History of Dance Music
What is Dance Music? The definition of dance music is quite simply- Music composed/ played specifically for dancing to. Dance music includes a whole variety of music from waltz to tango, disco to rock.From the dawn of mankind humans possessed the desire to danceIn accient times, the first purpose of dance was ritual – to the gods of nature. Dancing is proven to make us feel good. Dancing is used in celebrations. In ancient Greece,after harvesting grapes, the occasion was celebrated in honour of the God of wine, Dionysus, where people danced all night long. Although dance and music can be traced back to prehistoric times, it is unclear which came first. As rhythm and sound go hand in hand and inspire movement.The relationship between the two has always been symbiotic.
Our ears have the fewest sensory cells of any sensory organ–3,500 inner hair cells occupy our ears versus 100 million photoreceptors in our eyes. Yet our mental response to music is amazingly adaptable; even a little study can « retune » the way the brain handles musical inputs.
It’s a well known fact that music is good for you, as it builds neuropathways and stimulates the mind. Recently scientists discovered what makes a tune catchy, after locating the brain area where a song’s « hook » gets caught. Its in the auditory cortex,which handles information from ears.
Dance Music in particular stimulates our brains, as studies found, thus the popular demand for night clubs. An uplifting melody with an uptembo rhythm increases our stimulation in the auditory complex.
In recent times the term “dance music” is more familiarly known as club music, electronic music…techno, trance, house, eurodance, breakbeat and trance,drum and bass,hip hop,raga.
Electronic dance music evolved in the 1970s. Kraftwerk, Georgio Moroder, Donna Summer and Sylvester are just a few of the artists who started the dance music phenomenon.
From 1988, many terms of dance music evolved
From Acid House to Techno to ambient wave to trance.
Nowadays we have all sorts of dance music from all over the world. We hear it on our radios, Tvs, in our night clubs. A recent survey found dance music is the most popular genre among music tastes, and is growing in popularity even more each day.
I found this interesting web station last week with a nice mix of dance music.