| Apollo:
God of music, healing and light
Brother to Artemus and 1/2 brother to Terpischore,
son of Leto and Zeus. In a passage of Pindar, Apollo
is called the dancer; (and there is a Greek line extant which
represents Jupiter himself in the very act of dancing.) The
Gymnopedite was instituted by Lycurgus, and was invented (Lacedemon)
by the Spartans as an early excitation to the courage of their
children, and in order to lead them on insensibly to the exercise
of an armed dance (Pyrrhic.) The choir of the children
regulated their motions by those of the men, and all danced at
the same time, singing hymns in praise of Apollo.
The festival was sacred to Apollo
for the poetry, and to Bacchus for the dance.
Aphrodite:
From the Island of Cyprus, featured lewd dances in the rites.
Bacchus:
The Bacchanalia
or Bacchic dance is named after him. Bacchus
was wont to make pilgrimages, accompanied by a train of Nymphs,
Satyrs, and Centaurs, into distant lands to teach mankind the
cultivation of the grape and the preparation of wine, great feasts
were indulged in, and a regular series of dances was performed,
in which a multitude of people took part. The story of Dance of
the Lapitha, the Lapithæ dwelt near Mount Olympus, in Thessalia.
They are celebrated in history for the total destruction
of the Centaurs (their neighbors) who, in a fit of intoxication,
behaved in a rude manner to the wives of the former.The Lapithæ
were great votaries to the god of wine, and of dancing,
of which he is reputed by some to be the inventor, held the
first place in the ceremonies of his worship, the victory of the
Centaurs was celebrated by a solemn dance, inverted on this occasion
by Pirithous, prince, or king of Lapithæ. But it required
so extraordinary an exertion in the dancer, that it was entirely
confined to the robust inhabitants of the country.
Bes:
Book of Exodus:
more click here
we are told that Miriam the sister of Moses, and all the women
of Israel celebrated the destruction of the Egyptians with timbrals
and dances. This would be about 1,500 years before the
birth of Christ. The Greeks amused themselves by dancing
the "Armed
dance" (Pyrrhic) before the walls of Troy during
the memorable siege from 1184 to 1194, B.C. King David, of Israel,
danced before all the people B.C. 1050; and 1000 B.C.,
Solomon wrote, 'there is a time to weep and a time to laugh; a
time to mourn and a time to dance.' Lycurgus, the great Spartan
law-giver, about 323 B.C., framed a law which made it imperative
that the Spartan youth should be trained in a military dance
from the seventh year of age. Christ also speaks of the elder
brother of the Prodigal Son hearing music and dancing.
Castor and
Pollux: (Protectors of the Sea)
twin sons of Jupiter and Keda, brothers to Helen. The first teachers
of dancing. Some mythological writers assert that the art
of dancing was first taught by Pollux
and Castor to the Lacedæmonians, while others attribute
the invention to Minerva, who, after the defeat of the giants,
danced for joy. Castor
and his brother Pollux
highly trained in military
dances, distinguished themselves in these manly exercises,
and were pronounced far superior to all the heroes of their time.
Castor
spent his alternate days with is brother in Hades.
Cymbele:
daughter of Menoes (King of Phrygia and Dindymenis his wife.)
Cymbal was said to invent diverse things such as the Flagelot
of several pipes, the tabor, the cymbal (of course) and
Dancing.
Flora: Goddess
of Flowers and Festivals
The May
Dance of ancient origin, as it dates back to the dancing at
the 'Feast of Flora'. In her honor were held the last of April
and the first of May. (see Maia)
Hecate had the
power over the dead and would be worshipped at night, these rites
were usually secret and included dancing.
Babylon;
Married to Tammuz. Ishtar would descend to the underworld for
six months, the earth died and nothing would be born, when her
husband descended, the earth was reborn (The Seasons,)
all would celebrate her return from the underworld. When Ishtar
descends, she must pass seven gates, at each gate she must leave
one of her attributes, so when she arrives she is naked with no
defenses. It is said that the dance of the Seven
Veils depicts this. Salome
dance (Shalome) would be depicted as the welcoming back.
Jupiter:
aka Jove) was the supreme Roman deity, and was called '
the father of men and gods'. He is the father to Terpischore
(some say Zeus) and the nine
Muses as well as Apollo.
Married to Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory and son of Rhea. The
Pyrrhic,
or Armed dance, as it was called, was supposed to be the
very first dance, and was intended to amuse and divert
the infant Jupiter, and by the noise and clash of swords against
bucklers, to drown his cries.
Maia:
it is said the Maypole
dance is undoubtedly of Roman origin, and came from some ceremonies
connected with the worship of Maia, the mother of Mercury, and
the presiding goddess of that month. For many centuries it was
the chief dance of rustic Ol' England.
Mediatorial Dances:
were those performed when sacrifices were offered to the gods,
and when expiating sins. These were distinct in character from
many of the dances performed at religious festivals, which
are classed among the domestic dances.
Minerva: goddess
of wisdom
was the daughter of Jupiter, who sprung from his brain; Minerva,
who, after the defeat of the giants, danced for joy.
Osiris:who was the Egyptian equivalent of Bacchus
and Dionysos;
and co-eval with them was the Astronomic dance, a dance which
was one of a marvelous age, and about which more perhaps has been
written, than about any other dance of the early ages. It was
an intricate and cleverly-executed dance, meant to represent the
courses of the stars, and performed by a large number of dancers.
Not only in Egypt, but in Assyria and even Greece this dance was
known, and respectively around the fire-surmounted altars of Ra,
Baal-peor, and Jove, who were the three chief, or sun-gods, of
these nations, did the dance revolve (orchestra-1596-sir John
Davis.) Osiris loved gaiety and much enjoyed songs and dances.
He had with him always a company of musicians, among whom were
nine maidens cultured in all the arts relating to music. Hence
the Greeks call them the Nine
Muses.
Pan:(Nature
God)
The Rural Dances were invented by Pan (half goat-half man,)
who appointed the woods and the fine season of the year for the
time and place of their performance. The Greeks and Romans observed
them with the greatest solemnity in the celebration of the festival
sacred to the god whom they believed to be the inventor.
Plato:
the celebrated Greek Philosopher, who lived B.C. 429-348, divides
the dances of the ancients into three classes, viz.: (I) The military
dances; (2) the domestic dances; (3) the mediatorial dance The
Emmeleïa was a sort of tragic movement or ballet, of which
the elegance and majesty were greatly celebrated by Plato
Romans:
were introduced at the festivals of Bacchus,
the god of wine. Originating, as they did, in a state of drunkenness,
it is not surprising that the gross indecencies practiced by both
men and women in these lascivious dances finally brought dancing
into disrepute among the Romans.
Shiva: Indian Mythology
Lord Shiva is considered the supreme lord of the dance, who along
with his wife Goddess Parvathi perform dances called Tandava and
Lasya. The Tandava dance depicts Shiva's power to destroy the
Universe through natures Power. There are seven types of Tandava:
Ananda, Gauri, Kaali, Samara, Tripura, Sandhya, Uma. The Lasya
dance has two types as well: Jarita and Yauvaka, these are performed
by Parvathi and are considered the female form of Tandava. It
Is Graceful and Erotic in movement.
from Greek mythology is the Goddess of Dance.
Terpischore
comes from the Greek word 'Terpein' (to enjoy/delight in)
'and Choros' (to dance.) She was one of the nine
daughters of Jupiter - 'God of the Sky' (some say Zeus
was father) and her mother was Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Inspiration
and Memory... It's Interesting to note that the mother of the
inventive goddesses, are also recognized as the goddess of memory-important
to dance. Jupiter was the supreme Roman deity, and was called
'the father of men and gods'. Terpischore
is the half-sister of Apollo,
plus she had nine sisters known as 'The
Nine Muses', each muse was a goddess of the arts of whom Terpischore
was one. The Muses were the inventors of and presided over poetry,
music, dancing, and the liberal arts and sciences. Terpischore's
main job was to inspire and promote dance. She also played
the Lyre and Citahra (said to be of her invention.)
Thesus: King
of Athens
On his return to Crete, Thesus invented a dance depicting his
fight with the Minotaur, which became known as the Delian dance
of the Labyrinth, or the Flight of the Cranes (
first Stage or choric dance) in which he himself assisted
at the head of a numerous and splendid band of youths, around
the altar of Apollo.
The dance was composed of three parts; the Strophe, Anti-strophe,
and the Stationary. In the strophe, the movements were from
the right to the left; in the anti-strophe from the left to the
right; and in the stationary, they danced before the altar; so
that the stationary did not mean an absolute pause or rest, but
only a slower or graver movement. To this dance (Delian dance
of the Labyrinth) Thesus gave the name of Geranos,
or the Crane, because the figures which characterized it, bore
a resemblance to those described by cranes in their flight. The
ancient Grecian dance Farandole
(Provence) which we owe to Thesus, and which the Phoneticians
had imported to Marseilles.
The wife of Saturn and the mother of Jupiter and Zeus. Saturn,
AKA Kronos, had devoured all her male children for fear that one
of them would dethrone him, so when Jupiter (Zeus?) was
born, Rhea deceived Saturn by giving him a stone, which he devoured
instead of the child. Jupiter was then concealed, and Rhea invented
the Pyrrhic,
or Armed dance, (sometimes called Kronou Teknophagia or
Crane Dance) to amuse and divert him, and to drown his cries
by the noise of swords striking against bucklers, and by her,
communicated the dance to her priests (Curettes, or priests
of Cybele) in Phrygia and Crete. |
