Through the Eras

OVERVIEWof DanceDEFINITION. Dance, at its most basic, is rhythmicbody movement, often performed to music. In modernsociety dance can be an art form, recreation, or religiousexpression. Professional dancers entertain through ballet,modern dance, tap, and a variety of other art forms,while non-professionals dance at celebrations such asweddings or for fun at discos and clubs. In ancient Egypt,however, dance mostly served a ritual purpose at funeralsor in ceremonies for the gods and was limited to professionaldancers. One papyrus from the reign of KingSenwosret II (1844–1837 B.C.E.) listed monthly danceperformances incorporated into the New Moon, HalfMoon and Full Moon festivals. Dancers performed annuallyat the Night of Welcoming the Flood Festivalwhen the Nile rose; the Festival of the Five Days Betweenthe Years during the New Year Festival; the Festivalof Sokar, the sun god; the Festival of Hathor, thegoddess of music, dance, and love; and many other festivals.The common scenes of dancers performing at banquetsin New Kingdom tombs were probably alsoreligious rituals, though the banquets initially appear tobe social occasions with the dancers apparently entertainingthe guests. Egyptians viewed social dancing, however,with suspicion. In one Late Period text, forexample, “dancing in the desert” is synonymous withlaziness. Non-professional dancing was virtually unknownin ancient Egyptian society.SOURCES. Scholars depend on scenes carved ontomb and temple walls to learn about Egyptian dance.A few ancient texts refer directly to dance, but the mostuseful texts for this study are the captions in tomb illustrationsof dances and the liturgy recited during funerals.Both of these sources present difficulties ininterpretation, however. Egyptian artists followed conventionsfor representing motion which differ greatlyfrom the perspective drawings used in Western societysince the Renaissance. Moreover, artists often chose afew characteristic poses to illustrate a dance, omittingimportant links between steps, because they only intendedto represent enough of the dance to make it magicallyeffective for the tomb owner. They never intendedthese illustrations to be used as a manual for learning thedances. All dance in Egypt seems to be programmatic,always representing or symbolizing something beyondthe gestures of the dance itself, although scholars cannotalways decipher the dance’s meaning. Yet the purposeand meaning of the dance and the accompanying captionsmust have been clear to most Egyptians.DANCERS. Most dancers were professionals whowere members of the khener—an organization that couldbe a bureau in an institution or could function independentlyas a troupe. Institutional kheners were attachedto temples, tombs, towns, and royal or otherwealthy households. In some cases, the sons and daughtersof the deceased performed the ritual dances at funerals.Dwarfs, or more likely pygmies, performedcertain dances called the Dance of the God. They alsoperformed with the khener during funerals. The Egyptiansalso represented animals such as monkeys and ostrichesdancing.SEGREGATED DANCING. Depictions of dance showthat men and women danced separately. Either a maleor female couple performed the couples funeral dancecalled tjeref. Since the dancers impersonated the deceasedin this dance, male tomb owners depicted male tjerefdancersin their tombs while female tomb owners showedfemale tjeref-dancers in their tombs. Men performed anotherfuneral dance called the muu-dance for both menand women because the muu-dancers represented ferrymenwho guided the funeral processions of both menand women. Women generally performed the dancecalled iba, also part of the funeral ritual. Men acted asmuu-dancers for deceased men and women acted asmuu-dancers for deceased women. The dances thus wereclosely linked to the dancer’s gender.MUSIC. Dancers performed funeral dances and cultdances for the gods accompanied by percussion. Themost common percussion “instrument” was hand clapping,and musicians used specially carved wooden clappersto increase the volume of this sound. Musicians alsoplayed the sistrum and the menat—two different kindsof ritual rattles—during the cult dances performed beforethe gods. Dancers at banquets sometimes accompaniedthemselves on the lute or danced to the harp.Women performed with woodwinds on very rare occasionsat funeral banquets depicted in New Kingdomtombs.COSTUMES. Dancers often wore specialized costumes,jewelry, and headgear tailored to a specific dance.Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 65