TOEFL iBT Independent Writing, Dancing plays an important role in a culture. - rewrite -

Writing Topic

Consider the following statement. Dancing plays an important role in a culture. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Support your response by including specific reasons and examples.

☆Let’s think

1.      When do people dance?

2.      Have you ever found dancing useful?

3.      What kinds of things play an important role in a culture?  e.g. the language

4.      In a traditional culture, what kind of roles does dancing play?

5.      In a modern culture, what kind of roles does dancing play?

☆Hints for points

Agree

1.    Dancing is universal. Any culture has its traditional dances along with its traditional singing, costumes, and ceremonies. Thus dancing must play a significant role in a culture.

2.    Dancing appears in important moments in life. Festivals, marriages, and funerals often involve dancing. Big shows on TV have dancers and the halftime dance show is held during an American football game.

3.    Dancing influences music and fashion. Street dance is closely related to hip hop music and loose clothes Rock’nRoll dancers dance to rock music and wear leather jacket and jeans. Music and fashion are important part of culture, and so is dancing.

4.    Dancing informs people of the view of the universe and values in a culture and facilitates passing down tradition. For example, Balinese dancing is part of the system of the traditional Balinese culture. People in Bali have dedicated their dancing to their gods as part of their religious practices. Each of the dances represents a character and its story in the Balinese mythology. By watching or participating in the dance, people in Bali learn the fiction that their culture is based on.

5.    Dancing helps nonverbal-communication and socialization. Dancing can be the most basic art form. Like music, it does not basically require language skills. Japanese Obon dances, for instance, consist of only a few simple steps and body movements, and this allows anyone to join the dancing crowd. Dancing is used to help people wind down at parties, and one of the most popular hangout spots for the young is a dance club.

6.    Dancing helps reduce stress and violence. Many people go dancing to release stress. Many traditional dances also function as catalyst for the release of stress of a community and prevent catastrophe in reality. Dance beats and repetitive movements make people feel good. A Balinese dance called kecak is very emotional and some of the dancers often fall into trance. Lion dances, found in many places in Asia, feature the holy animal with scary appearances that moves around vigorously and makes people alert by posing to eat them. All of these examples show that dancing is related to releasing stress both on the individual and collective level.

Disagree or partly disagree

1.    Traditional dancing is obsolete. It is treated as one of the traditional performing arts like Kabuki. Traditional dances work only in traditional cultures. For example, some dances include the technique of how to plant rice seedlings but even farmers do not need the information now. Also, traditional views of the world and values are not made much of anymore although probably they should be. The power of dancing to teach community members values is weakening with globalization, where traditional systems are replaced by capitalism.

2.    Dancing does not help keep society peaceful anymore. People do not often go dancing to “blow off steam” anymore. Cases of traditional dances helping keep community cohesion are decreasing. There are many other activities to release stress now like driving or riding a roller coaster, and bonding is done through social media.

3.    In capitalism, the type of dances popular among the public are commercial. Just like fashion and music,   dances have become products. They are sensual, light and easy to please the main target consumers, the young. Although commercially important, the most popular modern dances do not play any meaningful part in any culture.

4.    Dancing is not popular even as an entertainment in modern society. Compared to other activities for entertainment such as going to the movie or karaoke, dancing is not a common choice. There is no dancing place for families, nor do many people dance at a gathering. Once in a while, simple dances tied-up with a song or anime come and go, but just as a one-hit-wonder and no one would remember them five years after the hit.