So I'm developing this magic system that incorporates dance as a sort of fighting style. Each dance style is associated with an element depending on the move set (think ballet as air because the moves or aerodynamic, or hip-hop with earth because it's very grounded). Could anyone help with ideas to expand on this?
So if the people who perform these have to use the dances to create the spells then:
Contemporary dance could be water due to it usually being free flowing
The haka could be like a defence spell as it is traditionally known to intimidate others
Hope this helps, it not large but I don't know that many dances.
well, Latin line dancing could be used as fire maybe?
thats all i can think of right mow
@Isabella it still helps! Thank you!
Thank you for idea!
Capoeira might fit - it's sort of a dance, a martial art, and an acrobatic style all at once
Okay this question really excites me because I love dance (though I can't dance myself) so this might get a little rambly, BUT:
You could probably have your martial art/ dance magic separated into four main categories of elements and then subcategories that both stay within that main categories AND overlap. There are many types of dances and then more that come from those dances and so on, and the dances you choose will depend on the feeling you personally get from watching them. For example, an example of a fire/air dance (or maybe fire/water but that might not work since they're contradictory) would be the Viennese Waltz. If you watch a competition, you'll notice it's very smooth, kind of fast, and the postures of the dances tends to look like they're preening/prideful. The woman holds her back arched so far she's almost bent backwards (but gracefully) and the man stands as straight as he can. The fire comes from pride and the air/water comes from the fluidity of the movements.
An example if a water/air dance (or just air) would be the Russian Berezka dance, where the dancers' feet move so quickly under their gowns that it literally looks like they're gliding. But they also stay strictly in line, so they look like one unit (maybe this translates as water/air or air attacks that cut instead of batter.)
You could also have tempo be a part of power strength. Like, Rumba could be a slow burning fire dance that takes time to build up power. Then, once released, it comes out in a powerful burst. The Merengue could be a faster fire dance that release shorter, weaker bursts at a faster rate.
Dance control could also be a thing. Like, Perreo or the Charleston (fire or fire/Earth) and krumping (Earth) are all kind of chaotic, hard dances that don't require much control as, say ballet and berezka.
Precision could also be an affecting factor, like you have some dances that are chaotic and don't really require care in how they move or pre-determined steps (like krumping) but you also have some that can be chaotic and precise (like maybe tap-dancing.) Precision could be implemented in imbuing items with elemental magic. Like, say, a character wants to put fire magic in a staff. In order to do so, they would maybe do the salsa, which requires precision but is also quite fast paced and maybe even chaotic in the movements. Or, if they want to heal someone, they would do a ballet around them, because of the precision needed.
You could probably even have something to do with the number of people involved. Like, Buchaechum (traditional Korean dance) consists of many dancers working together in a dance that I would describe as "airy," so while one characters is performing a "fire" dance as attack, a group of others could be performing buchaechum in order to create a shield of hardened air or something. Or like, maybe there's a great evil that needs to be held back and you just have this group of people doing these dances in order to keep it locked away. Really, the sky's the limit.
And finally, you could probably do something with dance age. Like, berezka and buchaechum are both folk dances, so maybe there are only a few practitioners of them left, and people are learning more chaotic, less precise dance nowadays.
I would recommend looking up as many dances as you can, as there are just so many, and they're all really wonderful. Also, it would diversify your dance magics, as you could include very "earthy" dances from Africa and "fiery" ones from Latin America, or "airy" ones from Europe and "watery" ones from Asia (I don't mean have them specifically come from these places in your story, but like have them influence your dances.)
Okay this question really excites me because I love dance (though I can't dance myself) so this might get a little rambly, BUT:
You could probably have your martial art/ dance magic separated into four main categories of elements and then subcategories that both stay within that main categories AND overlap. There are many types of dances and then more that come from those dances and so on, and the dances you choose will depend on the feeling you personally get from watching them. For example, an example of a fire/air dance (or maybe fire/water but that might not work since they're contradictory) would be the Viennese Waltz. If you watch a competition, you'll notice it's very smooth, kind of fast, and the postures of the dances tends to look like they're preening/prideful. The woman holds her back arched so far she's almost bent backwards (but gracefully) and the man stands as straight as he can. The fire comes from pride and the air/water comes from the fluidity of the movements.
An example if a water/air dance (or just air) would be the Russian Berezka dance, where the dancers' feet move so quickly under their gowns that it literally looks like they're gliding. But they also stay strictly in line, so they look like one unit (maybe this translates as water/air or air attacks that cut instead of batter.)
You could also have tempo be a part of power strength. Like, Rumba could be a slow burning fire dance that takes time to build up power. Then, once released, it comes out in a powerful burst. The Merengue could be a faster fire dance that release shorter, weaker bursts at a faster rate.
Dance control could also be a thing. Like, Perreo or the Charleston (fire or fire/Earth) and krumping (Earth) are all kind of chaotic, hard dances that don't require much control as, say ballet and berezka.
Precision could also be an affecting factor, like you have some dances that are chaotic and don't really require care in how they move or pre-determined steps (like krumping) but you also have some that can be chaotic and precise (like maybe tap-dancing.) Precision could be implemented in imbuing items with elemental magic. Like, say, a character wants to put fire magic in a staff. In order to do so, they would maybe do the salsa, which requires precision but is also quite fast paced and maybe even chaotic in the movements. Or, if they want to heal someone, they would do a ballet around them, because of the precision needed.
You could probably even have something to do with the number of people involved. Like, Buchaechum (traditional Korean dance) consists of many dancers working together in a dance that I would describe as "airy," so while one characters is performing a "fire" dance as attack, a group of others could be performing buchaechum in order to create a shield of hardened air or something. Or like, maybe there's a great evil that needs to be held back and you just have this group of people doing these dances in order to keep it locked away. Really, the sky's the limit.
And finally, you could probably do something with dance age. Like, berezka and buchaechum are both folk dances, so maybe there are only a few practitioners of them left, and people are learning more chaotic, less precise dance nowadays.
I would recommend looking up as many dances as you can, as there are just so many, and they're all really wonderful. Also, it would diversify your dance magics, as you could include very "earthy" dances from Africa and "fiery" ones from Latin America, or "airy" ones from Europe and "watery" ones from Asia (I don't mean have them specifically come from these places in your story, but like have them influence your dances.)
Omg this was a huge help, and now I have more of an idea of what to do! Thank you so much!
wow that was an amazing description