A wide variety of dance forms exist around the world. Here is an introduction to over 20 traditional and contemporary dance forms that you may encounter on stages near you.
Ballet
Ballet serves as a backbone for many other styles of dance, as many other dance genres are based on ballet. Ballet is based on techniques that have been developed over centuries. Ballet uses music and dance to tell stories. Ballet dancers have the ability to transport an audience to another world.
Jazz
Jazz is a fun dance style that relies heavily on originality and improvisation. Many jazz dancers mix different styles into their dancing, incorporating their own expression. Jazz dancing often uses bold, dramatic body movements, including body isolation's and contractions.
Tap
Ballet
Ballet serves as a backbone for many other styles of dance, as many other dance genres are based on ballet. Ballet is based on techniques that have been developed over centuries. Ballet uses music and dance to tell stories. Ballet dancers have the ability to transport an audience to another world.
Jazz
Jazz is a fun dance style that relies heavily on originality and improvisation. Many jazz dancers mix different styles into their dancing, incorporating their own expression. Jazz dancing often uses bold, dramatic body movements, including body isolation's and contractions.
Tap
Tap dancing is an exciting form of dance in which dancers wear special shoes equipped with metal taps. Tap dancers use their feet like drums to create rhythmic patterns and timely beats.
Hip-hop
Hip-hop is a dance style, usually danced to hip-hop music, that evolved from the hip-hop culture. Hip-hop includes various moves such as breaking, popping, locking and krumping, and even house dance. Improvisation and personal interpretation are essential to hip-hop dancing.
Swing
Swing dance is a lively dance style in which couples swing, spin and jump together. Swing dancing is a general term that means dancing to swing music, or music that "swings." How can you tell if a song swings? Swing dancers know when a song swings because when they hear it, they can't stand still.
Belly Dance
Belly dance is a unique form of dance characterized by sharp, rolling movements of the hips and abdomen. The true origins of belly dancing are debated among enthusiasts.
Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco dance is an expressive dance form that mixes percussive footwork with intricate hand, arm and body movements. Flamenco is a Spanish art consisting of three forms: Cante, the song, Baile, the dance, and Guitarra, guitar playing
.
.
Latin Dance
Latin dance is a fast-paced, often sensual, partner dance characterized by sexy hip movements. However, hip movements are not intentional in any of the Latin dances. The hip motion is a natural consequence of changing weight from one foot to the other.
Waltz
The romantic Waltz is one of the most popular ballroom dances of all time. Considered by some as the "mother of present day dances" and the "backbone dance" of the ballroom, the Waltz is the basis for many dances. Developed in Germany, the Waltz is popular all over the world. A truly romantic dance, the Waltz is comprised of soft, round, flowing movements.
Contemporary Dance
Contemporary dance is a style of expressive dance that combines elements of several dance genres including modern, jazz, lyrical and classical ballet. Contemporary dancers strive to connect the mind and the body through fluid dance movements.Contemporary dance stresses versatility and improvisation, unlike the strict, structured nature of ballet. Contemporary dancers focus on floor-work using gravity to pull them down to the floor. This dance genre is often done in bare feet. Contemporary dance can be performed to many different styles of music
.
Krumping
Krumping (also clown dancing or clowning) is a style of dance that originated in the African-American community of South Central Los Angeles, California. It involves elaborate face-painting and freestyle dance moves usually performed in competition with other crews.
Line Dance
A line dance is a choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines or rows without regard for the gender of the individuals, all facing the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time. Line dancers are not in physical contact with each other. Older "line dances" have lines in which the dancers face each other, or the "line" is a circle, or all dancers in the "line" follow a leader around the dance floor; while holding the hand of the dancers beside them
.
Mambo
Originally from Cuba, the Mambo is enjoyed throughout the world at both the social and competitive dance levels. The mambo is a favorite of ballroom audiences because of its high energy level and infectious rhythms. Popularized in recent years by singers such as Ricky Martin, the Mambo is fascinating and diverse
.
Salsa
Salsa is a dance form with origins from the Cuban Son (circa 1920s) and Afro-Cuban dance (specifically Afro-Cuban rumba). It is generally associated with the salsa music style, although it may be danced under other types of tropical music. Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are forms such as a line dance form "Salsa suelta",where the dancers dance individually and a round dance form "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle. Salsa can be improvised or performed with a set routine. Salsa is a popular social dance throughout South America as well as in North America, Europe, Australia, and some countries in Asia and the Middle East
.
Lyrical Dance
Lyrical dance is a dance style that blends ballet and jazz dance. Lyrical is generally smoother and a bit faster than ballet, but not quite as fast as jazz. A lyrical dancer uses movement to express strong emotions such as love, joy and anger
.
Cha-Cha
The Cha Cha is one of the most popular of the social Latin-American dances. Lively and flirtatious, the Cha Cha is full of passion and energy. Also called the Cha Cha Cha, this unmistakable dance originated in Cuba in the 1940s. The Cha Cha is a vibrant, flamboyant and playful dance.
Dance-Pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco and synth-pop it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. A notable popstar who will always be remembered is Michael Jackson.
B-Boying
B-boying or breaking, often called breakdancing, is a style of street dance that originated as a part of hip hop culture among African and Latino American youths in New York City during the early 1970s. While diverse in the amount of variation available in the dance, b-boying consists of four primary elements: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. B-boying is typically danced to hip-hop and especially breakbeats, although modern trends allow for much wider varieties of music along certain ranges of tempo and beat patterns.
Bollywood dance
Bollywood dance is the dance-form used in the Indian films. Bollywood dance has its origins in Indian classical and folk dance. Over the years this has been mixed with popular Western dance forms. Believe it or not the first Bollywood dancers were actually men because it was not considered respectable for women to appear in films and dance. Really Bollywood dance can be seen in all of the Indian cinemas like Tollywood, Lollywood etc. so Bollywood dance is a bit of a misnomer since it incorporates so many dance styles and is not just in Bollywood.
Bachata
Bachata is that describes a popular form of latin dance and a romantic style of music that can trace its origins to the rural areas of the Dominican Republic. There are two predominate styles of bachata; Modern Bachata and Dominican Style Bachata. Modern bachata is the more sensual club style that is danced in very close proximity to your dance partner. This style includes turns, dips and smooth moves that fit the sensual groove in the music. Dominican style bachata is closer to the origins of the original form of bachata. In this style it’s about the footwork and playing with the different syncopated rhythms that makes bachata music so rich and fun to listen to.
Tango
The tango is a partner dance that originated in the 1890s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay, and soon spread to the rest of the world. Early tango was known as tango criollo (Creole tango). Today, there are many forms of tango extant.
Bharatanatyam
Dating back to 1000 BCE, Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women.
Kathakali
Kathakali (katha, “story”; kali, “performance”) is a highly stylized classical dance-drama form which originated from Kerala in the 17th century. This classical dance form is particularly noticed for dancer's elaborate costume, towering head gear, billowing skirts, and long silver nails. Kathakali is performed regularly at festivals in temples, at cultural shows for connoisseurs and also at international events, occasionally in fusion dance experiments.
Odissi
Odissi, also known as Orissi, is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It is the oldest surviving dance form of India on the basis of archaeological evidences. This dance is characterized by various Bhangas (Stance), which involves stamping of the foot and striking various postures as seen in Indian sculptures.
Waltz
The romantic Waltz is one of the most popular ballroom dances of all time. Considered by some as the "mother of present day dances" and the "backbone dance" of the ballroom, the Waltz is the basis for many dances. Developed in Germany, the Waltz is popular all over the world. A truly romantic dance, the Waltz is comprised of soft, round, flowing movements.
Contemporary Dance
Contemporary dance is a style of expressive dance that combines elements of several dance genres including modern, jazz, lyrical and classical ballet. Contemporary dancers strive to connect the mind and the body through fluid dance movements.Contemporary dance stresses versatility and improvisation, unlike the strict, structured nature of ballet. Contemporary dancers focus on floor-work using gravity to pull them down to the floor. This dance genre is often done in bare feet. Contemporary dance can be performed to many different styles of music
Krumping
Krumping (also clown dancing or clowning) is a style of dance that originated in the African-American community of South Central Los Angeles, California. It involves elaborate face-painting and freestyle dance moves usually performed in competition with other crews.
Line Dance
A line dance is a choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines or rows without regard for the gender of the individuals, all facing the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time. Line dancers are not in physical contact with each other. Older "line dances" have lines in which the dancers face each other, or the "line" is a circle, or all dancers in the "line" follow a leader around the dance floor; while holding the hand of the dancers beside them
Mambo
Originally from Cuba, the Mambo is enjoyed throughout the world at both the social and competitive dance levels. The mambo is a favorite of ballroom audiences because of its high energy level and infectious rhythms. Popularized in recent years by singers such as Ricky Martin, the Mambo is fascinating and diverse
Salsa
Salsa is a dance form with origins from the Cuban Son (circa 1920s) and Afro-Cuban dance (specifically Afro-Cuban rumba). It is generally associated with the salsa music style, although it may be danced under other types of tropical music. Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are forms such as a line dance form "Salsa suelta",where the dancers dance individually and a round dance form "Rueda de Casino" where multiple couples exchange partners in a circle. Salsa can be improvised or performed with a set routine. Salsa is a popular social dance throughout South America as well as in North America, Europe, Australia, and some countries in Asia and the Middle East
Lyrical Dance
Lyrical dance is a dance style that blends ballet and jazz dance. Lyrical is generally smoother and a bit faster than ballet, but not quite as fast as jazz. A lyrical dancer uses movement to express strong emotions such as love, joy and anger
Cha-Cha
The Cha Cha is one of the most popular of the social Latin-American dances. Lively and flirtatious, the Cha Cha is full of passion and energy. Also called the Cha Cha Cha, this unmistakable dance originated in Cuba in the 1940s. The Cha Cha is a vibrant, flamboyant and playful dance.
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco and synth-pop it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. A notable popstar who will always be remembered is Michael Jackson.
B-Boying
B-boying or breaking, often called breakdancing, is a style of street dance that originated as a part of hip hop culture among African and Latino American youths in New York City during the early 1970s. While diverse in the amount of variation available in the dance, b-boying consists of four primary elements: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. B-boying is typically danced to hip-hop and especially breakbeats, although modern trends allow for much wider varieties of music along certain ranges of tempo and beat patterns.
Bollywood dance
Bollywood dance is the dance-form used in the Indian films. Bollywood dance has its origins in Indian classical and folk dance. Over the years this has been mixed with popular Western dance forms. Believe it or not the first Bollywood dancers were actually men because it was not considered respectable for women to appear in films and dance. Really Bollywood dance can be seen in all of the Indian cinemas like Tollywood, Lollywood etc. so Bollywood dance is a bit of a misnomer since it incorporates so many dance styles and is not just in Bollywood.
Bachata
Bachata is that describes a popular form of latin dance and a romantic style of music that can trace its origins to the rural areas of the Dominican Republic. There are two predominate styles of bachata; Modern Bachata and Dominican Style Bachata. Modern bachata is the more sensual club style that is danced in very close proximity to your dance partner. This style includes turns, dips and smooth moves that fit the sensual groove in the music. Dominican style bachata is closer to the origins of the original form of bachata. In this style it’s about the footwork and playing with the different syncopated rhythms that makes bachata music so rich and fun to listen to.
Tango
The tango is a partner dance that originated in the 1890s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay, and soon spread to the rest of the world. Early tango was known as tango criollo (Creole tango). Today, there are many forms of tango extant.
Bharatanatyam
Dating back to 1000 BCE, Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women.
Kathakali
Kathakali (katha, “story”; kali, “performance”) is a highly stylized classical dance-drama form which originated from Kerala in the 17th century. This classical dance form is particularly noticed for dancer's elaborate costume, towering head gear, billowing skirts, and long silver nails. Kathakali is performed regularly at festivals in temples, at cultural shows for connoisseurs and also at international events, occasionally in fusion dance experiments.
Odissi
Odissi, also known as Orissi, is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It is the oldest surviving dance form of India on the basis of archaeological evidences. This dance is characterized by various Bhangas (Stance), which involves stamping of the foot and striking various postures as seen in Indian sculptures.
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