This short analysis refers to cultural anthropology and aesthetics of dance, and intends to present a few remarkable steps in the long history of a special kind of danced gestures: expressions of feelings and representations of activities related to grieving and mourning, like lifting up hands in the air or upon one’s head and dramatically waving long hair. The focus is set on some universals and similarities as well as on contextualized variations and differences, in a series of six examples : ancient Greek iconography of danced mourning rituals and tragic griefs ; expressionist death ceremonies, like in Mary Wigman’s Totenmal ; the post-expressionist / neo-baroque synthesis in Pina Bausch’s works ; and the popular re-enactment and re-interpretation of grieving expressions and gestures in some vogueing rituals and heavy-metal rock scenographies. The history of precise gestures and actions may be a useful instrument for the study of dance traditions, renewals, and innovations.