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.
- one of the performing arts.
- 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
- one of the arts – a creative endeavor or discipline.
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
- Acro dance
- B-boying
- Ballet
- Bollywood dance
- Ballroom dance
- Baroque dance
- Belly dance
- Bharatanatyam
- Casino (Cuban salsa)
- Cha-cha-cha
- Chicago stepping
- Circle dance
- Competitive dance
- Contemporary dance
- Contra 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
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
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 (Ancient 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 • Eswatini • Lesotho • Namibia • South Africa
- 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
- Brunei • Burma (Myanmar) • Cambodia • East Timor (Timor-Leste) • Indonesia • Laos • Malaysia • Philippines • Singapore • Thailand • Vietnam
- South Asia
- Afghanistan • Bangladesh • Bhutan • Iran • Maldives • Nepal • Pakistan • Sri Lanka
- West Asia
- Armenia • Azerbaijan • Bahrain • Cyprus (including disputed Northern Cyprus) • Georgia • Iraq • Israel • Jordan • Kuwait • Lebanon • Oman • Palestinian territories Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Syria • Turkey • United Arab Emirates • Yemen
- 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
- South Caucasus
- Georgia (including disputed Abkhazia, South Ossetia) • Armenia • Azerbaijan (including disputed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic)
- South 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
- Canada
- Provinces of Canada: • Alberta • British Columbia • Manitoba • New Brunswick • Newfoundland and Labrador • Nova Scotia • Ontario (Toronto) • Prince Edward Island • Quebec • Saskatchewan
- Territories of Canada: Northwest Territories • Nunavut • Yukon
- Canada
- Greenland • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Central America
- Belize • Costa Rica • El Salvador • Guatemala • Honduras • Nicaragua • Panama
- 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 • Rotuma • Solomon Islands • Vanuatu
- Micronesia
- Federated States of Micronesia • Guam (United States) • Kiribati • Marshall Islands • Nauru • Northern Mariana Islands (United States) • Palau • Wake Island (United States)
- Polynesia
- American Samoa (United States) • Chatham Islands (NZ) • Cook Islands (NZ) • Easter Island (Chile) • French Polynesia (France) • Hawaii (United States) • 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 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)