25 Different Types of Dance Forms & Styles You Need To Know

25 Different Types of Dance Forms & Styles You Need To Know

DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS:

“Dance is a way to find yourself and lose yourself, all at the same time”. This is so true that when we dance we find and lose ourselves both at the same time. Finding ourselves while dancing means discovering our best moves and our unique dancing style whereas losing ourselves means enjoying the moment to the fullest and finding ourselves at peace. People who found themselves while dancing ended up discovering new dancing styles that traveled all around the world and became a means of recreation and celebration. 

Dance connects the heavenly and man-made world. From worshiping the almighty to modern days dance competition, from Shiva’s Tandav to Tango, it is all about dancing your heart out. It is all about going gaga over dancing. Dance is a language of expressing sentiments but it has many dialects all around the world. There are different types of dances and dance styles across the globe. Let’s start a journey from this very moment and let’s try to speak all the dancing dialects. In simple terms, let's know about the different types of dance forms.

Shaolin Monk Dance

Shaolin monks are Chinese monks famous for their martial arts skills. These monks have combined knowledge, discipline and kung fu to make a very amazing and popular dance type of their own known as Shaolin dance.

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Bollywood Dance

Bollywood dancing is a genre of dance used in Indian films. It is one of the best types of dance. It is a mixture of several dance styles. It includes belly dancing, Indian folk, Indian classical, western popular, modern jazz, Hip hop, and even Western erotic dancing. But now this style of dancing is not only bonded in Bollywood but we can see people across the world-shaking legs in Bollywood style. Before you perform Bollywood dance you can also learn about Bollywood singing.

Cossack Dance

The cossack dance is a national Ukrainian dance. It is performed mostly as a concert dance by professional Ukrainian dancers or folk dance performers. The modern-day cossack dancing involves solo dancers, usually males. They perform amazing acrobatic feats. These feats include jumps and spins. This dance shows the tradition of Ukrainian around the world and it is such a bliss to be able to see this type of dancing. 

Tinikling

Tinikling dance is a very famous and traditional Phillippine folk dance. It was originated during the Spanish colonial era. This dance is performed with a bamboo. Two people beat, tap, and slide bamboo poles on the ground against each other in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in the poles while dancing. It is traditionally danced to a kind of music called rondalla. This dance is fun and people enjoy doing it.  

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Kathak

This is one of the major forms of Indian classical dance. The literal meaning of Kathak means a storyteller. So now you can understand that one who does kathak, tells a story by dancing using his/her fingers, gestures, posters, and expressions but what type of story do they tell? These storytellers communicated stories from the great epics and ancient mythology. They tell the childhood stories of Hindu god Krishna in the courts of North Indian kingdoms. The makeup and costumes of these kathakars are also very exotic and colorful. This is one of the most popular  Indian dance forms across the globe. You can’t take your eyes off of them if you see them performing and the expressions they make holds and binds the audience. Indian Classical Music is also a very popular Music to learn all over the world.

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Fandango

Fandango dance is a type of couple dance from Spain. An interesting fact about this amazing dance style is that it is accompanied by guitars and hand-clapping. Fandango can be sung or danced. Fandango’s first sighting in a theatrical work was in Francisco de Leefdaal in Seville in 1720. By the 18th century, it became fashionable and was included in ballets and operas not only in Spain but also in Europe. 

Capoeira

It is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and different types of music. It came into existence at the beginning of the 16th century in Brazil. Capoeira is not only a dance form of Brazil now but it also helps in the export of Brazilian culture all around the world. It is famous for its fast and quick moves. It is such a spectacular thing to watch. It fills the body with energy. One should learn martial arts once in life along with Capoeira dance. It will be amazing to accept a new culture in the form of dancing. 

Tango

It is a partner dance. It originated in the 1880s in some parts of Argentina and Uruguay. It is a combination of the waltz, polka, mazurka, etc. Starting from Argentina it spread to the rest of the world. Many variations of this dance currently exist around the world. Tango dance is one of the most famous dance styles all around the world. It is practiced across the globe.

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance that came into existence in the 15th century during the Italian Renaissance. It later became a concert dance in parts of France and Russia. Ballet consists of choreography and music. Famous The Nutcracker choreographed by Marius Petipa is an example of perfect ballet. All you need to know about ballet is that it is performed by trained dancers and it is often performed in simple costumes. It is a bliss to watch people doing ballet. It looks so smooth that it will make you stand up and flow with the music.

Aerial dance

The aerial dance was first recognized in the United States in the 1970s and then it traveled all around the world. The choreography is done with an apparatus that is often attached to the ceiling that allows performers to explore the three-dimensional space. Strength and expression are everything in this type of dancing. I can feel how amazing it would be to play with expressions while swinging in the air.

Belly dance

Belly dancing is also called Arabic dance. It was originated in Egypt. It emphasizes the movements of the torso. Depending on the country and region belly dancing has evolved to take many different forms including different types of costumes. Belly dancing is also one of the most famous dance forms in this world.

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Kecak trance dance

It is a form of the Balinese dance and music drama of Indonesia. It was developed in the 1930s in Bali, Indonesia. In the beginning, it was performed by men only, women started taking part in it in 2006. It is performed by a circle of at least 150 performers wearing checked clothes around their waist. It sounds so good and it is a kind of fun-loving dance style.

Cancan

Cancan is a dance style from France. It is a high-energy dance that became a popular music hall dancing in the 1840s. It was originally performed by both men and women but now it is associated with a chorus line of female dancers. It involves high kicks and cartwheels.

Kabuki

It is a classical Japanese dance drama. It came into existence in 1603 when a Miko of Izumo- Taisha began performing a new style of dance drama in the dry riverbeds of Kyoto. It originated in the 17th century. Female performers played both men and women in comic playlets about ordinary life. This dance style became immediately popular, and Okuni was asked to perform before the Imperial Court.

Lion dance

It is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers wear a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune and mimic a lion's movements. This dance is usually performed during Chinese New Year or any other Chinese traditional and religious festivals. It is also performed at important events and nowadays it is becoming popular around the world as well.

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Irish stepdance

It is a style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It is characterized by a stiff upper body and quick movements of feet. It can be performed in a group or solo. Costumes are considered important for stage presence in competition and performance Irish stepdance. Each dress is different, with varying colors and patterns, designed to attract the judge's eye in competitions and the audience's eye in performance.

Swing dance

It is a group dance that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1940s. The term "swing dancing" is often extended to include other dances that do not have certain characteristics of traditional swing dances: west coast swing, Carolina shag, east coast swing, hand dancing are some other styles and forms that developed during the 1940s and later. 

Polka

This style of dancing is familiar in Europe and America. It originated in the mid of the 19th century in Bohemia. It is originally a Czech dance. Polka remains a popular folk music genre in many European countries and is performed by folk artists in the Czech Republic.

Bharatnatyam

It is an Indian classical dance that is used to express South Indian religious themes of Vaishnavism, Shaktism, and Shaivism. The traces of Bharatnatyam have been found in Bharatmuni’s Natya Shastra. Its existence is noted in ancient Tamil epic Silappadikaram by 2nd century CE. This dance style is very famous across the globe and people from different parts of the world are willing to learn this style. 

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Contemporary

Contemporary is a style of dancing that focuses on freedom of movements. Dancers exhibit more personal expression through this dance style. It is a dance form that emerged in the 20th century. The contemporary dance developed during the start of the twentieth century by dancer Isadora Duncan and gain its popularity in the U.S and Western Europe.

Hip hop

Hip-hop is a type of street dancing performed on energetic music. Hip hop was originated in the late 1960s and later in 1970 an urban movement known as hip hop began to develop in the Bronx, New York City. Popping, locking, breaking, boogaloo, and social dancing are some elements of hip hop dancing and it is practiced all around the world.

Salsa

Salsa is a social dance that originated in the Caribbean and its movements are similar to cha cha cha, mambo, and other dance forms. Salsa originated in Eastern Cuba( Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo) from the Cuban Son and Afro-Cuban dance. Colombian style salsa, Cuban style salsa, Miami style salsa, casino Rueda style salsa, L.A style salsa, New York-style salsa, Puerto Rican style salsa are different salsa dance style.  

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

Ballroom

The ballroom is any kind of partner dance done socially and competitively around the world. It has many types and subtypes. Some of these are tango, rumba, cha-cha, swing, jive, samba, paso doble, Argentine tango, polka, west coast swing, lindy, salsa and many, MANY more! It originated in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Earlier it was performed by the upper and elite classes of society in balls and parties.

Latin dance

Latin dance was originated in Latin America and later traveled in different parts of the world. It is a type of ballroom dance performed with partners. The five Latin dances are the Samba, Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive.

Tap dance

Tap dance is a form of dance performed by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Tap dance has its roots in the fusion of several ethnic percussive dances, including African tribal dances. Tap dance has made its place in world dancing.

 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DANCE FORMS

These were different languages of dancing throughout the world. Either by feet or by hand dance is always used to express certain sentiments. There might be different types of dance forms in the world but one thing that is common all around the world about dancing is the message. Peace, love, and many other ideas are there that are delivered through dancing. That’s why it is said that “dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body”.

 

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