Various Forms Of Dance

Dance generally means the rhythmic body movement accompanied with music. The term dance has originated from the French word danser. Dance can be used to express ideas, sentiments and even enact a story.

Dance not only helps you keep fit, active and flexible but also helps you in giving vent to your emotions, frustrations and stresses in a positive manner, making you feel good.

Though it is difficult to ascertain the origin of dance, archaeologists have found Egyptian paintings showing dancing figures from as far as 3300 BC. Initially, dances were used to tell stories or myths.

Here are some of the popular forms of dance

Salsa, which originated in the Caribbean, Latin and North America, is a mixture of various informal dance styles. Salsa draws strong influence from Africa. Though Salsa has steps involving one person too, it generally involves two people who dance on the beats of Salsa music.

Salsa, which means spicy in Spanish, has flirtatious and sensuous movements. In salsa, dancers do not travel around the dance floor but occupy a slot in which they rotate and exchange places. In a social circuit, it is considered bad manners to travel around the dance floor while dancing Salsa.

Basic dance steps of Salsa have been taken from Cuban son while Cuban dances like Mambo, cha cha cha, Rumba and others too have influenced it. Modern Salsa is a mixture of Jazz, funk, reggae, hip-hop and samba.

There are different styles in salsa which have their own unique characteristics like different step patterns, timing of steps, attitude, dress code etc. Cuban style, Los Angeles style, New York style, Venezolana style, Colombian style, Shines, La Rueda, Salsa Disco, Ballroom Mambo and Puerto Rican style are various styles in Salsa.

In Cuban style salsa, the most important element is when the leader does a backward basic on 1-2-3 and a forward basic on 5-6-7. The follower repeats the same steps. Los Angeles style, which has been influenced by Hollywood and swing and mambo dances, puts emphasis on sensuousness and acrobatics.

New York style, which is done while remaining on a particular spot of dance floor, lays emphasis on swift body movement and elegance. Venezolana style, followed eagerly in Venezuela and Dominicana, has sharp body movements and turns. Colombian Style Salsa, which is danced in South and Central America, has partners dancing side-by-side and mirroring each other's movements.

Developed in Havana in 1950s, La Rueda involves dancers in pairs forming a circle and swapping partners. Salsa Disco is a version of Salsa which is performed in discotheques and is a mix of Los Angeles style, Puerto-Rico style and Casino.

Hip hop dance is generally referred to street dance styles, which are danced to the beats of hip hop music. Break-dance, which was first seen in New York during 1960s, is one of the most famous and original hip hop dances. New dance styles came to the fore in the 1990s when hip hop music was witnessing various changes.

Old school - Old school hip hop dances are the styles that came up in the 1970s and 1980s. Break-dance is considered to be the first hip hop dance style which was original to the core. In the 1980s, many funk dance styles like popping and locking were included into the Hip-hop.

New school - In the 1990s, with the hip hop music going through various changes, slow but more aggressive steps were included in hip-hop dance. Though these new styles were to an extent influenced by the styles prevalent in Old School, they focused more on upright dancing. Some of the new school hip hop dance styles include krumping, harlem shake, snap dance, crip walk, grinding, pop and lock.

Jazz dance, which has its origins in African American dance of the late 1800s to the mid-1905s, covers many dance styles like tap and ballet. Till mid-1950s, tap dance was the prominent jazz dance style. Later, Cakewalk, Black Bottom, Boogie Woogie, swing dancing and Lindy Hop too became popular styles of Jazz.

Jazz, which emphasizes on originality and improvisation, includes moves like twist, pivot step, touch step, pencil spin, barrel turn, fan kick, jazz run and the catch step