Portal:Dance

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Dance (from Old French dancier, perhaps from Frankish) generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting.

Dance also is used to describe methods of non-verbal communication (see body language) between humans or animals (bee dance, mating dance), motion in inanimate objects (the leaves danced in the wind), and certain musical forms or genres.

Choreography is the art of making dances, and the person who does this is called a choreographer.

Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic, artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movement (such as folk dance) to codified, virtuoso techniques such as ballet. Dance disciplines exist in sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, and synchronized swimming, and martial arts kata are often compared to dance.

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Ballroom dance, refers collectively to a set of partner dances, which originated in the Western world and are now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. Its performance and entertainment aspects are also widely enjoyed on stage, in film, and on television.

While historically ballroom dance may refer to any form of formal social dancing as recreation, with the eminence of dancesport in modern times the term has become much narrower in scope, usually referring specifically to the International Standard and International Latin style dances (see dance groupings below). In the United States, two additional variations—"American Smooth" and "American Rhythm"—have also been popularized and are commonly recognized as styles of "ballroom dance".

The term "ballroom dancing" is derived from the word ball, which in turn originates from the Latin word ballare which means "to dance". In times past, ballroom dancing was "social dancing" for the privileged, leaving "folk dancing" for the lower classes. These boundaries have since become blurred, and it should be noted even in times long gone, many "ballroom" dances were really elevated folk dances.

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Credit: Jane Avril by Toulouse-Lautrec

The can-can (also spelt cancan, Can Can) is regarded today primarily as a music hall dance, performed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings, harking back to the fashions of the 1890s. The main features of the dance are the lifting up and manipulation of the skirts, with high kicking and suggestive, provocative body movements.

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Did you know

... that Rolf de Maré was a Swedish art collector who in 1933 created the world's first museum and research institute for dance?

... that the first performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, in 1958, was held at New York's 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association?

... the Ländler dance that Maria and the Captain shared in the musical The Sound of Music is not really traditional?

... during the production of Sylvia, the score was constantly under construction by Delibes, often with the aid of lead dancers Louis Mérante and Rita Sangalli?

... the Baltic Song and Dance Celebrations are Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity?

...that the score of Giselle contains additions by Léon Minkus?

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Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Барышников) (born January 28, 1948) is a famous Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor.

Baryshnikov, whose name is sometimes transliterated as Baryshinikov or Barishinikov, was born in Riga, Latvia to Russian parents. His mother enrolled him in the School of Theatre Opera Ballet in Riga when he was twelve. In time, he decided to follow a career as a dancer.

Baryshnikov was a unique dancer in many ways. He was short and thus had to work hard to prove his suitability for roles such as Siegfried in Swan Lake where a taller, more noble bearing was expected. His dancing was renowned for its textbook form, technical brilliance, and emotional detachment.

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New or modified articles

2008

29 March Concert dance (merge material from Dance Theatre)
21 March Australian Choreographic Ensemble
14 March Margaret Morris (dancer)
10 March Garry Stewart
24 February Health risks of professional dance (based on "Risks of classical ballet")
10 February History of ballet split from Ballet
10 February Ballet heavy copy edit
29 January List of dance companies (create table)
17 January Acro dance

2007

30 December Ulyana Lopatkina (major upgrade)
30 December Galina Mezentseva (new)
28 December Susanne Linke (from the German WP article)
30 August Dance Notation Bureau
31 July Marianela Núñez
3 Jun The Forsythe Company

Let us know about your additions at the New article announcement board

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Wikiprojects

Dance • Ballet • Music • Culture edit

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Topics

Main topics
20th century concert dance • Ballet • Ballroom dance • Ceremonial dance • Competitive dance • Folk dance • Glossary of ballet terms • Glossary of partner dance terms • Historical dance • Latin dance • Salsa dance • Swing

Dances
Allemande • Breakdancing • Charleston • Gavotte • Melbourne Shuffle • Polka • Salsa • Samba • Street dance • Tango (dance) • Waltz • Zwiefacher • More...

Dancers
Mikhail Baryshnikov • Vytautas Beliajus • Dick Crum • Emma Livry • Rudolf Nureyev • Pedro Romeiras • More...

Lists
Companies • Dances • Folk dances by origin • Organizations • People • Style categories • Topics • More...

Countries
Bulgarian dance • Hungarian dance • Kurdish dance • Dance of Thailand • Turkish dance • More...

Have you heard of... ?
Amalia Hernández • Hunguhungu • Kizomba • Kopacka • Mezőség • Mixmag • Strathspey • The Place Prize

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Open tasks for WikiProject Dance.

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Collaboration:

To nominate at WP:FAC:
To improve to Featured standard:
To nominate as a Good article:
To expand: Bolero - Choreography on Broadway - Dance technology - Indian classical dance - List of dance companies - Opera ballet - Set dance
To cleanup: Dance technology - Dandiya - Parsons Dance Company - Tik (dance)
To unbias:
To check for copyvios:
To merge: List of dancers & List of dance personalities‎ as per AfD discussion
Substubs needing expansion: See: /substubs
To destub: ARTS-Dance - Callerlab - Cha-cha-cha (dance) - Clogging - DanceSport - Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing - Attilio Labis - Nicolai Legat - John Neumeier - Traditional square dance - Turkish dance - more
Needing references: Dabke
To create: 18th century dance - 20th century ballet - American folk dance - Ballet comique - Canadian step dance - Country Western Dance International - Cyril Atanassoff - Dance and cinema - Dance and society - Dance education - Ductia - English ballet - German folk dancing - Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago - Irmgard Bartenieff - Italian ballet - Kansas City Ballet (turns 50) - Latin swing - Post-structuralist ballet - Push (dance) - Rebetiko dances - Salon dance - Scotch reel - Shuffle dance - Swing boogie - Wining - World Dance Alliance - more
Wanted Pics/Graphics: Category:Dance articles needing images