[COP3] DANCING: The pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement

Jonas, G. and Grauer, R. (1998) Dancing: The pleasure, power, and art of movement. New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with Thirteen/WNET.

'To comprehend a dance, we must open ourselves to the culture from which it springs; conversely, as we begin to gain insight into dance, we are on a path to understanding the culture that produced it. Th is the basic premise of Dancing' Rhoda Grauer p. 10

Quote states the importance of understanding the relationship between body and the nature. Dance, or performance of the body should be a reflection to the reality, like how Ed. Hook agrees in his book as well. In oder to achieve the most realistic body language and reactions, we need close observation to our surrounding and use the most appropriate media to present this emotion.Dancers use dance and animator is using characters, as the method to transfer this message to the audience. Although animators would not be able to get the very first respond or interact with audience most of the times, it is very important that the story and the characters show all the information needed within the whole animation which is more difficult and challenging than actors performance on stage.

Dance is what we born with. Human rudimentary: the thrust and flexions and twist and turns of self-generated movement. 'The dances you find yourself doing without remembering how you learned them have always been with us.' p.25 If this saying applies on a character, he should be alive with a lot of natural reflex which animators should be considered. It is essential to practise and observe a lot in order to make the character reliable. It might be worth looking at the timing of animation because the drawing skills also contribute to a natural performance of the character so as to let him lives in his most comfortable way.