Meng - Blog 16

     I learned that Ecuadorian culture is full of bright colors, festivals, and an appreciation of nature and women. Nearly every dancer's outfit was a vibrant color and usually had multiple stripes or other colors on it. By reading the program I was able to understand that many of the dances were representative of festivals held in Ecuador. It was interesting to learn that Ecuador has so many different festivals each with a different emphasis and way of celebrating. I was also interested to learn that many of the dances were meant to show an appreciation for something. The Deer Hunt and Eternal Spring dances were amazing displays of appreciation for nature and how Ecuadorians interact with nature. The Poem of Life and Huarmi Tucushcas dances showed the appreciation for women that is present in Ecuadorian culture, both as hard workers and bringers of life.

      Dance can serve as a near universal form of communication because, it relies on basic senses of sight and sound and requires less training to interpret. Speech requires extensive training to be able to interpret words and connect them to their meanings. Dance, however, can communicate its message with less training by actively demonstrating its meaning. The Deer Hunt dance, for example, was able to represent the movement and capture of a deer by having a dancer dress as a stylized, yet recognizable, deer and have her dance in a mimicry of the movements of a real deer being captured by Ecuadorian hunters. This ability to demonstrate for the viewer, rather than rely on the viewer's memorized words and connections, allows dance to transcend verbal communication.