Overview of and topical guide to 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 fit the following categories:
- an activity or behavior
- one of the arts – a creative endeavor or discipline.
- 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.
- Sport—bodily activity that displays physical exertion
- Recreation – leisure time activity
- Ritual
Some other things can be named "dance" metaphorically; see dance (disambiguation)
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
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
