10 Most Popular Types of Dance

1.Ballet
Ballet dance developed during the Italian Renaissance, before evolving in
France and Russia into a concert dance meant for public performance. This is in the
form of a ballet, in which the dance is choreographed with classical music.
Ballet productions vary between using elaborate costumes and staging and using
minimal costuming and bare staging.
Ballet is now a widespread, highly technical form of dance with many subgenres
including classic, romantic, neoclassical and contemporary.
With six core recognised methods: the Cecchetti method, the Bournoville method,
the Vaganova method, the French School, the Royal Academy of Dance method and
the Balanchine method, ballet is studied professionally at top dance schools all over
the world.
Harlequin Floors have developed a range of specialist ballet dance floors providing
enough traction to prevent injury while still allowing for fluid movements demanded
by ballet dancing. Harlequin Cascade is one of our most popular ballet dance floors
and can be laid over many of our sprung floors.
Harlequin Floors also offer professional ballet barres available as either
permanent wall mounted, floor mounted or freestanding barres.
 Scottish Ballet on Harlequin Cascade

2.Ballroom
Ballroom dance is a type of partner dance originating at the end of the
sixteenth century in France. Commonly used as shorthand for any partner dance,
ballroom has today evolved into two main subgenres – standard/smooth and
Latin/rhythm.
Dances within these categories include the waltz, tango and foxtrot, and pasodoble,
bolero and samba.
Ballroom is a popular form of competitive dance, or dancesport, with competitions
being held all over the world.
With several sub-categories to ballroom dancing, dancers require a versatile
floor. Harlequin Fiesta and our specially crafted Harlequin Liberty Ballroom dance
floor offer an excellent versatile dance floor for all styles of ballroom dance.
Harlequin Liberty Ballroom is the used by the BBC’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and
Professional World Ballroom Dance Champion, Christopher Hawkins.

Dance Against Dementia | Night of 100 Stars on Harlequin Liberty Ballroom

3.Contemporary
Developed during the mid-twentieth century, contemporary dance is now
one of the most popular and technical forms of dance studied and performed
professionally, especially in the US and Europe.
Drawing on classical, modern and jazz dance styles, contemporary dance has
evolved to incorporate many characteristics of a broader range of dance forms.
Known for its emphasis on strong torso and legwork, contract and release, fall and
recovery and floor work, it is often known for unpredictable and disordered changes
in speed and rhythm throughout a performance.
Contemporary dancers therefore require a shock-absorbing surface to protect their
feet, legs and ankles from rapid movements and changes in rhythm. Harlequin’s
innovative ‘triple sandwich’ Harlequin Activity sprung floor can be paired with several
of our vinyl dance floors, to create the ideal surface for contemporary dance.

Rosie Kay on Harlequin Hi-Shine

4.Hip-Hop
Hip-hop dancing refers to a range of street dances that developed in relation
to hip hop music and culture. Hip-hop dancing dates back to the early 1970s in New
York and California, evolving out of Funk and the development of break beat.
Main styles of hip-hop dancing include Breaking, Locking and Popping, with derivative
styles emerging out of these including Memphis Jookin’, Turfing, Jerkin’ and
Krumping. These were often popularised and made mainstream after being featured
in music videos of the time.
Today, hip-hop is performed in outdoor spaces, in dance studios and competitively.
Unlike many competitive dance styles, hip-hop is often improvisational with dance
crews challenging each other to dance battles.
At Harlequin Floors we have created Harlequin Freestyle, a specialist dance floor
designed specifically to meet the unique demands of Hip Hop and other street
dance styles.

Da Rookies on Harlequin FreeStyle

5.Jazz
Jazz dancing has its roots in seventeenth-century African traditions, brought to
the Americas via the Atlantic slave trade as slaves continued dancing traditions in
Brazil, the US and elsewhere on the continents.
Known for its improvisational and dramatic body movements, the jazz dancing grew
in popularity in early twentieth-century jazz clubs.
Today, jazz dancing builds on African American vernacular dance styles that emerged
along with Jazz music in the US. Swing, the Lindy Hop, the Shimmy and the
Charleston are popular kinds of jazz dances.
For your Jazz dancers, our range of vinyl floors including Harlequin
Studio and Harlequin Allegro offer ideal surfaces for practice and performance.

Jazz Dance
6.Tap Dancing
Tap dancing is a type of percussive dance characterised by the “tap” of
shoes hitting the floor as the person dances. Tap dancers often wear metal “taps”
on the heel and toe of a shoe to accentuate the sound.
Often performed as part of musical theatre, tap dancing often focuses on
choreography and formations, with more than one tap dancer performing at once.
Tap dancing characterises a range of dances including flamenco, rhythm, classical,
broadway and postmodern tap.
As a percussive dance style, tap dancers are looking to achieve a crisp, hollow sound
to accentuate their performance. This unique characteristic of tap dancing requires a
specialist floor for optimal performance. Harlequin Fiesta is an excellent choice
of tap dance flooring for your dance studio or performance space. Lay over a sprung
flooring system such as Harlequin Liberty to protect your dancer’s joints and allow
them to perform with complete confidence.

Tap Attack on Harlequin Cascade

7.Folk Dance
Folk dancing is celebrated worldwide with people of different cultures and
religions using various forms of folk dance to portray emotions, stories, historical
events or even aspects of daily life.
Some well known types of folk dance include: Bharatanatyam (India), Samba (Brazil)
and Hula (Hawaii). Some cultures may even perform multiple variations of folk
dances, with countries like South Korea performing individual dances for key events
such as victories in war, farming, music and religion.
Folk dances are commonly held at public events, where people can participate
regardless of whether they are professional or complete beginners. Such dances are
also accompanied by traditional music to further enhance the cultural experience.
Our range of portable performance floors and dance floor hire services are excellent
for folk dances held at all types of public venues and events.

Folk Dance
8.Irish Dance
Originating in Ireland, this form of traditional dance has been popular for
hundreds of years amongst Irish people and other countries worldwide. Popularised
by shows such as Riverdance, Irish dancing is famously known for its fabulous display
of footwork and dance formations.
Most Irish dancing events are traditionally accompanied by signing and music. During
festivals, dances are held to showcase talent and to compete for trophies or medals.
Whilst most people may recognise Irish dancing as being a group performance, there
are many well-known forms of solo Irish dances, such as the stepdance.
For Irish dance floors for your studio or performance space, consider our range of
specialist sprung dance floors. Couple with a Harlequin vinyl floor such as Harlequin
Standfast to create an excellent quality floor for your Irish dancers.

Riverdance on Harlequin Cascade

9.Modern Dance
Considered as being a broad genre of dance, modern dance primarily arose
from western countries such as the USA and Germany during the late 1900s. While
most forms of dance are structured and feature set steps, the purpose of modern
dance is to rely on the dancer’s interpretation of the music and feeling to guide
movements.
Modern dance was initially born out of dislike for the limitations of traditional dances
such as ballet, which often oppressed dancers with rigid rules and techniques.
Currently, modern dance is enjoyed across the world with participants having the
ability to practice ballet dancing without having to place strict focus on their
techniques or turnout. Instead, dancers can choose a piece of music and use
unconventional movements to convey emotions or to tell a meaningful story.
Inject even more creativity into your performance with Harlequin’s printed vinyl
performance floors. Print bespoke designs inspired by your choreography or choose
from one of our standard patterns.
Due to the multidisciplinary nature and freedom of modern dance, dancers will also
feel at home on many of Harlequin’s vinyl dance floors.
 Royal Academy of Dance on Harlequin Cascade

10.Swing
Swing is a variation of jazz dance which developed between the 1920s to the 1940s
as a response to the growing popularity of swing jazz in America. With the evolution
of music that occurred during the Jazz era, dance also began to change with the likes
of swing music encouraging faster, more rigorous movements.
Popular forms of swing dance include the Lindy Charleston, the Jitterbug, Lindy Hop
and the Balboa, many of which are still performed today. Swing dancing would
commonly be accompanied by Big Band musicians who often played upbeat
melodies which were smooth and easy to listen.
Swing dancers will feel at home on our range of vinyl dance floors. Similar to Jazz,
Swing dancers can create beautiful performances on Harlequin’s range of vinyl floors
such as Harlequin Reversible Pro with a high performance slip-resistant surface to
protect your dancers.

Swing Dance