All About Dancing Info Blog

Archive for the ‘Types of Dance’ Category

Line Dancing to me is all about FUN! Your out with your friends and the music starts and you jump up to a place in the line and you begin to move to the beat and the steps of the other people in the line. It is also great exercise as you move back and forth, stomping, clapping and shaking your bootie. The formal definition of Line Dancing can be found, of course, on wiki: Although line dancing is associated with country-western music and dance, it has a similarities to folk dancing. Many folk dances are danced in unison in a single, nonlinear “line”, and often with a connection between dancers. The absence of a physical connection between dancers is, however, a distinguishing feature of country western line dance. Line dances have accompanied many popular music styles since the early 1970s including pop, swing, rock and roll, disco, latin (Salsa Suelta), and Jazz.

Popular Line Dances:
The Time Warp, Poco-Poco ,Electric Slide, Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart), Cha Cha Slide, The Hustle, Cupid Shuffle, Boot Scootin’ Boogie, Achy Breaky Heart, Alley Cat, Macarena, Chicken Dance, Cotton Eye Joe, Soulja Boy, Copperhead Road, Catfish, Charleston, Tennessee Twister, Pensacola Slide, Power Jam, Blue Boy, Cripple Creek, Jose Cuervo ’97, Booty Call, Mustang Sally, Wild Wild West, Cruisin’, Tulsa Shuffle, Cleveland Shuffle, Play Something Country, Good Time (as seen on the Alan Jackson video for the song Good Time), Hoedown Throwdown.

Some of the ones that I love to watch besides the Boot-Scoot-Boogie is Michael Jackson’s Thriller. You just have to watch the video to enjoy it as well as participate in it.
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Here is one of my favorite songs “Achy Breaky Heart” and the country line dancing troup!
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If you want to See something that really looks like fun to participate in check out Alan Jackson’s Good Time Video:

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Ballroom dancing to me is one of the most elegant of the couples dance styles.  Besides the different ballroom dance styles such as the Fox Trot, Waltz, Tango, Viennese and Quickstep.

Others dances sometimes placed under the umbrella “ballroom dance” include Nightclub Dances such as Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Nightclub Two Step, Hustle, Salsa, and Merengue. The categorization of dances as “ballroom dances” has always been fluid, with new dances or folk dances being added to/removed from to the ballroom repertoire from time to time, so no list of subcategories or dances is any more than a description of current practices. There are other dances historically accepted as ballroom dances, and are revived via the Vintage dance movement.

But to me the main thing about Ballroom Dancing is the clothes.  The formal dress and style is very beautiful and lends to the dances a very vintage air of civility.  I don’t watch “Dancing With the Stars” but I do love to watch the movie with Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez, “SHALL WE DANCE”. Just watch the video below to see the elegant costumes, moves and style of the dancers.
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This is very exotic and very fast paced. Only try this if you are adventurous and willing to take a chance. Do this dance only with someone you love.

To find out more information about the different styles of Tango wiki is a great source of overview information on any subject. Try looking at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tango_(dance)
It gives a brief history of the Tango as well as describe what each type is, where it originates from and some basic steps involved.

And to see a fine example look at the video below:
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There are over 460 different types of dances listed in wiki at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dances

The list is probably not complete so if you see that the dance that you do in your area is not listed participate with wiki and add it to the list!

As I was looking over the listing I didn’t recognize half of them.  But I know that dance types can also be categorized in styles as well.  For the purposes of this blog we will say that Types are the names of each one of the dances where as Styles is the grouping of those types.

Ballet: Ballet is a formalized type of performance dance, which originated in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French courts, and which was further developed in England, Italy, and Russia as a concert dance form.  Classical ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles; it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, and Italian ballet.Neoclassical ballet is a ballet style that uses traditional ballet vocabulary but is less rigid than the classical ballet. For example, dancers often dance at more extreme tempos and perform more technical feats.  Contemporary ballet is a form of dance influenced by both classical ballet and modern dance. It takes its technique and use of pointe work from classical ballet, although it permits a greater range of movement that may not adhere to the strict body lines set forth by schools of ballet technique.

Ballroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. Its performance and entertainment aspects are also widely enjoyed on stage, in film, and on television. Under the umbrella “ballroom dance” include Nightclub Dances such as Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Nightclub Two Step, Hustle, Salsa, and Merengue.

Belly Dancing: Belly dance is a Western term for traditional Arab dance styles, especially raqs sharqi. It is sometimes called “Middle Eastern Dance” or “Arabic Dance” in the United States, or by the Turkish term çiftetelli. Belly dance is a misnomer as all parts of the body are involved in the dance, the most featured body part in raqs sharqi being the hips.  Different regions have different styles including Egyptian Belly Dance; Turkish Belly Dance; American Belly Dance; Australian Belly Dance; Canadian Belly Dance and Belly Dance in the UK.

Folk: The term “folk dance” is sometimes applied to certain dances of historical importance in European culture and history; typically originated before 20th century. For other cultures the terms “ethnic dance” or “traditional dance” are sometimes used, although the latter terms may encompass ceremonial dances. Types of folk dance include clogging, English country dance, international folk dance, Irish dance, Maypole dance, Morris dance, Nordic polska dance, Ball de bastons, square dance, and sword dance.

LATIN: Latin dance includes a wide range of dances originating in Latin America and Cuba. Examples include the Cha-cha-cha, Rumba, Samba, Salsa, Mambo, danza, Merengue, Tumba, Bachata, Cumbia, and Bolero

Street: Street dance is also commonly used to identify the many hip-hop and funk dance styles that began appearing in the United States in the 1970s and are still alive and evolving within hip-hop culture today. These styles include breaking, popping, locking.

There are more styles and each styles has it own set of rules and of course, costumes!  We will be addresses each style and providing videos for each.  Check back often.

Cheers!

jolenemac7

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