Britannica
Sources used in this answer
- dance - Changes in attitude toward dance
- folk dance - The International Folk Dance movement
- Western dance - Effect on folk dancing
- Western dance - The 20th century
- folk dance - Ljubica Janković and Danica Janković and modern scholarship
- folk dance - Supporting nationalism
- folk dance - Folk dance in the United States
Why did folk-dance revival movements emerge in the 20th century?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Western dance
Egyptian dancing, detail from a tomb painting from Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qurnah, Egypt, c. 1400 bce; in the British Museum, London.
In the 20th century, folk-dance revival movements emerged as a response to the rapid social and cultural shifts brought about by urbanization and industrialization, which threatened to extinguish traditional dance forms. Several key factors drove these movements:1
- Preservation of Identity: As traditional practices declined, societies and councils were founded to preserve folk dances that were under threat of extinction. For many groups, maintaining these dances was a vital way to uphold their cultural heritage and identity against the influence of neighboring populations.12
- Community and Education: Various youth movements and educational reformers, influenced by figures such as John Dewey, promoted folk dancing to foster new community feelings and as a valuable tool for physical education.34
- Nationalism and Politics: Governments frequently utilized folk dance to cultivate national pride and loyalty, sometimes employing these dances as symbols of national identity or as tools for political propaganda.5
- Recreational Interest: Beyond preservation, many people sought out folk dance as a form of recreation, leading to the growth of international folk dance groups that shared and performed dances from diverse cultures.62