I.

FOLK DANCE:

Folk dances are usually danced at social gatherings (which can be formed spontaneously or
during yearly celebrations) that can but are not required to have a particular dancing stage and
are almost always so simple to dance that new dancers and amateurs are encouraged to start
dancing with everyone else. Such dances almost never have an official governing body that is
keeping the development of folk dance in check. Instead of that, the morphing of the folk dances
in their countries and local regions happens spontaneously by the changes with local traditions.
Modern dances that have developed spontaneously such as hip hop are not regarded as folk
dance, and they are often called as “street dances”.

Different Types of Folk Dance:

Some of the most notable folk dances from all around the world are:

Ball de bastons – Weapon dance from Spain and Portugal.

Céilidh – Gaelic folk dance originating from Scotland and Ireland.

Clogging – Folk dance that features beating of heavy footwear on the floor.

English country dance – Traditional English folk dance that is also danced in France and
Germany.

Fandango – Traditional Spanish couples dance that is accompanied by guitars and clapping
hands or castanets.

Georgian folk dances – They include dances such as Kartuli, Khorumi, Acharuli, Partsa,
Kazbeguri, Khevsuruli and many others.

Greek dances – Rich Greek history has borne over 100 of traditional folk dances, including a
dozen that was danced at ancient feasts such as Angelica, Carpaea, Cordax and others.

Hora - Traditional folk dance of Balkans, danced in Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria and
several other countries.

Kolo – Folk dance of that is danced in South Slavic countries such as Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia,
Macedonia, and Slovenia.

Irish Dance – Traditional folk dance that has several forms of dancing, including popular Irish
Step Dance.

Italian folk dance – Italy is a home of many popular folk dances such as Tarantella, Pizzica,
Monferrina, Calabrian Tarantella and Ballu tundu.
Jota – Popular Spanish folk dance.

Morris Dance – Traditional English dance is originating from the 15th century.

Polka – Very popular traditional dance from the Czech Republic that is danced today all around
the world.

Turkish dances – Bar, Halay, Horon, Zeybek and Sufi spinning dance.

Hungarian dances – Most famous Hungarian folk dances are Verbuňk, Ugrós, Karikázóm,
Legényes and Csárdás.

Polska – Traditional folk dance of Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway).

Square Dance – Traditional dance originating from England, it involves four pairs of dancers.
Sword (or Weapon) dances – Genre of folk dances, consisting of dozens upon dozens of
individual dances from all around the world.

Dollu Kunitha – Very popular drum-based dance from India.

Bhangra – Famous Punjabi harvest dance.

Attan - The national dance of Pashtun regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Khigga – Celebration or Wedding circle dance of Assyria.

Odori – Japanese folk dance, performed at streets during celebrations and parades.

Buyō – Japanese geisha and artist dance.

REFLECTION ABOUT FOLK DANCE:

Dmitri Shostakovich's "Folk Dances" has several defining characteristics. First, the piece is
incredibly heartening. Its upbeat tempo happy feel make it seem very joyful. In war, this is a
useful trait. Soldiers fighting continuously who are away from home for years at a time will cling
to anything that may provide them with relief. An example of this from the past may be "Yankee
Doodle". It is comical and helped briefly distract the soldiers from their grim reality. In addition,
Shostakovich's piece is quite repetitive. A soldier's life in war is extremely repetitive. Each and
every day they accomplish the same menial tasks, and often see no actual combat. Finally, "Folk
Dances" possesses an unrelenting quality. As it continually speeds up, there is a sense of
pressure. In war, I can imagine, there is that same feeling. Also at times it may seem
monotonous, I am sure there is a pressure and anxiety that builds until something tragic
eventually surfaces. Overall, I think Dmitri Shostakovich did an excellent job with "Folk
Dances" making it musically pleasing, while also relating it the struggles and feelings of war.
 II. MODERN DANCE:

Modern dance is a style of dance that developed as a reaction to the strict rules that defined
ballet. This is because it emerged at the beginning of the 20th century in a time when ballet had
previously dominated the dancing world. While Europe claims the roots of modern dance, the
innovations made by dancers in the United States quickly gave a home to the developing dance
form.

As a dance form reacting to the constraints and formality of ballet, modern dance developed
through the ideals of 20th-century America, such as democracy, social protest, and individuality,
disregarding the strict aristocratic roots and conformity from which ballet emerged. This changed
the language of dance choreography and the way that dances developed.

Characteristics:
Use of space: While ballet dancers typically face the audience directly, modern dancers use all
orientations, even completely turning their back on the audience.

Relationship to music: In ballet, the dancer's movements correspond harmoniously with the
music, but in modern dance, dancers may dance off-beat or in contrast to the music, ignore the
music completely, or dance on a silent stage.

Performers: Contrasting the large casts and strict hierarchy of ballet, modern dance
choreographers often also perform. They may work alone or with smaller dance troupes. Women
also gained recognition and influence as choreographers.

Movement: Ballet has a very strictly defined set of movements that get pieced together to create
different dances. In modern dance, however, dancers create a new language of movement with
every piece, experimenting with how they can manipulate the body.

III. JIVE DANCE:

Jive refers to several different dance styles of swing dancing. Moreover, it was a term used for
swing dance in the early nineteenth century. Later, it became one of the five competition dance
genres included in International Latin dancing. Additionally, there are several other dance styles
that incorporate the term including: hand jive and the modern French style of swing called
modern jive. Finally, in this article we focus on the ballroom version of the dance used in the
International Latin style swing category.
Jive Dance History:
Swing dancing originated in the 1930’s in the United States. In addition, the dances early root
goes back to the jazz age and the start of the swing era. Furthermore, it was one of the swing
dances of the era that also included jitterbug and Lindy Hop.

Musicians like Cab Calloway and Glenn Miller were playing swing music appropriate for this
type of dancing. Eventually, the dance traveled across the United States and Europe. Also, the
term swing became more popular in the United States. Moreover, swing was an umbrella term
used to refer to all the swing dance genres including East Coast swing, jitterbug, shag and
eventually West Coast swing. In Europe, the term jive replaced other terms used for swing
dancing and became the most common name for the dance.

IV. HIPHOP DANCE:

Hip-hop dance refers to street dance styles primarily performed to hip-hop music or that have
evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a wide range of styles primarily breaking, locking,
and popping which were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United
States. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin’, Beat Street, and Wild Style
showcased these crews and dance styles in their early stages; therefore, giving hip-hop
mainstream exposure. The dance industry responded with a commercial, studio-based version of
hip-hop—sometimes called “new style”—and a hip-hop influenced style of jazz dance called
“jazz-funk”. Classically trained dancers developed these studio styles in order to choreograph
from the hip-hop dances that were performed on the street. Because of this development, hip-hop
dance is practiced in both dance studios and outdoor spaces.

What distinguishes hip-hop from other forms of dance is that it is often “freestyle”
(improvisational) in nature and hip-hop dance crews often engage in freestyle dance
competitions—colloquially referred to as “battles”. Crews, freestyling, and battles are identifiers
of this style. Hip-hop dance can be a form of entertainment or a hobby. It can also be a way to
stay active in competitive dance and a way to make a living by dancing professionally.