Music and Dance in Different Religions

Music and Dance in Religion
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Music and Dance in Religion
Essay 1 Theme: Dance
How Dance in Hinduism is Portrayed Differently to Connect to the god(s)
Dance has often played an essential role among the Indians because of its role in connecting the people to their gods. The Indians believe that the gods invented dance, which is one of the most appreciated Hindu arts because of its ability to incorporate melody, drama, form, and line. The Hind gods, such as Siva and Krsna are dancers. Therefore, humans also dance as a show of devotion to the gods.
Indian dances are posited to have their origins in dances and rituals of the period of the Vedas, which is traceable back to 1000BC. Traditional Indian religious texts described creation in terms of dance and in the Indian mythology, Shiva is able to create or destroy the universe through dance. The importance of dance to the Indians is depicted in sculptures from all over the society and from many different historical periods before A.D. 1000 (Hays, 2015). There are several classical dancers who are based on ancient sculptures and according to the Indian communities, dance is sacred as it evolved from religious rituals and shamanist practices.
Therefore, dance serves as a way of both communicating and showing devotion to the gods among the Indians. The different dance styles are linked to a particular Hindu god or a story or an episode and all of them show a special connection or devotion to the particular god. Therefore, just as there are different types and forms of dances, so are the different types of the gods. All of these dances are structured around expressions in terms of emotion, happiness, sorrow, anger, compassion, disgust, wonder, fear, courage, and serenity.
How Dance in Ancient Greek is Portrayed Differently to Connect to the god(s)
Dance had a significant influence among the ancient Greek in their daily interactions. The members did not only dance on several occasions, they also acknowledge other non-performative exercises such as ball-playing or rhythmic physical exercises as forms of dance. According to the Greek society, dancing was natural response of the body, mind, and soul to music (Choubibeh, 2021). According to the Greek mythology, dance was an essential aspect as evident in its association with the different gods. For example, Apollo, the god of medicine, music and poetry, who was also the son of the chief god Zeus, was known as The Dancer. Zeus himself is also represented as dancing.
Dance among the Greek would accompany all the important transitions in life, including transition to puberty, adulthood, marriage life, and death. The members participated in dance as a way of acknowledging the role of the gods in their lives. Since they recognized the gods as the founders of the art, dancing was a way of acknowledging and appreciating them for their gift of life and for allowing them to move from one stage of life to another.
The members also used dance to invoke the presence of the gods and to make their requests known. The members went to “chorostasi”, a place where they performed the dance to meet the divine realm. In these places, people belonging t...