What's Music, Without a Little Dancing? Happy National Dance Day!

[Image reads “Happy National Dance Day!” over a colourful dance step pattern]

Dancing is the rhythmic movement of the body, often choreographed, typically to music. Dance can be performance art, or simply a way to connect with others, enjoy the feeling of movement, express our emotions, or just let go. Dance is an activity that can be enjoyed by almost everyone.

There are thought to be 5 universal elements of dancing. First body, as it is the main instrument involved in dance. Second action, which is to say what the dancer does while dancing. Thirdly, space, or the space through which a dancer moves while dancing, often also involving the interaction with other dancers. Fourth, time, this relates to the rhythm of the movement. Lastly, energy which speaks to how a dancer moves through space to the rhythm, movements can be quick, or flowing, relaxed or restricted, etc. These five elements combine in a variety of ways to make what we call dance.

Dance can play a lot of different roles in our society. The three main roles of dance in society include dance as a part of rituals, ceremonies or celebrations, dance as recreation, and dance as a form of artistic expression.

[Image contains a colourful silhouette of a ballet dancer]

Some popular categories of dance include ballroom, theatre, jazz, and Latin. Though there are lots of types of dances, and many dances will fall into more than one category of dance.

Ballroom dancing first originated in 16th century France, and is the name given to a set of partner dances including those such as the waltz, Viennese waltz, foxtrot, tango, quickstep as well as a variety of Latin dances. As you can see ballroom dance encompasses a wide range of dance tempos and origins.

Theatre dance, also known as professional performance dance, usually performed for an audience in a theatre setting, is highly choreographed and set to music. Some common types of theatre dance include ballet, contemporary and modern dance.

Jazz dance first became popular in the United States in the early 1900’s, though the origin of jazz dance can be traced to African rituals and celebratory dances from around the 17th century. Some types of jazz dance include the Charleston, tap, boogie-woogie, and swing.

Latin dance is rooted in the traditional dances of native peoples of Latin America, with some European influence. Some popular types of latin dance include the cha-cha, samba, rumba, jive, salsa, flamenco, and lambada.

Some other well known types of dance would include belly dancing, polka, folk dancing, Bollywood dancing, break dancing, popping, locking, as well as country and western dancing.

[Image contains silhouettes of people dancing]

Before you turn up the music, and get up and dance, why not join us in celebrating National Dance Day by answering the following questions?

1. Can you think of any other types of dance you enjoy? Be it watching or dancing yourself?

2. What is one song that makes you want to get up and move?

3. So, will you join us in turning up some music, maybe closing the curtains and dancing like no one is watching?

Source: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/history-of-dance

https://play.decathlon.co.uk/articles/28-different-types-of-dance

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