Embodied Musical Communication Across Cultures: Singing and Dancing for Quality of Life and Wellbeing Benefit

Abstract

This chapter aims to interrogate the nature and role of the musical arts of singing and dancing in culture to explore the impact on both the quality of life and wellbeing. The chapter is divided into three primary sections, beginning with a discussion of music and its embodied communicative function, with evidence from infancy and early childhood research. The second section considers how musical arts are experienced in Western contexts, especially in terms of their contemporary use. The final section introduces the musical culture of the Venda of South Africa, showing how musicality is defined there in a culturally-specific manner. Through current research and the historical work of John Bl..