Dance moves or dance steps (more complex dance moves are called dance patterns, dance figures, dance movements, or dance variations) are usually isolated, defined, and organized so that beginning dancers can learn and use them independently of each other. However, more complex movements are influenced by musicality and lyrical relevance to express emotions or refer to a message.
Dance moves tend to emphasize the concepts of
lead and follow
In some types of partner dance, lead and follow are designations for the two dancers' roles in a dance pairing. The leader is responsible for guiding the couple and initiating transitions to different dance steps and, in improvised dances, for cho ...
and
connection.
In most cases, dance moves by themselves are independent of
musicality, which is the appropriateness of a move to the music (for a notable exception, see
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...
). Generally, they are memorized in sets of eight counts. Also there are two different movements: concrete and abstract. These two movements show time, space, relationship, quality and focus. For example, relationship could describe the movement of two or more different dancers. The names of moves may be somewhat arbitrary and vary from person to person and city to city.
Techniques
"A
line dance
A line dance is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. These lines usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each other.Knight ...
is made up of a number of movements called ''steps''. Each step is given a name so teachers can tell dancers to perform this step when teaching a dance. The most well known is the ''
grapevine
''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...
'' (or ''vine'' for short), a four-count movement to the side."
In ballroom dancing a "dance step" is defined as, or requires, the shifting of one's body weight from one foot to the other in time to the music. "Dancing is stepping in time to the
beats of the music. ... In addition to steps, there are also dance movements, such as toe touches, kicks, and hops."
[Casey, Betty (1985). ''Dance Across Texas'', p.64-5. University of Texas. .] Some genres, such as
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert danc