Outline of dance

See also: Index of dance articles

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to dance:

Dance – human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. Choreography is the art of making dances, and the person who does this is called a choreographer. Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic, artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movement (such as Folk dance) to codified, virtuoso techniques such as ballet. A great many dances and dance styles are performed to dance music.

What type of thing is dance?

Dance (also called "dancing") can fit the following categories:

  • an activity or behavior
    • one of the arts – a creative endeavor or discipline.
    • Hobby – regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.
    • Exercise – bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.
    • Sport—bodily activity that displays physical exertion
    • Recreation – leisure time activity
    • Ritual

Some other things can be named "dance" metaphorically; see dance (disambiguation)

Types of dance

Type of dance – a particular dance or dance style. There are many varieties of dance. Dance categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, tango is traditionally a partner dance. While it is mostly social dance, its ballroom form may be competitive dance, as in DanceSport. At the same time it is enjoyed as performance dance, whereby it may well be a solo dance.

Dance genres

Dance styles by number of interacting dancers

  • Solo dance – a dance danced by an individual dancing alone.
  • Partner dance – dance with just 2 dancers, dancing together. In most partner dances, one, typically a man, is the leader; the other, typically a woman, is the follower. As a rule, they maintain connection with each other. In some dances the connection is loose and called dance handhold. In other dances the connection involves body contact.
  • Group dance – dance danced by a group of people simultaneously. Group dances are generally, but not always, coordinated or standardized in such a way that all the individuals in the group are dancing the same steps at the same time. Alternatively, various groups within the larger group may be dancing different, but complementary, parts of the larger dance.

Dance styles by main purpose

Geography of dance (by region)

Africa
West Africa
Benin • Burkina Faso • Cape Verde • Côte d'Ivoire • Gambia • Ghana • Guinea • Guinea-Bissau • Liberia • Mali • Mauritania • Niger • Nigeria • Senegal • Sierra Leone • Togo
North Africa
Algeria • Egypt (Ancient Egypt) • Libya • Mauritania • Morocco • Sudan • South Sudan •Tunisia • Western Sahara
Central Africa
Angola • Burundi • Cameroon • Central African Republic • Chad • The Democratic Republic of the Congo • Equatorial Guinea • Gabon • Republic of the Congo • Rwanda • São Tomé and Príncipe
East Africa
Burundi • Comoros • Djibouti • Eritrea • Ethiopia • Kenya • Madagascar • Malawi • Mauritius • Mozambique • Rwanda • Seychelles • Somalia • Tanzania • Uganda • Zambia • Zimbabwe
Southern Africa
Botswana • Eswatini • Lesotho • Namibia • South Africa
Dependencies
Mayotte (France) • St. Helena (UK) • Puntland • Somaliland • Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Antarctica
None
Asia
Central Asia
Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Tajikistan • Turkmenistan • Uzbekistan
East Asia
China
Tibet
Hong Kong • Macau
Japan • North Korea • South Korea • Mongolia • Taiwan
North Asia
Russia
Southeast Asia
Brunei • Burma (Myanmar) • Cambodia • East Timor (Timor-Leste) • Indonesia • Laos • Malaysia • Philippines • Singapore • Thailand • Vietnam
South Asia
Afghanistan • Bangladesh • Bhutan • Iran • Maldives • Nepal • Pakistan • Sri Lanka
India
West Asia
Armenia • Azerbaijan • Bahrain • Cyprus (including disputed Northern Cyprus) • Georgia • Iraq • Israel • Jordan • Kuwait • Lebanon • Oman • Palestinian territories Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Syria • Turkey • United Arab Emirates • Yemen
Caucasus (a region considered to be in both Asia and Europe, or between them)
North Caucasus
Parts of Russia (Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Adyghea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachai-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai)
South Caucasus
Georgia (including disputed Abkhazia, South Ossetia) • Armenia • Azerbaijan (including disputed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic)
Europe
Akrotiri and Dhekelia • Åland • Albania • Andorra • Armenia • Austria • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Belgium • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Faroe Islands • Finland • France • Georgia • Germany • Gibraltar • Greece • Guernsey • Hungary • Iceland • Ireland • Isle of Man • Italy • Jersey • Kazakhstan • Kosovo • Latvia • Liechtenstein • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Macedonia • Malta • Moldova (including disputed Transnistria) • Monaco • Montenegro • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Russia • San Marino • Serbia • Slovakia • Slovenia •
Norway
Svalbard
Spain
Autonomous communities of Spain: Catalonia
Sweden • Switzerland • Turkey • Ukraine
United Kingdom
England • Northern Ireland • Scotland • Wales
Vatican City
European Union
North America
Canada
Provinces of Canada: • Alberta • British Columbia • Manitoba • New Brunswick • Newfoundland and Labrador • Nova Scotia • Ontario (Toronto) • Prince Edward Island • Quebec • Saskatchewan
Territories of Canada: Northwest Territories • Nunavut • Yukon
Greenland • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
United States
Mexico
Central America
Belize • Costa Rica • El Salvador • Guatemala • Honduras • Nicaragua • Panama
Caribbean
Anguilla • Antigua and Barbuda • Aruba • Bahamas • Barbados • Bermuda • British Virgin Islands • Cayman Islands • Cuba • Dominica • Dominican Republic • Grenada • Haiti • Jamaica • Montserrat • Netherlands Antilles • Puerto Rico • Saint Barthélemy • Saint Kitts and Nevis • Saint Lucia • Saint Martin • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines • Trinidad and Tobago • Turks and Caicos Islands • United States Virgin Islands
Oceania (includes the continent of Australia)
Australasia
Australia
Dependencies/Territories of Australia
Christmas Island • Cocos (Keeling) Islands • Norfolk Island
New Zealand
Melanesia
Fiji • Indonesia (Oceanian part only) • New Caledonia (France) • Papua New Guinea • Rotuma • Solomon Islands • Vanuatu
Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia • Guam (United States) • Kiribati • Marshall Islands • Nauru • Northern Mariana Islands (United States) • Palau • Wake Island (United States)
Polynesia
American Samoa (United States) • Chatham Islands (NZ) • Cook Islands (NZ) • Easter Island (Chile) • French Polynesia (France) • Hawaii (United States) • Loyalty Islands (France) • Niue (NZ) • Pitcairn Islands (UK) • Adamstown • Samoa • Tokelau (NZ) • Tonga • Tuvalu • Wallis and Futuna (France)
South America
Argentina • Bolivia • Brazil • Chile • Colombia • Ecuador • Falkland Islands • Guyana • Paraguay • Peru • Suriname • Uruguay • Venezuela
South Atlantic
Ascension Island • Saint Helena • Tristan da Cunha

History of dance

History of dance

Dance technique

Dance culture

Dance science

Dance science

Dance organizations

Books about dance

Dancers

See also