Types of Social Dance

A multi-cultural look at social dance

Social Dance in America
• Do you think social dance
is important in our culture?

• It’s defined as dancing at a

social occasion.

• These occasions could all

be ceremonial,
recreational, or artistic
Four types of Social Dance
• Courtship

• Work

• War

• Communal
Courtship Dance
• Many cultures use dance
as a way to choose a mate
or spouse

• Understand this: MANY

cultures are different from
our own, thus seeming
weird; however, they are
not bad.
Wodaabe (Whoa-Dobby) tribe
• The Wodaabe tribe is located in Nigeria in Africa.

• Each year men apply make-up and dress up to impress a

possible wife. They perform a dance in a line to show their
strength.

• This is an example of a courtship dance.

Work Dance
• These are social dances
that mimic the actions of
work.

• These are normally different

between cultures.

• Dance is based on main

source of economy.
Fisherman’s Dance
• This dance mimics the movements that fishermen would
use to cast their nets/poles and bring in the bounty.

• It’s often performed as a celebration for a culture’s

method of work and income.

• Fiji

• India
Worker bees…the Waggle Dance
War Dance
• These dances often imitate
some style of combat and
fighting.

• Sometimes the dance is

actually a way to teach
combat.

• In cultures that perform these

dances, it is considered
cowardly not to dance or a
disgrace if you were bad.
War Dance
•Scottish sword dance
•Emphasis on agility and footwork

•Capoeira (Cap-poo-air-da)
•A Brazilian martial art that is disguised as dance

•Haka
•Ancient New Zealand warcry and dance
Communal Dance
• These are dances in which
cooperation is valued over
competition.

• Oftentimes, these are

performed at weddings or
other celebrations.

• Line Dances are

Communal in nature.
Communal Dance
• The Jewish Hora

• Native American dance