International book international book of favorite sports_FV | Page 33

At Egyptian funerals, women dance to express the grief of the mourners. Sacred
occasions in Greek shrines, such as the games at Olympia from the 8th century
BC, are inaugurated with dancing by the temple virgins. The choros is originally
just such a dance, performed in a circle in
honour of a god. In the 6th century it becomes
the centrepiece of Greek theatre.
In India the formalized hand movements of the
priestesses in Hindu temples are described in
documents from as early as the 1st century AD.
Each precise gesture is of subtle significance. A
form of classical dance based upon them -
known as Bharata Nhatyam - is still performed
by highly skilled practitioners today.
Any sufficiently uninhibited society knows that
frantic dancing, in a mood heightened by
pounding rhythm and flowing alcohol, will set
the pulse racing and induce a mood of frenzied
exhilaration.
This is exemplified in the Dionysiac dances of
ancient Greece. Villagers, after harvesting the
grapes, celebrate the occasion with a drunken orgy in honour of Dionysus, god
of wine (whose Roman name is Bacchus). Their stomping makes
a favourite scene on Greek vases; and dancing women of this kind, whose frenzy
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