Dance

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**Dance** is a performing art. It is described in many ways. It is when people move to a musical rhythm. They may be alone, or in a group. The dance may be an informal play, a part of a ritual, or a part of a professional performance. There are many kinds of dances, and every human society has its own dances.

Dancing is not a sport, though it does have some athletic aspects. Dance is an art. Some people dance to express their feelings and emotions, or to feel better. Dance can be used to tell a story. In some societies, dance goes with song as well as music. Dancing is sometimes done as sport and has similar athletic aspects. People who want to learn to dance can go to dance schools. It may take years of practice to become an experienced and capable dancer. Dancing is a good form of exercise because it is more fun than most other forms.  It is a good way to lose weight. 

To plan a dance is called *choreography*, done by a choreographer. Often this goes with music, and fits into a certain style. Dances may be planned in detail, or they may be whatever dancers feel like doing. However, most dancing does follow some general style or pattern. One style is the couple dance, where (usually) a man and a woman dance together. Other dances need an ensemble, a group of people together to make it work. Some styles of dance are lyrical, ballet, ballroom, tap, acrobatics, jazz, musical theater, contemporary, modern, hip hop, and western. 

## History 
People have always danced. Many cultures have their own dances. There are pictures, on pottery and stone, which show dances from several thousand years ago, in Egypt and Greece.

Sachs divides early dances into 'Imageless dances' and 'Image dances'. By 'imageless dances' he meant dances which have no set form but aim at getting the dancers into a state of ecstasy. In this state the dancer(s) seem changed, in a trance, and are often thought of (by their society) as being 'possessed by spirits'. These dances are done on certain occasions: marriage, war, famine, illness or death, and so on. They are found in all early ('primitive') societies. In the waltz, and later dances, people danced in couples, but they did so separately. They did not dance in formation but moved round the room as they pleased (but anticlockwise). Often, new dance styles arrive. Some dance as individuals, separately, as they please. Street dance is like that. All these types of dances have music.

At the same time, round the world there are many traditional dances. Some of them have been going for hundreds of years. We call them folkloric dances.

The coming of popular music videos and DVDs led to a kind of dancer previously seen in some stage shows. A **backup dancer** (or background dancer) is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video.

## Styles 
There are many different styles of dance, which fall into these general types:

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* Classic dance
* Professional dancing
** Ballet
** Modern dance
** Theatre dance
** Belly dancing
** Jazz dance
** Tap dance
* Social dancing
** Ballroom dancing (International style)
*** Waltz
*** Foxtrot
*** Tango
*** Quickstep
*** Viennese waltz
*** Cha-cha-cha
*** Jive
*** Paso doble
*** Samba
*** Rumba
** Other styles
*** Salsa
*** Rock and Roll
** Street dance
*** Breakdancing
*** Funk
*** Hip hop
* Folk dance
** Irish Dance
** Morris Dance
** Country Dance
* Indian Classical Dances
** Bharat Natyam
** Kathak
** Mohini Attam
** Kathakali
** Kuchipudi

## Professional dancers 
* Alvin Ailey
* George Balanchine
* Vernon and Irene Castle
* Misty Copeland
* Katherine Dunham
* Bob Fosse
* Loie Fuller
* Gene Kelly
* Vaslav Nijinsky
* Margot Fonteyn
* Monsieur Pierre
* Antonio Ruiz Soler

## References