Welcome to Dance and Culture! This text is an overview of historical dance forms and movement theories from anthropological and scholarly perspectives. The goal is to introduce dance as more than simply a source of entertainment, but rather as an art form that has a long, rich history that dates back to the beginning of time. Whether may be a social event with family and friends, taking part in a religious ceremony or even attending a professional dance performance, every person in every culture around the world has experienced some sort of danced moment.

As you read through this text, it is important to remember that dance has an oral history and is a lived experience. Before the development of video recording, dance was transcribed in writing or by memory, meaning many of the dances we study today are interpretations of how we believe they were performed. The main goal of this text is to expose you to a greater understanding of dance from antiquity to current day and how it still impacts our world today, as well as provide you for a greater capacity to think independently and critically about the art of dance. Through studying dance you will learn about the world around you by analyzing the most primitive aspect of our being – human movement.