Culture

When I think of culture, I envision ones' development and knowledge in a certain field.

The first thing you learn in dance is a plié. The turn out of the feet and bending at the hips, not the knees, is a task difficult to manage. The plié is an essential move in all forms of dance, from ballet (where it exists primarily) to hip hop.

Then you start to be taught rond de jambes, battements, and fondu, all which incorporate the plié in some sense.

After some time, a plié becomes natural and seems repetitive since you warm up with it during every class, no matter the teacher or the studio.

The process of learning a simple plié, can come to creating beautiful works of art. From a plié one learns control of the entire body, from the tranverse abs to the tendons in ones' ankle. Once one can control the body, that person can incorporate other moves like leaps(jumps in the air) and turns. Below are two dances, one choreographed by Wade Robson, the other by Mia Michaels during the show So You Think You Can Dance.

Defining culture through the evolvement of dance makes perfect sense. What started from ballet, turned into an array of styles such as tap, lyrical, hip hop, jazz, and even clogging. Culture can be created from one simple move, a plié, and be transformed into a vast field of differences that bring people together through the art of movement. Just as a word is developed from letters, dance progresses through pliés with control of the body.