Early Greek dances

The dances of simple primitive men were rather wild and crude. In time they learnt to express their feelings in more refined ways. Their dances also became more elegant and graceful, and dignified movements were developed. By the time of Greek civilization, dancing had become an art and they combined it with music and singing. At first their dancing was largely connected with religious ceremonies. Solemn dances wear danced for more serious gods such as Athena, goddess of wisdom, and wild unruly dances were used for worshiping others like Dionysus, god of wine. From the temples dancing passed to the theater indeed the tragic dance came long before the tragic dramas of the Greeks. In these dramas the choruses were famous; the singers sang and danced to the music of their lyres. Among the Greek dances some of the best known were the Pyrrhic, the Emelia, the silkiness, and the kordax. The Pyrrhic was a war dance performed carrying arms – the word and the spear. The Amelia was stately tragic dance of slow movement. The skinniest was danced by the chorus of satyrs – earth gods represented as meant with their legs of goats. The kordax was a comic dance.