A painter and his painting are separate, once painted if the painter is not there the painting still exists, with a poet , the poem remains even if the poet does not, the same with a sculptor and his sculpture. However with dance when the dancer goes, so does the dance, they are linked and depend on each other. Your capability and ability to absorb and engage in dance also affects your enjoyment and your experience
As the dancer cannot overlook and properly admire his dance and the onlookers cannot be in and within the dance, to what extent can a dance performance really be appreciated and understood? It seems as if this dichotomy between the dance, the dancer and those being dazzled by the dance, is destined to remain. What is important however is to understand that this distinction is there and your appreciation of dance and other forms of art is mainly of a subjective nature
In many respects it is similar to religious experiences, and enlightenments, that those who have felt and been moved by such phenomena have difficulty in adequately getting across to another the power and emotion of the happening. Of course all this also has a lot to do with the fact that often, the experiencer does not fully fathom the precise nature of the mood and emotion that happened. It is therefore very difficult to get across in words or other media what you feel and experience when you dance. And so it should be...that is the essence of such phenomena
There are performance dances, where professionals or the accomplished perform and the rest watch. and there are social dances that people dance themselves in non accomplished ways. With performance dances, you have to learn and practice and work hard and long and this takes time, effort and dedication. After all you are performing for an audience so you have to be proficient
A great deal also depends on the form and nature of the dance. For example a solely individual dance form such as Bharatnatyam tries to get across a range of emotions and much else by gestures and glances, but the audience itself has to be fairly accomplished to understand and comprehend the essentials of such a performance. With social dances you do not need to work too hard be engaged . Even if you are not good it does not really matter
The best and most significant form of dance is not that of the professionals. In the main you have to be fairly knowledge about the professional and classical dances to enjoy and appreciate them. Professional dances but they should not be regarded as the pinnacle of dance. The most significant and useful dances are communal dances. They soar and transcend far above professional performances.