Have you ever twirled in a circle? Stretched on your tiptoes and swept your arms above your head? Tapped your feet to snappy music? All people dance, because the human body is made to move. The world offers an exciting variety of dances!

WHAT IS DANCE?

Our bodies can twist, jump, stretch, and turn. Dance blends these movements together, usually with music. Dance uses space: What patterns do the dancers make across the floor? What designs do dancers’ arms and legs brush through the air? Dance uses time: Is the dance fast or slow? What rhythm pulses in the music? Dance uses weight: Are the steps light and quick, or heavy and limp? Dance uses energy: Does the dance have fast, choppy movements, or flowing, soft ones?

WHY DO WE DANCE?

People around the world dance for different reasons and in different ways. Some dances can express feelings like sadness, anger, or joy. Other dances can tell a story.

Dance may sparkle as an art form, as ballet does, and be performed for an audience. Ballet dancers train for years to learn to leap and turn across a stage.

People may dance as part of an important ceremony, even as part of their religion. Some cultures honor their ancestors through dance. Dances may celebrate important events, such as a birth, graduation, or marriage. A dance might be used to help work go faster, as in the Japanese rice-planting dance.

In some cultures a shaman, or healer, might dance to cure an illness. Some societies use dance to reach a state of trance so the dancers can perform acts of strength or courage, such as dancing on hot coals.

DANCING FOR FUN

We may gather together and dance simply for fun. Many countries have group dances—folk dances—that are passed down through generations.

Social dances encourage two people to dance together. These dances come and go: A new dance may be very popular one year, and out of fashion the next. In the 1800s, couples glided through a waltz or polka. Young people kicked up their heels doing the Charleston in the 1920s. Teenagers spun and swung to the 1940s jitterbug. Couples did not even have to touch hands for the 1960s dance craze, the twist. Disco dancing, popular in the 1970s, and today's hip-hop are also social dances.

HOW LONG HAVE PEOPLE DANCED?

Dance probably has been around about as long as people have. Cave paintings thousands of years old show what look like dancing figures. Dancers appear in the art of ancient Egypt and Greece. Through dance, societies asked their gods for good crops or bravery in battle.

Hundreds of years ago the Christian church frowned upon dancing. But farmers and villagers still danced for fun. Many of these dances developed into folk dances. Ballet grew out of dances at the royal courts of France and Italy in the 1500s and 1600s.

Drama, acrobatics, and music are combined with dance in many cultures. People added makeup, costumes, and masks to turn dance into theater. These performances tell a story using movements rather than words.

HOW WILL DANCE CHANGE IN THE FUTURE?

Dance constantly evolves, or changes. People seek new forms of expression. Cultures borrow from one another, and from the past. Latin American dance blends Spanish and Native American styles. African and Asian dances influence dance in Europe and North America.

Like our ancestors long ago, we dance for important ceremonies. And like our ancestors, we also dance for the joy of movement, to express our emotions, and to share music and fun.

 Source: Microsoft ® Encarta

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