Dance is a
performing art
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfor ...
form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has
aesthetic and often
symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its
choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its
historical period or
place of origin.
An important distinction is to be drawn between the contexts of
theatrical
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
and
participatory dance, although these two categories are not always completely separate; both may have special functions, whether
social,
ceremonial
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular ...
,
competitive
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
,
erotic,
martial, or
sacred/
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
. Other forms of human movement are sometimes said to have a dance-like quality, including
martial arts,
gymnastics,
cheerleading,
figure skating,
synchronized swimming, marching bands, and many other forms of
athletics. There are many professional athletes like, professional football players and soccer players, who take dance classes to help with their skills. To be more specific professional athletes take many ballet classes because ballet is a foundation of many things we do in life. Ballet helps with balance, core strength, and leg strength.
Dance requires an equal amount of cognitive focus as well as physical strength. The demanding yet evolving art-form allows individuals to express themselves creatively through movement, while enabling them to adapt movement that possesses a rhythmical pattern and fluid motions that allure to an audience either onstage or on film. Dance is considered to be a very aesthetically pleasing art-form.
Performance and participation
Theatrical dance, also called performance or concert dance, is intended primarily as a spectacle, usually a
performance upon a
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
by
virtuoso dancers. It often tells a
story
Story or stories may refer to:
Common uses
* Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events)
** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting
* Story (American English), or storey (British ...
, perhaps using
mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
,
costume and
scenery
Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...
, or else it may
interpret the musical accompaniment, which is often specially composed and performed in a theatre setting but it is not a requirement. Examples are western
ballet and
modern dance
Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...
,
Classical Indian dance such as
Bharatanatyam and Chinese and Japanese song and dance dramas such as
dragon dance
Dragon dance () is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen during festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate a long flexible ...
. Most classical forms are centred upon dance alone, but performance dance may also appear in
opera and other forms of
musical theatre.
Participatory dance, on the other hand, whether it be a
folk dance, a
social dance
Social dances are dances that have a social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competiti ...
, a
group dance such as a
line,
circle,
chain or
square dance, or a
partner dance such as is common in
Western ballroom dancing, is undertaken primarily for a common purpose, such as
social interaction or
exercise, or building flexibility of participants rather than to serve any benefit to onlookers. Such dance seldom has any narrative. A group dance and a ''
corps de ballet'', a social partner dance and a ''
pas de deux'', differ profoundly. Even a
solo dance
A solo dance is a dance done by an individual dancing alone, as opposed to couples dancing together but independently of others dancing at the same time, if any, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a coordinated manner. ...
may be undertaken solely for the satisfaction of the dancer. Participatory dancers often all employ the same movements and steps but, for example, in the
rave culture
A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...
of
electronic dance music, vast crowds may engage in
free dance, uncoordinated with those around them. On the other hand, some cultures lay down strict rules as to the particular dances in which, for example, men, women, and children may or must participate.
History
Archaeological evidence for early dance includes 10,000-year-old paintings in
Madhya Pradesh, India at the
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age starting ...
,
and
Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures, dated c. 3300 BC. It has been proposed that before the invention of written languages, dance was an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from one generation to the next.
[Nathalie Comte. "Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World". Ed. Jonathan Dewald. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. pp 94–108.] The use of dance in
ecstatic
Ecstasy () is a subjective experience of total involvement of the subject, with an object of their awareness. In classical Greek literature, it refers to removal of the mind or body "from its normal place of function."
Total involvement with ...
trance states and healing rituals (as observed today in many contemporary "primitive" cultures, from the Brazilian
rainforest to the
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa.
It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...
) is thought to have been another early factor in the social development of dance.
[Guenther, Mathias Georg. 'The San Trance Dance: Ritual and Revitalization Among the Farm Bushmen of the Ghanzi District, Republic of Botswana.' Journal, South West Africa Scientific Society, v. 30, 1975–76.]
References to dance can be found in very early recorded history;
Greek dance (''
horos'') is referred to by
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
,
Aristotle,
Plutarch and
Lucian. The
Bible and
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
refer to many events related to dance, and contain over 30 different dance terms. In
Chinese pottery as early as the
Neolithic period, groups of people are depicted dancing in a line holding hands, and the earliest Chinese word for "dance" is found written in the
oracle bones
Oracle bones () are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. ''Scapulimancy'' is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for th ...
. Dance is further described in the ''
Lüshi Chunqiu
The ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', also known in English as ''Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'', is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Micha ...
''.
Primitive dance in ancient China was associated with sorcery and shamanic rituals.
During the first millennium
BCE
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
in India, many texts were composed which attempted to codify aspects of daily life.
Bharata Muni's ''
Natyashastra'' (literally ''"the text of dramaturgy"'') is one of the earlier texts. It mainly deals with drama, in which dance plays an important part in Indian culture. It categorizes dance into four types--secular, ritual, abstract, and, interpretive--and into four regional varieties. The text elaborates various hand-gestures (''
mudras
A mudra (; sa, मुद्रा, , "seal", "mark", or "gesture"; ,) is a symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. While some mudras involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers.
As wel ...
'') and classifies movements of the various limbs, steps and so on. A strong continuous tradition of dance has since continued in India, through to modern times, where it continues to play a role in culture, ritual, and, notably, the
Bollywood entertainment industry. Many other
contemporary dance forms can likewise be traced back to
historical,
traditional,
ceremonial
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular ...
, and
ethnic dance.
Music
Dance is generally, however not exclusively, performed with the accompaniment of music and may or may not be performed ''in
time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' to such music. Some dance (such as
tap dance) may provide its own audible accompaniment in place of (or in addition to) music. Many early forms of music and dance were created for each other and are frequently performed together. Notable examples of traditional dance/music couplings include the
jig,
waltz,
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
,
disco, and
salsa. Some
musical genres have a parallel dance form such as
baroque music and
baroque dance
Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era (roughly 1600–1750), closely linked with Baroque music, theatre, and opera.
English country dance
The majority of surviving choreographies from the period are English country dances, such as those i ...
; other varieties of dance and music may share nomenclature but developed separately, such as
classical music and
classical ballet. The choreography and music go hand in hand, as they complement each other to express a story told by the choreographer and or dancers.
Rhythm
Rhythm and dance are deeply linked in history and practice. The American dancer
Ted Shawn wrote; "The conception of rhythm which underlies all studies of the dance is something about which we could talk forever, and still not finish."
[Shawn, Ted, ''Dance We Must'', 1946, Dennis Dobson Ltd., London, p. 50] A musical rhythm requires two main elements; first, a regularly-repeating
pulse
In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the n ...
(also called the "beat" or "tactus") that establishes the
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
and, second, a pattern of
accents Accent may refer to:
Speech and language
* Accent (sociolinguistics), way of pronunciation particular to a speaker or group of speakers
* Accent (phonetics), prominence given to a particular syllable in a word, or a word in a phrase
** Pitch acce ...
and
rests that establishes the character of the
metre or basic rhythmic pattern. The basic pulse is roughly equal in duration to a simple step or gesture.
Dances generally have a characteristic tempo and rhythmic pattern. The tango, for example, is usually danced in time at approximately 66 beats per minute. The basic slow step, called a "slow", lasts for one beat, so that a full "right–left" step is equal to one measure. The basic forward and backward walk of the dance is so counted – "slow-slow" – while many additional figures are counted "slow – quick-quick.
Just as musical rhythms (e.g.,
drum beats) are defined by a pattern of strong and weak beats, so repetitive body movements often depend on alternating "strong" and "weak" muscular movements.
[Lincoln Kirstein, ''Dance'', Dance Horizons Incorporated, New York, 1969, p. 4] Given this alternation of left-right, of forward-backward and rise-fall, along with the
bilateral symmetry of the human body, it is natural that many dances and much music are in
duple and quadruple meter. Since some such movements require more time in one phase than the other – such as the longer time required to lift a hammer than to strike – some dance rhythms fall equally naturally into
triple metre
Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...
. Occasionally, as in
the folk dances of the Balkans, dance traditions depend heavily on more complex rhythms. Further, complex dances composed of a fixed sequence of steps always require phrases and melodies of a certain fixed length to accompany that sequence.
The very act of dancing, the steps themselves, generate an "initial skeleton of rhythmic beats" that must have preceded any separate musical accompaniment, while dance itself, as much as music, requires time-keeping just as utilitarian repetitive movements such as walking, hauling and digging take on, as they become refined, something of the quality of dance.
Musical accompaniment, therefore, arose in the earliest dance, so that ancient Egyptians attributed the origin of the dance to the divine Athotus, who was said to have observed that music accompanying religious rituals caused participants to move rhythmically and to have brought these movements into proportional measure. The same idea, that dance arises from musical rhythm, is still found in
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
Europe in the works of the dancing master
Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro who speaks of dance as a physical movement that arises from and expresses inward, spiritual motion agreeing with the "measures and perfect concords of harmony" that fall upon the human ear,
while, earlier,
Mechthild of Magdeburg, seizing upon dance as a symbol of the holy life foreshadowed in Jesus' saying "I have piped and ye have not danced", writes;
Thoinot Arbeau
Thoinot Arbeau is the anagrammatic pen name of French cleric Jehan Tabourot (March 17, 1520 – July 23, 1595). Tabourot is most famous for his ''Orchésographie'', a study of late sixteenth-century French Renaissance social dance. He was born ...
's celebrated 16th-century dance-treatise ''Orchésographie'', indeed, begins with definitions of over eighty distinct drum-rhythms.
As has been shown above, dance has been represented through the ages as having emerged as a response to music yet, as
Lincoln Kirstein implied, it is at least as likely that primitive music arose from dance. Shawn concurs, stating that dance "was the first art of the human race, and the matrix out of which all other arts grew" and that even the "
metre in our poetry today is a result of the accents necessitated by body movement, as the dancing and reciting was performed simultaneously"
– an assertion somewhat supported by the common use of the term "foot" to describe the fundamental rhythmic units of poetry.
Scholes, not a dancer but a musician, offers support for this view, stating that the steady measures of music, of two, three or four beats to the bar, its equal and balanced phrases, regular cadences, contrasts and repetitions, may all be attributed to the "incalculable" influence of dance upon music.
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (6 July 1865 – 1 July 1950) was a Swiss composer, musician, and music educator who developed Dalcroze eurhythmics, an approach to learning and experiencing music through movement. Dalcroze eurhythmics influenced Carl O ...
, primarily a musician and teacher, relates how a study of the physical movements of pianists led him "to the discovery that musical sensations of a rhythmic nature call for the muscular and nervous response of the whole organism", to develop "a special training designed to regulate nervous reactions and effect a co-ordination of muscles and nerves" and ultimately to seek the connections between "the art of music and the art of dance", which he formulated into his system of
eurhythmics
Dalcroze eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze method or simply eurhythmics, is one of several developmental approaches including the Kodály method, Orff Schulwerk and Suzuki Method used to teach music to students. Eurhythmics was develope ...
. He concluded that "musical rhythm is only the transposition into sound of movements and dynamisms spontaneously and involuntarily expressing emotion".
Hence, though doubtless, as Shawn asserts, "it is quite possible to develop the dance without music and... music is perfectly capable of standing on its own feet without any assistance from the dance", nevertheless the "two arts will always be related and the relationship can be profitable both to the dance and to music", the precedence of one art over the other being a moot point. The
common ballad measures of hymns and folk-songs takes their name from dance, as does the
carol, originally a
circle dance
Circle dance, or chain dance, is a style of social dance done in a circle, semicircle or a curved line to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing, and is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of par ...
. Many purely musical pieces have been named "
waltz" or "
minuet
A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''.
The term also describes the musical form that accomp ...
", for example, while many
concert dance
Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and perf ...
s have been produced that are based upon abstract musical pieces, such as ''
2 and 3 Part Inventions
''2 and 3 Part Inventions'' is a ballet made by New York City Ballet ballet master Jerome Robbins on students at its affiliated school, the School of American Ballet, to Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias, BWV 772–801, (1720–23). The p ...
,
Adams Violin Concerto'' and ''
Andantino''. Similarly, poems are often structured and named after dances or musical works, while dance and music have both drawn their conception of "measure" or "metre" from poetry.
Shawn quotes with approval the statement of Dalcroze that, while the art of musical rhythm consists in differentiating and combining time durations, pauses and accents "according to physiological law", that of "plastic rhythm" (i.e. dance) "is to designate movement in space, to interpret long time-values by slow movements and short ones by quick movements, regulate pauses by their divers successions and express sound accentuations in their multiple nuances by additions of bodily weight, by means of muscular innervations".
Shawn nevertheless points out that the system of musical time is a "man-made, artificial thing.... a manufactured tool, whereas rhythm is something that has always existed and depends on man not at all", being "the continuous flowing time which our human minds cut up into convenient units", suggesting that music might be revivified by a return to the values and the time-perception of dancing.
The early-20th-century American dancer Helen Moller stated that "it is rhythm and form more than harmony and color which, from the beginning, has bound music, poetry and dancing together in a union that is indissoluble."
Approaches
Theatrical
Concert dance, like
opera, generally depends for its large-scale form upon a
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc. ...
dramatic structure
Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and schola ...
. The movements and gestures of the
choreography are primarily intended to
mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
the personality and aims of the characters and their part in the plot. Such theatrical requirements tend towards longer, freer movements than those usual in non-narrative dance styles. On the other hand, the ''
ballet blanc'', developed in the 19th century, allows interludes of rhythmic dance that developed into entirely "plotless" ballets in the 20th century and that allowed fast, rhythmic dance-steps such as those of the ''petit allegro''. A well-known example is ''
The Cygnets' Dance'' in act two of ''
Swan Lake''.
The
ballet developed out of courtly dramatic productions of 16th- and 17th-century France and Italy and for some time dancers performed dances developed from those familiar from the musical suite, all of which were defined by definite rhythms closely identified with each dance. These appeared as
character dances in the era of
romantic nationalism.
Ballet reached widespread vogue in the romantic era, accompanied by a larger orchestra and grander musical conceptions that did not lend themselves easily to rhythmic clarity and by dance that emphasised dramatic mime. A broader concept of rhythm was needed, that which
Rudolf Laban
Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (German; also ''Rudolph von Laban'', hu, Lábán Rezső János Attila, Lábán Rudolf; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian, German and British dance artist, choreographer and ...
terms the "rhythm and shape" of movement that communicates character, emotion and intention, while only certain scenes required the exact synchronisation of step and music essential to other dance styles, so that, to Laban, modern Europeans seemed totally unable to grasp the meaning of "primitive rhythmic movements", a situation that began to change in the 20th century with such productions as
Igor Stravinsky's ''
The Rite of Spring'' with its new rhythmic language evoking primal feelings of a primitive past.
Indian classical dance styles, like ballet, are often in dramatic form, so that there is a similar complementarity between narrative expression and "pure" dance. In this case, the two are separately defined, though not always separately performed. The rhythmic elements, which are abstract and technical, are known as ''nritta''. Both this and expressive dance ''(nritya)'', though, are closely tied to the rhythmic system (''
tala''). Teachers have adapted the spoken rhythmic mnemonic system called ''
bol'' to the needs of dancers.
Japanese classical dance-theatre styles such as
Kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is though ...
and
Noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
, like Indian dance-drama, distinguish between narrative and abstract dance productions. The three main categories of kabuki are ''
jidaimono'' (historical), ''
sewamono'' (domestic) and ''
shosagoto'' (dance pieces).
Somewhat similarly, Noh distinguishes between ''Geki Noh'', based around the advancement of plot and the narration of action, and ''Furyū Noh'', dance pieces involving acrobatics, stage properties, multiple characters and elaborate stage action.
Participatory and social
Social dances
Social dances are dances that have a social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competi ...
, those intended for participation rather than for an audience, may include various forms of mime and narrative, but are typically set much more closely to the rhythmic pattern of music, so that terms like
waltz and
polka refer as much to musical pieces as to the dance itself. The rhythm of the dancers' feet may even form an essential part of the music, as in
tap dance. African dance, for example, is rooted in fixed basic steps, but may also allow a high degree of rhythmic interpretation: the feet or the trunk mark the basic pulse while cross-rhythms are picked up by shoulders, knees, or head, with the best dancers simultaneously giving plastic expression to all the elements of the
polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music ( cross-rhyt ...
ic pattern.
Cultural traditions
Africa
Dance in Africa is deeply integrated into society and major events in a community are frequently reflected in dances: dances are performed for births and funerals, weddings and wars.
Traditional dances impart cultural morals, including religious traditions and sexual standards; give vent to repressed emotions, such as
grief; motivate community members to cooperate, whether fighting wars or grinding grain; enact spiritual rituals; and contribute to
social cohesiveness.
Thousands of dances are performed around the continent. These may be divided into traditional, neotraditional, and classical styles:
folkloric dances of a particular society, dances created more recently in imitation of traditional styles, and dances transmitted more formally in schools or private lessons.
African dance has been altered by many forces, such as European
missionaries and
colonialist governments, who often suppressed local dance traditions as licentious or distracting.
Dance in contemporary African cultures still serves its traditional functions in new contexts; dance may celebrate the inauguration of a hospital, build community for rural migrants in unfamiliar cities, and be incorporated into Christian church ceremonies.
Asia
All
Indian classical dances are to varying degrees rooted in the ''
Natyashastra'' and therefore share common features: for example, the ''mudra''s (hand positions), some body positions, leg movement and the inclusion of dramatic or expressive acting or
abhinaya. Indian classical music provides accompaniment and dancers of nearly all the styles wear bells around their ankles to counterpoint and complement the percussion.
There are now many regional varieties of
Indian classical dance. Dances like ''"Odra Magadhi"'', which after decades-long debate, has been traced to present day Mithila,
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
region's dance form of
Odissi (Orissi), indicate influence of dances in cultural interactions between different regions.
The
Punjab area overlapping India and
Pakistan is the place of origin of
Bhangra. It is widely known both as a style of music and a dance. It is mostly related to ancient harvest celebrations, love, patriotism or social issues. Its music is coordinated by a musical instrument called the 'Dhol'. Bhangra is not just music but a dance, a celebration of the harvest where people beat the dhol (drum), sing Boliyaan (lyrics) and dance. It developed further with the Vaisakhi festival of the
Sikhs.
The
dances of Sri Lanka include the devil dances (''yakun natima''), a carefully crafted ritual reaching far back into Sri Lanka's pre-Buddhist past that combines ancient "
Ayurvedic" concepts of disease causation with
psychological manipulation and combines many aspects including Sinhalese cosmology. Their influence can be seen on the
classical dances of Sri Lanka.
Indonesian dances reflect the richness and diversity of Indonesian ethnic groups and
cultures
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylo ...
. There are more than 1,300
ethnic groups in Indonesia, it can be seen from the cultural roots of the
Austronesian and
Melanesian peoples, and various cultural influences from
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
and the west. Dances in
Indonesia originate from ritual movements and religious ceremonies, this kind of dance usually begins with rituals, such as war dances, shaman dances to cure or ward off disease, dances to call rain and other types of dances. With the acceptance of dharma religion in the 1st century in Indonesia,
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
and
Buddhist rituals were celebrated in various artistic performances. Hindu epics such as the
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
,
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
and also the
Panji became the inspiration to be shown in a dance-drama called "Sendratari" resembling "
ballet" in the western tradition. An elaborate and highly stylized dance method was invented and has survived to this day, especially on the islands of
Java and
Bali. The Javanese
Wayang wong dance takes footage from the Ramayana or Mahabharata episodes, but this dance is very different from the Indian version, indonesian dances do not pay as much attention to the "
mudras" as Indian dances: even more to show local forms. The sacred
Javanese ritual dance
Bedhaya is believed to date back to the
Majapahit period in the 14th century or even earlier, this dance originated from ritual dances performed by virgin girls to worship Hindu Gods such as
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
,
Brahma, and
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
. In Bali, dance has become an integral part of the sacred Hindu Dharma rituals. Some experts believe that
Balinese dance comes from an older dance tradition from Java. Reliefs from temples in
East Java
East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...
from the 14th century feature crowns and headdresses similar to the headdresses used in Balinese dance today.
Islam began to spread to the
Indonesian archipelago when indigenous dances and dharma dances were still popular. Artists and dancers still use styles from the previous era, replacing stories with more Islamic interpretations and clothing that is more closed according to Islamic teachings.
The
dances of the Middle East are usually the traditional forms of
circle dancing which are modernized to an extent. They would include
dabke
''Dabke'' ( ar, دبكة also spelled ''dabka'', ''dubki'', ''dabkeh'', plural ''dabkaat'') is a Levantine Arab folk dance. Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions. The line f ...
,
tamzara
Tamzara ( hy, Թամզարա, translit=T'amzara; aii, ܬܢܙܪܐ, translit=Tanzara; az, Tənzərə; el, Τάμσαρα, translit=Támsara; tr, Tamzara) is a folk dance native to Armenian Highlands. It is today performed by Armenians, Assyri ...
,
Assyrian folk dance
Assyrian folk dances are sets of dances that are performed throughout the world by Assyrians, mostly on occasions such as weddings, community parties and other jubilant events.
Assyrian folk dances are mainly made up of circle dances like ball ...
,
Kurdish dance
Kurdish dances ( ku, Govend, Dîlan, Helperkê, Helperge, Şayî, script=Latn; , , , , ) are a group of traditional dances among Kurds. It is a form of a circle dance, with a single or a couple of figure dancers often added to the geometrical cent ...
,
Armenian dance and
Turkish dance
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and ...
, among others.
[Badley, Bill and Zein al Jundi. "Europe Meets Asia". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp. 391–395. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.] All these forms of dances would usually involve participants engaging each other by holding hands or arms (depending on the style of the dance). They would make rhythmic moves with their legs and shoulders as they curve around the dance floor. The head of the dance would generally hold a
cane
Cane or caning may refer to:
*Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking
* Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance
*White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are ...
or
handkerchief
A handkerchief (; also called a hankie or, historically, a handkercher or a ) is a form of a kerchief or bandanna, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric which can be carried in the pocket or handbag for personal hygiene purposes such as wi ...
.
Europe and North America
Folk dances vary across Europe and may date back hundreds or thousands of years, but many have features in common such as
group participation led by a
caller, hand-holding or arm-linking between participants, and fixed musical forms known as caroles.
Some, such as the
maypole dance are common to many nations, while others such as the
céilidh and the
polka are deeply-rooted in a single culture. Some European folk dances such as the
square dance were brought to the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
and subsequently became part of American culture.
Ballet developed first in Italy and then in France from lavish court spectacles that combined music, drama, poetry, song, costumes and dance. Members of the court nobility took part as performers. During the reign of
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
, himself a dancer, dance became more codified. Professional dancers began to take the place of court amateurs, and ballet masters were licensed by the French government. The first ballet dance academy was the Académie Royale de Danse (Royal Dance Academy), opened in Paris in 1661. Shortly thereafter, the first institutionalized ballet troupe, associated with the Academy, was formed; this troupe began as an all-male ensemble but by 1681 opened to include women as well.
20th century concert dance brought an explosion of innovation in dance style characterized by an exploration of freer technique. Early pioneers of what became known as
modern dance
Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...
include
Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.
Career
Bor ...
,
Isadora Duncan
Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...
,
Mary Wigman and
Ruth St. Denis. The relationship of music to dance serves as the basis for
Eurhythmics
Dalcroze eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze method or simply eurhythmics, is one of several developmental approaches including the Kodály method, Orff Schulwerk and Suzuki Method used to teach music to students. Eurhythmics was develope ...
, devised by
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, which was influential to the development of Modern dance and modern ballet through artists such as
Marie Rambert
Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes DBE (20 February 188812 June 1982) was a Polish-born English dancer and pedagogue who exerted great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher.
Early years and background
Born to a liberal Lithuan ...
.
Eurythmy
Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with his wife, Marie, in the early 20th century. Primarily a performance art, it is also used in education, especially in Waldorf schools, and – as pa ...
, developed by
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as ...
and
Marie Steiner-von Sivers
Marie Steiner-von Sivers Some sources cite birthname as
Marie von Sivers, Marie Sievers, or Marie von Sievers (14 March 1867 – 27 December 1948) was a Baltic German actress, the second wife of Rudolf Steiner and one of his closest colleague ...
, combines formal elements reminiscent of traditional dance with the new freer style, and introduced a complex new vocabulary to dance. In the 1920s, important founders of the new style such as
Martha Graham and
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey (October 17, 1895 – December 29, 1958) was an American dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Along with her contemporaries Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second gen ...
began their work. Since this time, a wide variety of dance styles have been developed; see
Modern dance
Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...
.
African American dance developed in everyday spaces, rather than in dance studios, schools or companies.
Tap dance,
disco,
jazz dance
Jazz dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the mid 20th century. Jazz dance may allude to vernacular jazz about to Broadway or dramatic jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of danc ...
,
swing dance
Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular "swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that have ...
,
hip hop dance
Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in ...
, the
lindy hop
The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many danc ...
with its relationship to
rock and roll music and
rock and roll dance have had a global influence. Dance styles fusing classical ballet technique with African-American dance have also appeared in the 21st century, including
Hiplet.
Latin America
Dance is central to
Latin American social life and culture. Brazilian
Samba, Argentinian
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
, and Cuban
salsa are internationally popular partner dances, and other national dances—
merengue,
cueca,
plena
Plena is a genre of music and dance native to Puerto Rico.
Origins
The plena genre originated in Barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico, around 1900. It was influenced by the bomba style of music. Originally, sung texts were not associated wit ...
,
jarabe
The jarabe is one of the most traditional song forms of the mariachi genre. In the Spanish language, ''jarabe'' literally means ''syrup'', which probably refers to the mixture of meters within one ''jarabe'' (compare ''Salsa music, salsa'').
Typ ...
,
joropo,
marinera
Marinera is a courtship dance that originated along the coastal regions of Peru, using handkerchiefs as props. The dance is a mix of Spanish contradanza and Andean zamacueca, and is a stylized reenactment of a courtship, showing a blend of t ...
,
cumbia
Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include:
...
,
bachata and others—are important components of their respective countries' cultures.
Traditional
Carnival festivals incorporate these and other dances in enormous celebrations.
Dance has played an important role in forging a collective identity among the many cultural and ethnic groups of
Latin America.
Dance served to unite the many African, European, and indigenous peoples of the region.
Certain dance genres, such as
capoeira
Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th cent ...
, and body movements, especially the characteristic ''
quebradas'' or
pelvis swings, have been variously banned and celebrated throughout Latin American history.
Education
Dance studies are offered through the
arts
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
and
humanities programs of many higher education institutions. Some universities offer
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
and higher
academic degrees in Dance. A dance study curriculum may encompass a diverse range of courses and topics, including dance practice and performance, choreography,
ethnochoreology
Ethnochoreology (also dance ethnology, dance anthropology) is the study of dance through the application of a number of disciplines such as anthropology, musicology, ethnomusicology, and ethnography. The word itself is relatively recent and etym ...
,
kinesiology,
dance notation
Dance notation is the symbolic representation of human dance movement and form, using methods such as graphic symbols and figures, path mapping, numerical systems, and letter and word notations. Several dance notation systems have been invented ...
, and
dance therapy
Dance/movement therapy (DMT) in USA/ Australia or dance movement psychotherapy (DMP) in the UK is the psychotherapeutic use of movement and dance to support intellectual, emotional, and motor functions of the body. As a modality of the creativ ...
. Most recently, dance and movement therapy has been integrated in some schools into math lessons for students with learning disabilities, emotional/behavioral disabilities and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Occupations
Dancers
Professional dancers are usually employed on contract or for particular performances or productions. The professional life of a dancer is generally one of constantly changing work situations, strong competitive pressure and low pay. Consequently, professional dancers often must supplement their incomes to achieve financial stability. In the U.S. many professional dancers belong to unions (such as the
American Guild of Musical Artists
The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) is the labor union of singers, dancers, and staging staff in opera, ballet and concert dance, and concert choral performance in the United States. A national union with a membership of over 6,000 arti ...
,
Screen Actors Guild and
Actors' Equity Association) that establish working conditions and minimum salaries for their members. Professional dancers must possess large amounts of athleticism. To lead a successful career, it is advantageous to be versatile in many styles of dance, have a strong technical background and to use other forms of physical training to remain fit and healthy.
Teachers
Dance teachers typically focus on teaching dance performance, or coaching competitive dancers, or both. They typically have performance experience in the types of dance they teach or coach. For example,
dancesport
Dancesport is competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.
Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizatio ...
teachers and coaches are often tournament dancers or former dancesport performers. Dance teachers may be self-employed, or employed by
dance schools or general education institutions with dance programs. Some work for university programs or other schools that are associated with professional classical dance (e.g., ballet) or modern dance companies. Others are employed by smaller, privately owned dance schools that offer dance training and performance coaching for various types of dance.
Choreographers
Choreographers are the ones that design the dancing movements within a dance, they are often university trained and are typically employed for particular projects or, more rarely may work on contract as the resident choreographer for a specific dance company.
Competitions
A dance competition is an organized event in which contestants perform dances before a judge or judges for awards, and in some cases, monetary prizes. There are several major types of dance competitions, distinguished primarily by the style or styles of dances performed. Dance competitions are an excellent setting to build connections with industry leading faculty members, adjudicators, choreographers and other dancers from competing studios. A typical dance competition for younger pre-professional dancers can last anywhere between two to four days, depending whether it is a regional or national competition.
The purpose of dance competitions is to provide a fun and educative place for dancers and give them the opportunity to perform their choreographed routines from their current dance season onstage. Often times, competitions will take place in a professional setting or may vary to non-performance spaces, such as a high school theatre. The results of the dancers are then dictated by a credible panel of judges and are evaluated on their performance than given a score. As far as competitive categories go, most competitions base their categories according to the dance style, age, experience level and the number of dancers competing in the routine. Major types of dance competitions include:
*
Dancesport
Dancesport is competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.
Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizatio ...
, which is focused exclusively on
ballroom and
latin dance
Latin dance is a general label, and a term in partner dance competition jargon. It refers to types of ballroom dance and folk dance that mainly originated in Latin America.
The category of Latin dances in the international dancesport competi ...
.
*
Competitive dance
Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before a ...
, in which a variety of theater dance styles, such as
acrobatics,
ballet,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
,
hip-hop,
lyrical,
stepping, and
tap, are permitted.
* Commercial Dance, consisting of as hip hop, jazz , locking, popping, breakdancing, contemporary etc.
* Single-style competitions, such as;
highland dance,
dance team A dance squad or dance team, sometimes called a pom squad or song team, is a team of participants that participates in competitive dance. A dance squad can also include: a jazz squad, ballet squad, or any kind of religion dance squad. Dance squads ...
, and
Irish dance
Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vari ...
, that only permit a single dance style.
* Open competitions, that permit a wide variety of dance styles. An example of this is the TV program ''
So You Think You Can Dance
''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...
''.
*Olympic, Dance has been trying to be part of the Olympic sport since 1930s.
Televised Dance Competitions
There are numerous dance competition shows
presented on television and other mass media outlets including, NBC's World Of Dance, NBC's Dancing With Myself, Dancing With The Stars, etc.
Health
Footwear
In most forms of dance the foot is the source of movement, and in some cases require specific shoes to aid in the health, safety ability of the dancer, depending on the type of dance, the intensity of the movements, and the surface that will be danced on.
Dance footwear can be potentially both supportive and or restrictive to the movement of the dancer. The effectiveness of the shoe is related to its ability to help the foot do something it is not intended to do, or to make easier a difficult movement. Such effects relate to health and safety because of the function of the equipment as unnatural to the bodies usual mobility.
Ballet
Ballet is notable for the risks of injury due to the biomechanics of the ankle and the toes as the main support for the rest of the movements. With the
pointe shoe, the design specifically brings all of the toes together to allow the toes to be stood on for longer periods of time.
There are accessories associated with pointe shoes that help to mitigate injury and soothe pain while dancing, including things such as toe pads, toe tape, and cushions.
Body Image
Dancers are publicly thought to be very preoccupied with their body image to fit a certain mold in the industry. Research indicates that dancers do have greater difficulty controlling their eating habits as a large quantity strive for the art-form's ideal body mass. Some dancers often resort to abusive tactics to maintain a certain image. Common scenarios include dancers abusing laxatives for weight control and end up falling into unhealthy eating disorders. Studies show that a large quantity of dancers use at least one method of weight control including over exercising and food restriction. The pressure for dancers to maintain a below average weight affects their eating and weight controlling behaviours and their life-style. Due to its artistic nature, dancers tend to have many hostile self-critical tendencies. Commonly seen in performers, it is likely that a variety of individuals may be resistant to concepts of self-compassion.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders in dancers are generally very publicly common. Through data analysis and studies published, sufficient data regarding the percentage and accuracy dancers have of realistically falling into unhealthy disordered eating habits or the development of an eating disorder were extracted. Dancers, in general, have a higher risk of suffering from eating disorders than the general public, primarily falling into
anorexia nervosa and
EDNOS. Research has yet to distinguish a direct correlation regarding dancers having a higher risk of suffering from bulimia nervosa. Studies concluded that dancers overall have a three times higher risk of suffering from eating disorders, more specifically anorexia nervosa and EDNOS.
Social Media
TikTok
Dance has become a fundamental aspect of the popular app and a primary category influencing the youth's culture today. Dance challenges have become a popular form of content across many social media platforms including
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version o ...
. During 2020, TikTok dances offered an escape for isolated individuals to play and connect with one another through virtual format. With TikTok's easy accessibility to a variety of different filters and special effects, the app made filming yourself dancing to music a fun and easy past time. Since its debut back in 2017, the app attracted a small but growing audience of professional dancers in their early 20s to 30s. While the majority of this demographic is more accustomed to performing onstage, this app introduced a new era of dancing onscreen.
Gallery
File:Irish dancers in team costume, Davis Academy, USA.jpg, Folk dance – a trio of Irish Stepdance
Irish stepdance is a style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It is generally characterized by a stiff upper body and fast and precise movements of the feet. It can be performed solo or in groups. Aside from public ...
rs performing in competition
File:TÜRKA Vanemuise suures majas -- tants Kodukotus.JPG, Folk dance in Estonia
File:NwFusionAngelaLeap.jpg, A contemporary dancer performs a stag split leap.
File:NWFusion7.jpg, Dance partnering
Dance partnering is dancing performed by a pair of dancers, typically a male and a female, in which the pair strives to achieve a harmony of coordinated movements so that the audience remains unaware of the mechanics. It relies on the application ...
– a male dancer assists a female dancer in performing an arabesque, as part of a classical pas de deux.
File:FrontAerial.gif, Acrobatic dance – an acro dance
Acro dance is a style of dance that combines classical dance technique with precision acrobatic elements. It is defined by its athletic character, its unique choreography, which seamlessly blends dance and acrobatics, and its use of acrobatics i ...
r performs a front aerial
A front aerial is an acrobatic move in which a person executes a complete forward revolution of the body without touching the floor. Front aerials are performed in various physical activities, including acro dance and gymnastics. The front aeri ...
.
File:ToeRise.jpg, A dancer performs a "toe rise", in which she rises from a kneeling position to a standing position on the tops of her feet.
File:Jitterbug Wolcott FSA.jpg, Social dance – dancers at a juke joint
Juke joint (also jukejoint, jook house, jook, or juke) is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African Americans in the southeastern United States. A juke joint ...
dance the Jitterbug
Jitterbug is a generalized term used to describe swing dancing. It is often synonymous with the lindy hop dance but might include elements of the jive, east coast swing, collegiate shag, charleston, balboa and other swing dances.
Swing danc ...
, an early 20th century dance that would go on to influence swing, jive, and jazz dance
Jazz dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the mid 20th century. Jazz dance may allude to vernacular jazz about to Broadway or dramatic jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of danc ...
.
File:Tanzturnier_28.JPG, Latin Ballroom dancers perform the Tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
.
File:Bootsa.jpg, Gumboot dance
The gumboot dance (or Isicathulo) is a South African dance that is performed by dancers wearing wellington boots. In South Africa these are more commonly called ''gumboots''.
The boots may be embellished with bells, so that they ring as the dance ...
evolved from the stomping signals used as coded communication between labourers in South African mines.
File:Harlekin Columbine Tivoli Denmark.jpg, Harlequin and Columbina from the mime theater in Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
File:Popping dancer.gif, A hip-hop dance
Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in ...
r demonstrates popping.
File:Striptease pole dancing in Belovskaya, Belgorodskaya Oblast, Russia.jpg, Erotic dance – a pole dancer performs a routine.
File:Spark Fire Dance in Art on Ice 2014-3.jpg, Prop dance – a fire dancer performance
File:Imdt01.jpg, Modern dance – a female dancer performs a leg split while balanced on the back of her partner.
File:Belogolovtsev Abderahman.jpg, Stage dance – a professional dancer at the Bolshoi Theatre
File:La bailaora Josefa Vargas (1840).jpg, A nineteenth century artist's representation of a Flamenco dancer
File:Պար_Գառնում.jpg, Ritual dance – Armenian folk dancers celebrate a neo-pagan new year.
File:Samba Atlason Jakobsdottir 0509.JPG, A latin ballroom couple perform a Samba routine at a dancesport event.
File:Polonezkoy_08859_nevit.jpg, Folk dance – some dance traditions travel with immigrant communities, as with this festival dance performed by a Polish community in Turkey.
File:Fuori asse alla seconda.jpg, A ballet dancer performs a standing side split.
File:Breakdancer - Faneuil Hall cropped.jpg, Street dance – a Breakdancer performs a handstand trick.
File:Odissi Performance DS.jpg, Indian classical dancer
File:Ballet Class 3 (237261875).jpeg, Ballet class of young girls wearing leotards and skirts in 2017
File:Tari Kebagh, 2017.jpg, ''Kebagh'' dance from Pagar Alam, Indonesia
File:50 tahun LKB Saraswati, Jakarta.jpg, Balinese dance
See also
*
Art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
*
Outline of performing arts
*
Outline of dance
*
Index of dance articles
*
List of dance awards
*
Human body
*
List of dancers
An annotated list of popular/famous dancers.
A
* Ayo & Teo, duo of dancers and musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
*Fred Astaire ( – ), American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer, musician and actor. He was an innovato ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Abra, Allison. "Going to the palais: a social and cultural history of dancing and dance halls in Britain, 1918–1960." ''Contemporary British History'' (Sep 2016) 30#3 pp. 432–433.
* Blogg, Martin. ''Dance and the Christian Faith: A Form of Knowing'', The Lutterworth Press (2011),
* Carter, A. (1998) ''The Routledge Dance Studies Reader''. Routledge. .
* Cohen, S, J. (1992) ''Dance As a Theatre Art: Source Readings in Dance History from 1581 to the Present''. Princeton Book Co. .
* Daly, A. (2002) ''Critical Gestures: Writings on Dance and Culture''.
Wesleyan University Press
Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist.
History and overview
Founded (in its present form ...
. .
* Miller, James, L. (1986) ''Measures of Wisdom: The Cosmic Dance in Classical and Christian Antiquity'',
University of Toronto Press. .
External links
*
Historic illustrations of dancing from 3300 BC to 1911 ADfrom
Project Gutenberg
United States National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame
{{Authority control
Entertainment occupations
Theatrical occupations
Articles containing video clips
Performing arts