Outline of dance
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to dance:
Dance – human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. Choreography is the art of making dances, and the person who does this is called a choreographer. Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic, artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movement (such as Folk dance) to codified, virtuoso techniques such as ballet. A great many dances and dance styles are performed to dance music.
What type of thing is dance?
Dance (also called "dancing") can be described as all of the following:
- an activity or behavior
- one of the arts – a creative endeavor or discipline.
- one of the performing arts – art performed for an audience and existing in time rather than as a permanent object.
- Hobby – regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.
- Exercise – bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.
- Recreation – leisure time activity
- one of the arts – a creative endeavor or discipline.
- Motion – change in position over time.
Types of dance
Type of dance – a particular dance or dance style. There are many varieties of dance. Dance categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, tango is traditionally a partner dance. While it is mostly social dance, its ballroom form may be competitive dance, as in DanceSport. At the same time it is enjoyed as performance dance, whereby it may well be a solo dance.
Dance genres
- Acro dance
- B-boying
- Ballet
- Bollywood dance
- Ballroom dance
- Baroque dance
- Belly dance
- Cha-cha-cha
- Chicago stepping
- Circle dance
- Contemporary dance
- Country-western dance
- Disco
- Erotic dancing
- Fandango
- Flamenco
- Folk dance
- Hip-hop dance
- Indian classical dance
- Jazz dance
- Jig
- Jive
- Krumping
- Lambada
- Lap dance
- Limbo
- Line dance
- Mambo
- Modern dance
- Pole dance
- Polka
- Quickstep
- Salsa
- Sequence dance
- Street dance
- Swing
- Tango
- Tap dance
- Twist
- Two-step
- Waltz
- War dance
- Zamba
- more...
Dance styles by number of interacting dancers
- Solo dance – a dance danced by an individual dancing alone.
- Partner dance – dance with just 2 dancers, dancing together. In most partner dances, one, typically a man, is the leader; the other, typically a woman, is the follower. As a rule, they maintain connection with each other. In some dances the connection is loose and called dance handhold. In other dances the connection involves body contact.
- Group dance – dance danced by a group of people simultaneously. Group dances are generally, but not always, coordinated or standardized in such a way that all the individuals in the group are dancing the same steps at the same time. Alternatively, various groups within the larger group may be dancing different, but complementary, parts of the larger dance.
Dance styles by main purpose
- Ceremonial dance –
- Competitive dance –
- Erotic dance –
- Participation dance –
- Performance dance –
- Social dance –
- Concert dance –
Geography of dance (by region)
- Africa
- West Africa
- Benin • Burkina Faso • Cape Verde • Côte d'Ivoire • Gambia • Ghana • Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Liberia • Mali • Mauritania • Niger • Nigeria • Senegal • Sierra Leone • Togo
- North Africa
- Algeria • Egypt • Libya • Mauritania • Morocco • Sudan • South Sudan •Tunisia • Western Sahara
- Central Africa
- Angola • Burundi • Cameroon • Central African Republic • Chad • The Democratic Republic of the Congo • Equatorial Guinea • Gabon • Republic of the Congo • Rwanda • São Tomé and Príncipe
- East Africa
- Burundi • Comoros • Djibouti • Eritrea • Ethiopia • Kenya • Madagascar • Malawi • Mauritius • Mozambique • Rwanda • Seychelles • Somalia • Tanzania • Uganda • Zambia • Zimbabwe
- Southern Africa
- Botswana • Lesotho • Namibia • South Africa • Swaziland
- Dependencies
- Mayotte (France) • St. Helena (UK) • Puntland • Somaliland • Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
- Antarctica
- None
- Asia
- Central Asia
- Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Tajikistan • Turkmenistan • Uzbekistan
- East Asia
- China
- Tibet
- China
- Central Asia
- Hong Kong • Macau
- Japan • North Korea • South Korea • Mongolia • Taiwan
- North Asia
- Russia
- Southeast Asia
- South Asia
- Afghanistan • Bangladesh • Bhutan • Iran • Maldives • Nepal • Pakistan • Sri Lanka
- Caucasus (a region considered to be in both Asia and Europe, or between them)
- North Caucasus
- Parts of Russia (Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Adyghea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachai-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai)
- North Caucasus
- Europe
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia • Åland • Albania • Andorra • Armenia • Austria • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Belgium • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Faroe Islands • Finland • France • Georgia • Germany • Gibraltar • Greece • Guernsey • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Isle of Man • Italy • Jersey • Kazakhstan • Kosovo • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Macedonia • Malta • Moldova (including disputed Transnistria) • Monaco • Montenegro • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia • San Marino • Serbia • Slovakia • Slovenia •
- Norway
- Svalbard
- Spain
- Autonomous communities of Spain: Catalonia
- Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- England • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales
- Vatican City
- European Union
- North America
- Greenland • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Mexico
- Central America
- Belize • Costa Rica • El Salvador • Guatemala • Honduras • Nicaragua • Panama
- Central America
- Caribbean
- Anguilla • Antigua and Barbuda • Aruba • Bahamas • Barbados • Bermuda • British Virgin Islands • Cayman Islands • Cuba • Dominica • Dominican Republic • Grenada • Haiti • Jamaica • Montserrat • Netherlands Antilles • Puerto Rico • Saint Barthélemy • Saint Kitts and Nevis • Saint Lucia • Saint Martin • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines • Trinidad and Tobago • Turks and Caicos Islands • United States Virgin Islands
- Caribbean
- Oceania (includes the continent of Australia)
- Australasia
- Australia
- Dependencies/Territories of Australia
- Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling) Islands • Norfolk Island
- Dependencies/Territories of Australia
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Melanesia
- Fiji • Indonesia (Oceanian part only) • New Caledonia (France) • Papua New Guinea • Solomon Islands • Vanuatu •
- Micronesia
- Federated States of Micronesia • Guam (USA) • Kiribati • Marshall Islands • Nauru • Northern Mariana Islands (USA) • Palau • Wake Island (USA) •
- Polynesia
- American Samoa (USA) • Chatham Islands (NZ) • Cook Islands (NZ) • Easter Island (Chile) • French Polynesia (France) • Hawaii (USA) • Loyalty Islands (France) • Niue (NZ) • Pitcairn Islands (UK) • Adamstown • Samoa • Tokelau (NZ) • Tonga • Tuvalu • Wallis and Futuna (France)
- Australasia
- South America
- South Atlantic
- Ascension Island • Saint Helena • Tristan da Cunha
History of dance
- Dance in ancient Egypt
- Dance in mythology and religion
- Dance styles throughout history
- Dance card
- Dance hall
- National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame (United States)
Dance technique
Dance culture
- Dance and health
- Dance competition
- Dance costume
- Dance critique
- Dance education
- Dance etiquette
- Dance in film
- Dance marathon
- Dance music
- Dance party
- Dance radio
- Dance troupe
- Dance on television
- Nightclub
- Performance
- Performance surface (dance floor)
- Physically integrated dance (disability and dance)
- Women in dance
Dance science
- Dance history – see History of dance, above)
- Dance and health
- Dance theory
- Dance technology
- Ethnochoreology (dance anthropology)
Dance organizations
Dance-related media
Books about dance
Dancers
See also
- Index of dance articles
- List of ballroom and social dance albums
- List of New York City Ballet repertory
- Outline of music
- Quotations about dance
External links
- Historic Illustrations of Dancing from 3300 B.C. to 1911 A.D. from Project Gutenberg
- United States National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame