The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1905-02-10
Text: land a time to dance.n Ec-

clesiastes. 81.
for everything there is season, and
he enlarges his thought by declaring
that there is time TO be born and
time to die; time to weep and
time to laugh; time to mourn and
a time TO dance. He multiplies the
various pursuits for which he declares
there is season; but on this occa-
sion our thought is confined TO the
statement that there is a time to
dance. Dancing may be defined as
the expression of various emotions by
rhythmicaI movements of the body,
usually accompanied by music of
some sort. Dancing is probably as
old as the race; the date of its origin
is prehistoric. 1t prevails in rude, as
well as in civilized communities.
Children and animals gracefully dance
and gambol by instinct In many
ancient nations dancing was con-
stituent part of religious rites and
ceremonies; and many descriptions
are given of worshippers dancing
around the statues and before the al
tars of their gods. Homer teaches US
that dancing and music were insepa-
rable Accomplishments of social en-
tertainments.
Dancing among the more primitive
peoples later so developed as TO be
the means of expressing emotions of
sorrow and joy. By the introduction
of pantomime its power of expression
was very greatly increased. The
power of music, although il was often
very rude in form, consisting in beat
ing on shells, rafting on sticks or by
the clapping of the hands together or
on various parts of the body, gave
great additional power OF expression
to the dance Sometimes the rhyth-
mic sounds took the form of chants
or songs. Indeed, as may be seen in
the highlands of Scotland and in
many parts of the Orient the people
often danced and sang at the same
time.
From early times and among many
peoples there were three marked
forms of the dance-the war dance,
the social dance and the religious
dance. This is only a general CLASH
fication, and does not exhaust the
list; but many other dances were
merely local customs or were de-
rived from one or the other of these
three forms. The aim of the war
dance was to inspire the combatants
with courage before a battle. 1t
was also employed to celebrate a
victory. Dances of this character
were once common in the Hawaiian
Islands, and among many other saw
age or semi-civilized peoples. The
social dance included all comic
dances and those which marked ioy-
Gus occasions in family and in village
life. But the most important of
these forms was the religious dance.
Its rules were observed with great
strictness; among many savage
tribes dancing was a very serious
business. 1t was performed with the
utmost gravity, and any serious de-
parture from its rules was sometimes
punished by death. As a religious
act the women danced while the men
were absent on warlike expeditions.
The dancing was continued both
night and day. 1t was an acted
prayer TO the gods to protect the
warriors and to return them in safety.
The medicine dance among our
North American Indians was strictly
religious in spirit: it had also its
physical side, as il was intended TO
keep the patient awake, 1t was be-
lieved that in sleep the soul partly
leaves the body, as at death it en-
tirely departs. 1t was important,
therefore. to keep the patient awake,
as if he fell asleep his soul might