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6000 BCE
Mesopotamia, Iraq
People in Mesopotamia danced on occasions like weddings and harvest festivals. Men and women could never dance together, instead they took turns. Sometimes one group sang while one group danced. They jumped, leaped, leaned and bent. Men performed a squat dance and a dance in which they twirled holding one leg up. 17th century: The dance in the 17th century, Mesopotamia was a dance called the Baroque dance. It originated in Europe 12th century -
3114 BCE
Mayan, Central America
The Mayas danced for entertainment and for worshiping the gods. They created 100s of dances and wore noisy, colourful costumes. Mn and women rarely danced together. -
3100 BCE
Egyptian civililization, Egypt
No men and women danced together. They danced in honour of gods. They danced nude with only a a small cloth on their waist. The dance routines started of by mourning the dead and pleasing the gods and goddesses.
17th century: Ballet started to develop -
2000 BCE
Greek, Greece
In ancient Greece if someone could dance they were considered wise. They even danced in poems and scripture. -
1766 BCE
Chinese, China
The ancient Chinese civilisation included juggling, marshal arts, tricks and acrobatics in their dance. The men performed 'wu' dances and the women performed 'xi' dances. -
1300
Aztecs, Mexico City
The Aztecs used Trumpets. Some of the dances were based on myths and history. Priests performed in temples and at the top of pyramids. There was a building with a court, that court was used for singing and dancing. -
1438
Incas, Peru
Dancing was a social event for the Inca.Their Dance can be classified into: Ritual and warrior. They used an instrument called siku. -
Roman, Rome
The romans used tambourines, veils and cymbals as music for their dance. There dance was inspired by Greek dance. They jumped a lot in their dance. -
Current day
We now dance to express, entertain and celebrate, Both men and women can dance together. We have many variations of dance and steps from the past are still in use.
