TOEFL iBT Should dancing be valued more than now? (Revised)

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

 

 

☆ Let’s Think

When and why do people dance? Why does a soccer player dance when he makes a goal?

 

Note: People dance at a wedding, at a funeral, at a party, when they pray, when they go to war, etc. They dance to have fun, to show happiness, to express themselves, to express something, to get to know each other, to communicate, etc.

 

 

☆Hints for points

Agree

1.     Dancing, helps nonverbal-communication, socialization, and bonding. Like music, it does not depend on language. Dancing helps wind down at parties, and dance clubs are popular hangout spots. Fun dancing consists of only a few simple steps, so it is easy to join. Dancing also helps share the sense of unity and resistance of people, such as the Palestinian folk dance Dabke.

 

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

 

3.     Dancing promotes mental and physical health. Dance beats and repetitive movements make people feel good. It requires uses of all the muscles of the dancer’s body and improves blood flow.

 

4.     Dancing prevents violence in a community, sublimating stress into a formalized and controlled catastrophe. In a Balinese dance, kecak, some dancers fall into trance and stab themselves with a dagger, releasing the frustration in society. In lion dances, performed throughout Asia, the holy animal with scary appearances vigorously moves around and poses to eat people, making them alert and forget their daily complaints.

 

5.     Dancing is universal as well as representing each distinctive culture, enhancing intercultural communication. Traditional dances, country dances, rock & roll dances, or hip-hop dances, along with the music and fashion, are the core of the culture. Those outside the group can learn about them by learning their dances.

 

6.     Dancing informs people of the world view and values of their culture and passes them down. Balinese dancing is part of the structure of the Balinese society. People in Bali have dedicated their dancing to their gods in their religious practices. Each dance represents a mythological character and its story.

 

Disagree or partly disagree

1.     Traditional dancing is obsolete and treated as a traditional performing art. It is functional only in its traditional culture. A move of a traditional Japanese dance shows skills to plant rice seedlings but farmers do not need the information now. Also, traditional views of the world and values conveyed by dancing are mean little today due to the development of science and means of communication.

 

2.     Dancing no longer helps keep peace and community cohesion. People seldom go dancing to “blow off steam”. There are many other activities to release stress and bond like gaming and social media.

 

3.     In capitalism, dances have been commercialized. Like fashion and music, dances are products that are sensual, light, and easy to attract consumers. Although commercially important, the modern dances do not play any meaningful part in society.

 

4.     Dancing is not a popular entertainment in modern society compared to movies or karaoke. Dances tied-up with a song or anime come and go once in a while, no one remembering it five years later.

 

 

☆ Sample for Ideas and Expressions

【Thesis】Although dancing has positive effects on individuals and society, I don’t think dancing is worth more promotion, especially in terms of social reform. TikTok dancers are not achieving a revolution.

【Supporting Details】In ancient times, dancing was functional in organizing and enhancing movements with its hypnotizing effect. However, few people dance regularly now, and dancers usually dance for fun, health, or attention. In other words, they dance for personal purposes. Although cultures like music, art, and dancing are closely related to social movements and dancing helps strengthen the camaraderie and solidarity, most formalized cultures, including dancing, end up being part of the status quo in the long run. Also, the power of dancing is a double-edged sword. Used correctly, it can be a great booster of a movement while it can be used to control people, as seen in dancing religion. As far as I know, the vector of dancing is toward the latter. Promoting dancing, therefore, can be useful not so much for reformers as for the authorities.

【Counterargument-treatment】The mental health effects of dancing that Lucus mentions is remarkable, but there are many other choices for the same purpose as a result of diversified interests, tastes, and lifestyles.

【Conclusion】Dancing is an essential part of life, but it will not and should not be more influential than now. Thus, it is unnecessary to promote it. (223 words)

Write your draft. Then read each other’s draft, asking questions and making counterarguments.

 

                                                   DRAFT