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Dance styles
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Ballet
Ballet began in royal courts in the early 1600s. Since then it has changed dramatically to fit the picture of ballet that people have today. Ballet is the art of dance requiring strength, resilience, elegance and grace all at once. It can be difficult to master and takes lots of patience and practice to learn, but Ballet can be studied at any age and is great for developing a strong body and enhanced coordination. Ballet technique is considered to be the basis of training for all types of dance. -
Belly Dancing
Belly dancing is an exotic dance generally associated with the Middle East region of the world. The dance is usually performed by females without a partner. There are a variety of belly dancing styles, but most include rhythmic movements with the abdomen and hips, though the entire body is used for various movements during the dance. It is believed that belly dance first came to America in 1893 when a dancer known as "Little Egypt" performed at the Chicago World's Fair. Fascinated by the dance a -
Modern
At the turn of the 20th century some dancers began to feel that the formal rules of ballet were too restricting, and they began to develop their own form of freestyle dance, which came to be known as “modern” dance, to differentiate it from ballet. Over the years, modern dance has become more closely mingled with other dance styles like jazz, ballet, and tap, and some dancers work in both modern and classical dance styles, drawing techniques from both. -
Foxtrot
The Foxtrot is truly an American dance, credited to Harry Fox and dating back to 1914 when he was reportedly doing rapid trotting steps with his partner to Ragtime music (the original form of Jazz), and it was originally referred to as “Fox’s Trot”. Since those early vaudeville days both the music and the dance have changed into the more smooth and sauntering dance that we see today. Foxtrot is the classic social Ballroom dance. -
Jazz
The term "jazz dance" has been used to describe a forever-changing form of popular and creative dance movement ever since the 1920s. It represents our popular culture, and as the culture changes, so does the appearance of jazz dance. Jazz dance has character and the ability to make changes as a main fragment. It is this element that allows itself to shed its skin and take up another for every passing era. -
Swing
The history of swing dates back to the 1920's, where the black community, while dancing to contemporary Jazz music, discovered the Charleston and the Lindy Hop. Swing music has an infectious accent on the upbeat and makes even non-dancers tap their feet, and snap their fingers. The most elemental definition of Swing dancing, is any style of dancing to Swing music, and there are hundreds of styles. Swing dancing is usually characterized by it’s bounce and energy as well as lots of spins. -
Salsa
Salsa dance movements originate from the Cuban Son dancing of the 1940s more specifically through the beat of Son Montuno. In many styles of Salsa dancing, as a dancer changes weight by stepping, the upper body remains level and nearly unaffected by the weight changes. Caught in the middle are the hips which end up moving quite a bit —- famously known as the "Cuban hip movement." Perhaps ironically, the Cuban Casino style of Salsa dancing actually has significant amounts of movement above the w -
Disco
Disco dancing is not a technically complex form - its roots are in other popular dances from Afro-American, Latin and Caribbean dances, transformed in America to dances like the Hustle, the Cha-Cha, and "Touch Dancing." While anyone could learn to move to the clear rhythms with nothing more than a step-touch back and forth, many more complex moves were created and taught as more and more people wanted to show their stuff on the floor. -
Break Dancing
The history of breakdance takes us back to the 1970's. Breakdance is a dynamic dance style that is a major component of the hip-hop culture. Breakdancing was born in response to James Brown's dance moves on television to his song "Get on the Good Foot." People tried to mimick Brown's moves alone in their living rooms and together at parties. Clive Campbell, known as DJ Kool Herc, is credited with helping the breakdancing movement evolve. Original breakdancing moves consisted mainly of fancy foot -
Lyrical
Lyrical dance is a style that combines elements of ballet, modern, jazz, and tap techniques. The name lyrical comes from the word "lyrics" and dancers often use the lyrics of a song or music to inspire them to do certain movements or show expression. Besides emotional connection to music, lyrical dance typically encourages use of articulation, line, weight, and movement qualities. While lyrical dance focuses on genuine dance techniques, the style itself has no established technique or history.
