Dance Styles

Here's a quick rundown of the different dance styles we will be featuring on The Dance Anthology, which one is your favorite?

Ballet
Ballet is a formalized kind of performance dance, which originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France, England, and Russia as a concert dance form. It is a poised style of dance that incorporates the foundational techniques for many other dance forms. It is best known in the form of Late Romantic Ballet or Ballet Blanc, which preoccupies itself with the female dancer to the exclusion of almost all else, focusing on pointe work, flowing, precise acrobatic movements, and often presenting the dancers in the conventional short white French tutu. Later developments include expressionist ballet, Neoclassical ballet, and elements of Modern dance.

The word ballet comes from the French and was borrowed into English around 1630. The French word in turn has its origin in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance) which comes from Latin ballo, ballare, meaning "to dance", which in turn comes from the Greek "βαλλίζω" (ballizo), "to dance, to jump about".

There are 5 main genres of Ballet which include Ballet d'action, Classical ballet, Contemporary ballet, Neoclassical ballet, and Romantic ballet. The 3 main techniques of Ballet include French ballet, Russian Vaganova method, and Italian Cecchetti method.


Jazz
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance. Every individual style of jazz dance has roots traceable to one of these two distinct origins.

Traditional
Until the mid 1950s, jazz dance referred to the dance styles that originated from the African American vernacular dance of the late 19th century to mid-20th century. Jazz dance often referred to tap dance because tap dancing, set to jazz music, was one of the predominant dances of the era. Jazz dance evolved over time to spawn a diverse range of social and concert dance styles. During the later jazz age, popular forms of jazz dance included the Cakewalk, Black Bottom, Charleston, Jitterbug, Boogie Woogie, swing and the related Lindy Hop. Today, many of these dance styles are still popular and continue to be practiced and taught.

Modern
After the 1950s, pioneers such as Katherine Dunham took the essence of Caribbean traditional dance and made it into a performing art. With the growing domination of other forms of entertainment music, jazz dance evolved on Broadway into the new, smooth style that is taught today and known as modern jazz, while tap dance branched off to follow its own, separate evolutionary path. The performance style of jazz dance was popularized to a large extent by Bob Fosse's work, which is exemplified by Broadway shows such as Chicago, Cabaret, Damn Yankees, and The Pajama Game. Modern jazz dance continues to be an essential element of musical theatre, and it can often be seen in music videos and competitive dance.


Hip Hop
Hip-hop dance refers to dance styles primarily danced to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. This includes a wide range of styles notably breaking, locking, and popping which were developed in the 1970s by Black and Latino Americans. What separates hip-hop dance from other forms of dance is that it is often freestyle in nature and hip-hop dancers frequently engage in battles—formal or informal freestyle dance competitions. Informal freestyle sessions and battles are usually performed in a cipher, "a circular dance space that forms naturally once the dancing begins. These three elements—freestyling, battles, and ciphers—are key components of hip-hop dance.

To some, hip-hop dance may only be a form of entertainment or a hobby. To others it has become a lifestyle: a way to be active in physical fitness or competitive dance and a way to make a living by dancing professionally.

From a technical aspect, hip-hop dance (new style) is characterized as hard-hitting involving flexibility and isolations—moving a certain body part independently from others. The feet are grounded, the chest is down, and the body is kept loose so that a dancer can easily alternate between hitting the beat or riding through the beat. This is in contrast to ballet or ballroom dancing where the chest is upright and the body is stiff. In addition, new style hip-hop is very rhythmic and emphasis is placed on musicality—how sensitive your movements are to the music—and being able to freestyle (improvise). As long as dancers maintain the foundational movements, they can add their own (free)style and have a performance that is still hip-hop.

Another style the dance industry created was jazz funk. Jazz funk (also called street jazz) is a hybrid of hip-hop and jazz dance. This style is used by artists like Beyoncé. Although it borrows from hip-hop dance, it is not considered a style of hip-hop because the foundational movements are jazz. In hip-hop – even in lyrical hip-hop – there are no pirouettes or arabesques and you do not dance on relevé (on the balls of the feet). However, these methods are used in jazz funk and in jazz dance in general. Dance studios responded to these new styles by hiring technically trained dancers and offering hip-hop (new style) and jazz funk dance classes. Large scale studios around the world that teach hip-hop and jazz funk dance classes include Millennium (L.A.), Broadway Dance Center (New York), Edge Performing Arts Center (L.A.), Pineapple Studios (London), The Vibe – The International Hip Hop Dance Center (Oslo), Boogiezone (L.A.),Debbie Reynolds (L.A.), Sunshine Studios (Manchester), DREAM Dance Studio (Vancouver), Ones to Watch (Japan & Hong Kong), and KJD Dance Studio (Sydney).


Contemporary
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement. It uses dance techniques and methods found in ballet, modern dance and postmodern dance, and it also draws from other philosophies of movement that are outside the realm of classical dance technique.
The term "contemporary dance" is sometimes used to describe dance that is not classical, Broadway style jazz or folk dance[citation needed]. The hallmark of contemporary dance is an awareness of the limitations of form. Sub-genres recently defined by dance critics include non-dance, conceptual dance and pedestrian contemporary



Modern
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Modern dance is a more relaxed, free style of dance in which choreographers use emotions and moods to design their own steps, in contrast to ballet's structured code of steps. It has a deliberate use of gravity, whereas ballet is rigid in its technique. Because of the common history, the two forms (classical ballet and modern) share a similar terminology and structure. Modern dance is a term that applies to a variety of different disciplines, all with subtly different techniques, that responded to the imperialism of ballet through varying, culturally specific catalytic factors. Both Postmodern dance and Contemporary dance are built upon the foundations laid by Modern dance and form part of the greater category of 20th century concert dance. Where as Postmodern dance was a direct and opposite response to Modern dance, Contemporary dance draws on both modern and postmodern dance as a source of inspiration. The social and artistic upheavals of the late 1960s and 70s provoked even more radical forms of modern dance. Modern dance today is much more sophisticated in technique and technology than when modern dance was founded. The founders composed their dances entirely of spirit, soul, heart and mind as opposed to today's modern which has more technical aspects

Clytemnestra by the Martha Graham Dance Company


Tap
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by a tapping sound that is created from metal plates attached to both the ball and heel of the dancer's shoe. These metal plates, when tapped against a suitable surface, create a percussive sound and as such tap dance is both a form of dance as well as the act of playing a musical instrument.

Early tappers like Fred Astaire provided a more ballroom look to tap dancing, while Gene Kelly used his extensive ballet training to make tap dancing incorporate all the parts of the ballet. This style of tap led to what is today known as "Broadway style," which is more mainstream in American culture. It often involves high heeled tap shoes and show music, and is usually the type of tap first taught to beginners. The best examples of this style are found in Broadway musicals such as 42nd Street.

Hoofers are tap dancers who dance primarily with their legs, making a louder, more grounded sound. This kind of tap dancing, also called "rhythm tap", came primarily from cities and urban areas. Today this is not the case, especially with such a wide variety of styles spreading throughout the world.

Lyrical
Lyrical dance is a fusion of ballet with jazz and contemporary dance techniques.
Lyrical dance style has its primary basis in ballet, combining the many technical elements of classical ballet with the freedom and airier aspects of jazz, contemporary and modern dance. It is typically considered a sub-category of jazz and/or contemporary dance, the latter itself being an emerging category. Lyrical dance is expressive, simultaneously subtle and dynamic, focused on conveying musicality and emotion through movement. It is a combination of intricate, highly technical, and pedestrian/naturalistic moves. It is commonly set to popular music with vocals as well as rich instrumental portions of a pop song. Lyrical inspires choreographers and dancers to use movement to interpret music and express emotion.


Musical Theater
Also called "Broadway Dance", this style of dance tells a story, often accompanied by props. Performed in musicals, the dance supports the acting and singing of the production.


Burlesque
In burlesque, performers, usually female, often create elaborate sets with lush, colorful costumes, mood-appropriate music, and dramatic lighting, and may even include novelty acts, such as fire breathing or contortionists, to enhance the impact of their performance. Today New Burlesque has taken many forms, but all have the common trait of honoring one or more of burlesque's previous incarnations, with acts including striptease, expensive costumes, bawdy humor, cabaret and more. There are modern burlesque performers and shows all over the world


Ballroom
Ballroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. Because of its performance and entertainment aspects, ballroom dance is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television.
Ballroom dance may refer, at its widest, to almost any type of social dancing as recreation. However, with the emergence of dancesport in modern times, the term has become narrower in scope.

The term 'ballroom dancing' is derived from the word ball, which in turn originates from the Latin word ballare which means 'to dance' (a ballroom being a large room specially designed for such dances). In times past, ballroom dancing was social dancing for the privileged, leaving folk dancing for the lower classes. These boundaries have since become blurred, and it should be noted even in times long gone, many ballroom dances were really elevated folk dances. The definition of ballroom dance also depends on the era: balls have featured popular dances of the day such as the Minuet, Quadrille, Polonaise, Polka, Mazurka, and others, which are now considered to be historical dances.

Others dances sometimes placed under the umbrella "ballroom dance" include Nightclub Dances such as Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Nightclub Two Step, Hustle, Salsa, and Merengue. There are a great many different dances in Ballroom dancing, which we will touch on through the year.

Videos from YouTube and info from Wikipedia

I hope to do featurettes of each style this coming year, to enrich my own dance experience as well as our readers. As dance grows, many more styles are sure to emerge so our list is sure to get longer and longer