List of dance style categories

This is a list of the dance style categories. These categories are not mutually exclusive and are context dependent (i.e., a particular dance may belong to several categories).

For older and more region-oriented vernacular dance styles, see this list.

Traditional dance

Traditional jazz traditional African-AmericanNative American Ballroom Boogie-woogie Breakdancing Cabbage patch Cakewalk Charleston Chicago stepping Crip Walk Detroit Ballroom Disco dancing Drunken Sailor Jitterbug Jazz dance Lindy hop Linya vrak dance Shuffling Slide and Glide Stomp dance Swing Tap dance Texas slidethrough Texas Swingout Texas Tommy

Dancehall dance

Experimental / freestyle

Boogie Contemporary dance Dance de Gauthier Jump up Neonstyle

Street dance

Hip-hop culture

B-boying BreakingFootwork Freezes Powermoves Toprock Bounce Clown Walk Detroit Jit Electric boogaloo Floating Jerkin' Jiggin' Krumping Litefeet LockingRobot dance Lyrical hip-hop Memphis Jookin' PoppingAnimation Cobra Hit Dem Folks LiquidingMoonwalk Scarecrow Strobing Toyman tutting WavingSnap dance Turfing

Disco / electronic dance

Disco dance Electro Dance Free step Grinding Hard dance Hardcore dancing House dance Hustle Jacking Jumpstyle Malaysian Shuffle (a dance that is similar to the Melbourne Shuffle but was created in California by children; became a trend for most middle school and high school students)Melbourne Shuffle Slothing Vogue Waacking

Pogo

Hard Rock Pogo Metal Mosh Punk Rock Pogo Ska Dance

Historical dance

Historical danceBaroque dance English country dance Masque Medieval dance Regency dance Vintage dance

Liturgical dance

Liturgical dance

Participative dance improvisation

Contact improvisation Ecstatic dance (also known as freestyle dance and barefoot improvisational dance)

Folk dance

Balinesetraditional dance, legong

Perafic dance Regional Indian dancesBhangra Dandiya and Garba Mass Punjabi Rajastani Semi–classical

Concert dance / performance dance

Concert dance The Lucker Stomp

Latin / rhythm

How to Find Your Own Dancing Style

Everyone has a dancing style. Even if you have one that makes you look like a chicken in an electric chair, that's still a style. However, if you feel like you have two left feet and are tired of embarrassing yourself by dancing like the said chicken, then follow these steps to hone your personal style without ever having to walk into a dance studio.

1

Think. Keep in mind, before you start, that dancing (especially freestyle dancing) takes a certain level of courage and spontaneity. You can't be afraid to go crazy, but you also need to focus on your limits and what you can do. Think about if you have these necessary things to create a dancing style that you can call your own.

2

Make sure you're alone. After all, you are going to have to do some pretty goofy stuff before you can perfect your personal dance style and unless you want to be laughed at, solitude is your best option. Although some prefer to have a pet (i.e. dog, cat, even goldfish) with them/watching them for comfort.

3

Wear something comfortable. This means really comfortable, like those ratty sweats you'd never wear in public or that boxer shorts/T-shirt combo that your spouse keeps threatening to throw away but never does. Or even your pajamas. Something light and stretchy and easy to move in.

4

Grab a hairbrush, or anything else you can use as a "microphone." This is optional, but it may help you become more at ease if you can start singing in that voice of yours that you keep saving for the shower. You don't have to sing while dancing, but it definitive gives you more control.

5

Stand in front of a full length mirror. You're going to be the star of your own personal show, and you need an audience. What better audience than one which will appreciate you no matter what you do? Fake applause is optional as well.

6

Turn on the tunes. Make sure it's something you like and it's got a beat to it

7

Get a Feel for the Music. Close your eyes and listen to the music. Relax your body, feel the music in your body and start to sway. Open your eyes and...

8

Go for it! Move your feet and tap to the rhythm. The point here is to get comfortable moving your body to music. Use the hairbrush to sing if you want. Don't worry, the only one you'll scare is the cat, and who cares what it thinks? Go crazy!

9

Watch yourself in the mirror. Are there any moves you like? Any you would like to toss out the door with yesterday's newspaper? Make a mental note of it. If you're really serious, you may want to break out the video camera.

ENJOY YOURSELF! Dancing should be about having fun! If you aren't enjoying yourself, everyone else probably won't either

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Lyrical Hip Hop Dance

SOMETHING NEW!

Lyrical hip hop dance is a recent development to the hip hop genre. Some people call it a different style completely, but most refer to it as a sub-style of hip hop dance.

There are choreographers who have been doing lyrical hip hop for a while in studios, performances and classes.

However it had not really been in the public eye until recent TV dance shows like So You Think You Can Dance.

To describe lyrical hip hop perhaps it is best to go back a little further and understand what lyrical dance is.

Lyrical dance is a style of dance that incorporates elements of various style from jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary without being any of them.

Perhaps the key to understanding lyrical dance is emotional connection. The dancers try to tell the story of a song by using gestures, facial expressions and any other means as well as movement.

In lyrical as they are trying to tell a story it is normal to ride through the beat kind of flowing through moves.

Now back to hip-hop. Hip-hop is usually danced in relation to the beat with moves hitting the beats for effect. It is primarily about feeling the beat.

So lyrical hip hop dance is a mix between the two. It is the mix of telling the story of the song and a dancer's emotions while using hip-hop movements and lyrical style to be as expressive and connected to the emotion of the music as possible.

The rhythm of the dance is unique and a good quote from Shane Sparks helps us understand more clearly, "In hip hop, if you were dancing with a partner, you would punch and stop at his face. But in lyrical hip hop, you would punch and go past his face. Lyrical hip hop contains movements across measures."

It looks like hip hop choreography, with elements and movements that are more free flowing, contemporary inspired movements all while telling a story.click here to view video