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

Lesson 16  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?  e.g when a soccer player makes a goal

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

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

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

 

☆Hints for points

Agree

1.     Dancing helps nonverbal-communication and socialization. Dancing can be the most basic art form. Like music, it does not basically require language skills. Fun dancing consists 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.

 

2.     Dancing helps reduce stress and violence. People dance to release stress. Dance beats and repetitive movements make people feel good. Many traditional dances also function as catalyst for the release of the stress of a community and prevent catastrophe. A Balinese dance called kecak, for instance, is very emotional. Some of the dancers often fall into trance and stab themselves with a dagger. This violence as a form of dancing seems to work as an outlet for the frustration of the whole society. 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.

 

3.     People dance in important moments in life. Festivals, marriages, and funerals often involve dancing. Entertainment events like parade and sporting events have dancing. Dancing shows that the event is important, provides information about the event, and enhances the mood of the event.

 

4.     Dancing is universal. Any culture has its traditional dances along with its traditional music, costumes, and ceremonies. Cultures in today’s world also have their own distinct dance, music, and fashion. For example, country dance, rock & roll, hip-hop dance stand for the lifestyle of the people who dance together with the music and fashion. Thus, dancing plays a significant role in a culture.

 

5.     Dancing informs people of the view of the universe and values in a culture and facilitates passing down the 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.

 

 

Disagree or partly disagree

1.     Traditional dancing is obsolete. It is treated as one of the traditional performing arts like Kabuki. A traditional dance, especially its teaching aspect, works only in its traditional culture. For example, a move of a traditional Japanese dance shows skills to plant rice seedlings but even farmers do not need the information now. Also, traditional views of the world and values conveyed by dancing are not made much of anymore because of the advancement of science, development of the means of communication, and loss of traditional cultures themselves.

 

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. Now, there are many other activities to release stress like gaming, 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 attract 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.

5.