Writing for Academic Discussion Should dancing be given more importance in society than now? - revised -

Should dancing be given more importance in society than it currently is? (sociology)

 

 

☆ Let’s Think

1.       When do people dance?  e.g when a soccer player makes a goal

2.       What cultures play an important role in society?  e.g. the language

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

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

 

 

☆Hints for points

Agree

1.     Dancing helps nonverbal-communication, bonding, 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 not only promotes mental and physical health but also 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 the 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 and is effective in intercultural communication. 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 society 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 modern society.

 

4.     Dancing is not popular even as an entertainment in modern society. Compared to other activities for entertainment such as movies 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.

 

 

☆ Sample for Ideas and Expressions

【Thesis】Although I agree with Lucus in that dancing has many positive effects on people and society, I agree more with Isabella’s opinion that people’s interests have diversified and that dancing is not worth giving more importance on than now, especially from the perspective of social reform movements. Otherwise, TikTok kids would already have achieved a revolution.

【Supporting Details】In ancient times, dancing played an important role for organizing. Dancing has hypnotizing effect as we can see in authentic traditional dancing like kecak in Bali. Because of this power, dancing has been used to lead a movement or bond communities. But as Isabella says, not everyone likes dancing now. Also, the power of dancing is a double-edged sword. If it is used correctly, it can be a great booster for a movement while it can be used to control a certain group of people, like a dancing religion. As far as I know, the vector of dancing is toward the latter, which will lead to convention and corruption.

【Counterargument-treatment】Social reform movements are not alien to cultures, including dancing. Rather, there is a tradition of culture playing a teaching role, and social reform movements also make use of it. However, as a whole, dancing practices and all the related activities will settle down into a part of the existing social structure and works to protect it, as in the case of other cultural genres.

【Conclusion】Today’s dancing is no more than a part of culture, and it won’t be influential. Therefore, it is no use promoting it. There should be more important things that people should focus on, like reading.  (269 words)