing has also been banned by medieval churches. However, folk dance with secular nature still developed independently of religious dance, and it was not until the Renaissance that court dance was restored.

/kloc-after the 0/7th century, the court dance in the west is a kind of entertainment dance with social nature, and the emperor also participates in the dance. This kind of dance absorbed thousands of dance forms from the folk, and was transformed and taught by dancers to adapt to the social ceremony in the court. This is the origin of western ballroom dancing.

Ballet is developed from European court dance. First, the court gave a special performance, and then it was transferred to the theater. It has formulated a set of technical specifications and requirements, so it is called classic balm. Classical ballet is a kind of dance with the highest technical requirements and the most standardized forms in performing dance, which has a wide spread. At the beginning of the 20th century, modern dance rose in Youfang. This dance form was initially influenced by romanticism, and later many dance factions were produced under the influence of modernism. Its general tendency is to oppose traditional artistic concepts, advocate innovation and freedom, and establish its own performance system and theoretical system. Modern dance is popular in Germany, America, Britain, Japan and other countries.

In the history of dance development, folk dance is often ignored. In fact, only folk dance is the mainstream of dance development. Folk dance is the crystallization of people's wisdom and the inexhaustible source of dance. Rulers of past dynasties knew how to absorb nutrition from folk dance, but they tried their best to ban folk dance activities. Folk dance has a long history. It did not stop developing because it was banned, nor did it change its inherent local characteristics because it was absorbed by the imperial court. It has been widely circulated among the people with its colorful appearance.

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