http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/news/dwts-results-and-eliminations/dancing-with-the-stars-season-24-week-1-season-premiere-results-and-eliminations-032017
The show "Dancing With The Stars" is a popular show on television that gives the audience a look at what Ballroom Dancing looks like and what it is about. It educates the public as well as entertains them, but there is one other aspect of the show that people don't generally think about, and that is the adaptation of certain dance styles to a more European form. This assimilation of dance styles is one small detail about the show that is overlooked due to the number of other factors that affect the public. It gives children clear and specific gender roles, and adults the idea that they can overcome all of the obstacles that they face, just like the dancers as they go through the choreography and tough physical training. It gives people a lot to like, but the problem is that the show changes the dance and dancers to look different and have less connections to their natural characteristics and place of origin.
For example, the show requires the dancers to get a spray tan in order to step out of themselves and feel more comfortable with a latin-american dance. Not only that, but the dance is slightly changed so that the dancer's "respectable" reputation is held intact in spite of shimmying, which is part of the dance.
So while the show is entertaining and is has a lot to offer, it also takes away from the authenticity of certain dance cultures and makes it more "appropriate" to our own, which is not supposed to be part of American Ideology.
Dance is a beautiful art form that has mostly been taught visually and kinesthetically; therefore, throughout time it is bound to evolve. Everyone who dances a dance brings their own take on it, so the dances we dance today are rarely the same as the original piece. It would be easy to get upset with shows like "Dancing with the Stars" for this but they are not the ones who have changed the dances. However, the idea that you should get a spray tan to feel more comfortable doing a Latin dance, in my opinion is the equivalent of black face and is completely inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not have a problem with dance evolving, all art does. I don't think dances were changed because they were not "appropriate" I think they were changed because the people dancing had different backgrounds and brought their own style to it. If the show was produced for educational purposes I can see why people might be upset that they are not learning authentic material, but since "Dancing with the Stars" is primarily an entertainment show, I don't think that they are responsible for searching for the most authentic form of every dance style.
I agree that the show is entertaining, but it does take away the authentic feel of types of dances from other cultures that were introduced in America.
ReplyDeleteFor dance, I think it is alright if the specific genres are changed a bit because all through history we see how small changes in dance can create a new genre of dance or new dance moves. I dont think this show is doing anything wrong with that unless they are trying to achieve that traditional dance style by adding inappropriate details such as the spray tan.
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