Time to MOVE YOUR BODY

Reading so many blogs about how music can be a medium of expressing yourself, I start to wonder what is the best way to express yourself through music.  A lot of people might immediately say singing, since it is really natural to sing while you hear music that touches you. However, I think the best way and also the most elegant form of expressing your own self is through dancing.

Although there isn’t a specific point or time when people started dancing, in ancient time, people have already begun dancing for spiritual reasons. Dancing is a form of medium that connects Gods with human and also their joys for God. They felt like by moving their bodies, they are giving out more emotions to God than just praying. However, as time goes by, dancing is no longer only associated with spiritual reasons; in fact, it has become an entertainment or a sport or activity to express one self.

During the last few years, dancing has becoming a really hot subject. When the movie, Step Up and the reality TV Show, America’s Best Dance Crew were launched, dancing has become so popular among the society that dancing was almost everywhere. By just watching a Youtube dancing video, it might already make you want to move your body. At one point, I actually want to take a dancing lesson too.  Dancing has become so popular that it did not only particularly bring up one dancing style, such as hip hop, it also brought up other dancing style like waltz, break dance, modern, and jazz. When another TV show So You Think You Can Dance launched, the heat for dancing has raised up even more rapidly.

The fascinating part for dancing is that you can use your body to express what you want to say even if there is a language barrier. Not like words and language, dancing can express your feelings to different cultural people. People can feel your emotions and power through the movement of your body. Therefore, personally, I think dancing is the best form of medium to express one self. And with the influence of the recent TV shows, mass media has also shaped how people perceive dancing. However, if I have to list one artist that influenced many people through dancing and how they perceive dancing, I would definitely say Michael Jackson. There can’t be Michael Jackson without his dance moves. His emotions, power and message behind his music would never be fully delivered if dancing was not included. This clearly illustrated the point McLuhan described in his article Understanding the Media, where medium is the message, and not the content it delivers.

Step Up 2
America's Best Dance Crew
Evolution of Dance
Michael Jackson