dance

Introduction
The aesthetics of dance
- Basic motives: self-expression and physical release
- Problems in defining dance
  - Defining according to function
  - Distinguishing dance from other patterned movement
  - Defining according to intent
- Dance as dramatic expression or abstract form
  - The debate in the West
  - Dance as a nonverbal language
- Changes in attitude toward dance
Components of the dance
- The dancer
  - Physical requirements
  - The importance of training
  - Differences among dancers
  - From amateur to professional
- Basic steps and formations
  - Ballet and modern dance
  - Folk dance
  - Social dance
- Choreography
  - Choreographers’ motives and methods
  - The three-phase choreographic process
    - Gathering the movement material
    - Developing movements into phrases
    - Creating the final structure
- Dance notation
  - Prominent notation methods
  - Difficulties of notation
- Theatrical elements
  - Rhythm
  - Music
  - Set and design
  - Costume and stage sets in Western theatre dance
  - Drama
    - Cultural distinction between dramatic and formal dance
    - Drama in Western theatre dance
Types of dance
- Theatre dance
  - Ballet
    - Basic characteristics
    - Innovations in the 20th century
  - Modern dance
    - Expressionism
    - Merce Cunningham
    - Postmodernism
    - The musical
  - Indian classical dance
- Tribal and world dance
  - Tribal dance
  - World dance
- Folk dance
- Social dance

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Peasant Dance by Pieter Bruegel the Elder shows villagers dancing, drinking, and socializing outdoors near rustic buildings, with musicians playing in the foreground.

How Fred Astaire Became a Dancer

Whirling dervishes in white robes perform the Sema ritual in a circular hall with a wooden floor, as a large audience watches from balconies in Yenikapi Mevlevihanesi, Istanbul.

rock painting of a dance performance

waltzing couples

“Phaedra's Dream”

Jean-Georges Noverre

Oil painting by Edgar Degas showing ballet dancers in white Romantic tutus warming up in a dance studio, with instructors and a chair holding a fan in the foreground.

Polovtsian Dances

At a Glance

Split Sides

Related Questions

Peasant Dance by Pieter Bruegel the Elder shows villagers dancing, drinking, and socializing outdoors near rustic buildings, with musicians playing in the foreground. — Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Peasant Dance Peasant Dance, oil on wood by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1568; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

dance

performing arts

Written by

Judith R. Mackrell

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 8, 2026 •History

dance, is the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself. Dance is a powerful impulse, but the art of dance is that impulse channeled by skillful performers into something that becomes intensely expressive and that may delight spectators who feel no wish to dance themselves. These two...

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