OnlineBookClub.org

I believe that dance is the people's way to express their happiness.
Author too wanted to express emotions, so he uses dance.

I figured all the dancing was a type of magical attack, stirring up of energies, or summoning of such powers that would give them supernatural abilities. It reminded me of the "dance" attack option in older Final Fantasy video games.

I have danced my entire life. I took classes until I was an adult and then I taught dance. The secret behind dancing is that it is life changing. While it was not used as a form of art or expression in this instance, it certainly is most of the time. As you said, dancing was used to access power and while the story is fiction I believe there is truth to this occurrence. Thinking in history, dancing is everywhere. It was used by Native Americans for a variety of reasons and it continues to show up in other areas of history. Dancing in short, is powerful.

I think the use of dance in combat is an excellent imagery that the author has used to his full extent. When I think of the Riva battle lines, I imagine a highly co-ordinated, highly athletic scene. The show of openingly dancing for the enemy is a show of their prowess; their agility, endurance, mobility and stamina. In a way, they are showing their opponent beforehand what they are capable of. The act of dancing is usually associated with joy and excitement, so it is disorientating and confusing to see your enemies fighting in this manner, which further the diminishes the morale of their opponent.

I thought that the dancing was silly, particularly as a method of attacking. Theo only explanation that I could come up with is that they were dancing around making them hard to hit, as doing a literal two-step made no sense to me whatsoever.

I think the dancing was more of a cultural thing for the people of Voulhire as they always danced in celebration. However, for the Riva Rohavi people, I think dancing was more ritualist than cultural for them as it can be seen in the book that when they attacked the city of Hillport, they were dancing whilst they murdered everyone.

In fact, it's crazy that an army may fight wars dancing. But it it was just a different way of presenting characters portrayals on his story.

Matthew has a skillful way of explaining dancing in his books, but I think its a culture and its used to celebrate things and events that have happened or about to happen.

This is the first of Tysz’s books I’ve read, but I think a dancing element can convey a variety of moods. Dancing offers a sort of visual melody that can place observers under a hypnotic spell. Witnesses may be left in a trance as performers find a comfortable rhythm. Without or without instrumental accompaniment by court jesters, I think the act of dancing can be a sort of music all its own. Soldiers (like the Riva Rohavi) may use choreographed movements as a sort of meditative training — finding balance and flow that allows them to advance and move as a single (stealthy) entity.

I thought the Riva's dance was a nice touch to their mystery. Seeing them dance before going for the kill will give everyone the creeps.

I think it's strongly related to culture and its depiction aids in shaping up the cultural heritage of Voulhire. But there may not be anything behind it and the author just wanted to put it there.

The Riva dance really messes with the mind. The people fear them, so they are on the defense when they see them. Then, the dancing confuses and disarms them. Seeing these "thugs" dancing presents an incongruous mental picture. The mind can't decide how to react. This makes it easy for the Riva to overcome the people - almost without opposition! Things are not as they seem in this story.

kdstrack wrote: ↑24 Oct 2020, 13:12 The Riva dance really messes with the mind. The people fear them, so they are on the defense when they see them. Then, the dancing confuses and disarms them. Seeing these "thugs" dancing presents an incongruous mental picture. The mind can't decide how to react. This makes it easy for the Riva to overcome the people - almost without opposition! Things are not as they seem in this story.

Psychology can blur reality even more effectively than magic can, which is one of the many reasons the Riva Rohavi look down upon and reject magic.

In today's world dancing is often for Entertainment. Well, in the old days it was attached to events. For example a Ceremonial dance. (A Ceremonial Dance ) is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is ceremonial or ritualistic. I believe the author included some of the dancing themes to fit the medieval setup of the plots.

I think the inclusion of dancing in all of his books reflects the author's view of it. In the third book, if I remember correctly, it was mentioned that dancing didn't affect the dancers' abilities, more like it had affected their mentality, which makes perfect sense because a healthy mentality leads to a healthy body.