From Prehistoric Art to Modern Dance

The most ancient of human beings have left evidence of their presence in what can properly be described as art. A prehistoric art, in the form of cave paintings, stone tools, rock and bone carvings, that, even after this great span of time, can tell us of their sensitive artistry, and show us their talent and skills in depicting their world in works of often great aesthetic beauty when seen through the eyes of modern day artists.

It seems that the human being has an urge to create a pictorial record, for whatever purpose we can only imagine, if indeed there was a purpose. Their works have endured and can be seen in the cave paintings of Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, thought to be more than 30,000 years old.

And a frequent representation of the human form is found in the many carved figurines that have been unearthed, thought to be fertility symbols, such as the famous 11 centimeter high carving now resting in Vienna's Natural History Museum, known as the Venus of Willendorf, that is more than 25,000 years old.

Dozens of similar human images have been discovered, more than 90% of them being female, with most of them exhibiting the same general characteristics, usually being obese and pregnant. The oldest discovered to date, carved from mammoth ivory is more than 40,000 years old.

And there is rock art dating from Neolithic times, some perhaps as old as 10,000 years. The Tassili cliff paintings in the Sahara, show that the artists and peoples inhabited a then moist and fertile region where only the eroded sandstones of the Sahara Desert are there to now bear witness. The Tassili art shows an abundance of wild animals, large and small, from crocodiles to herds of cattle and they also show human activities such as hunting and dancing.

Scenes of dancing are also depicted in carvings from ancient Babylon, often called the cradle of civilization, and from Greece and from Egypt of Phaoronic times.

Just like the urge to paint, and draw, there is also the urge, more widespread perhaps, to dance, to move the body to a rhythmic beat or tuneful sound. A purely human outward expression of feelings and emotions that can be performed by young or old, male or female, by a solitary person or a group, from folk dancing to the choreographed movements of the ballet dancer. And some say they are "born to dance".

Echoes of the ancient past still exist in the tribal dances of Africa and Polynesia and the rain dances of indigenous peoples of America. There are dances of the hunt or of battle, or as fertility rituals, and there are dances of celebration and joy of weddings and birthdays and family events.

Source : ezinearticles