The Topic:  Dance

Easier - Dance can mean to move the body with rhythmic steps and motion. Dance can also mean a certain set of steps and motions, usually made in time to music. And a dance can also mean a party at which the people dance.

 

Harder - Dancing is the act of moving the body in rhythm, usually in time to music. It seems natural for people to express themselves through rhythmic movement. Young children jump up and down when they are excited and sway gently when content or at rest.

 

Dancing is both an art form and a form of recreation. Dance as art may tell a story, set a mood, or express an emotion. Some dances consist of symbolic gestures that tell a story completely through movement. As recreation, dancing has long been a people's source of fun, relaxation, and companionship. In earlier times, square dances gave families a welcome chance to socialize. Today dancing at a party or other gathering remains a popular way for people to enjoy themselves and to make new friends.

 

BallroomDancers.com

http://www.ballroomdancers.com/

You can use this website to explore the world of ballroom dancing, learn a new step, improve your technique, or ask a question about anything dance-related.

Other Ballroom Dance Websites:

2) Ballroom Dance Steps Illustrated http://nfo.net/.DANCE/dance.html

3) Dance Coach On-line http://www.robertabrams.net/dancecoach/dancecoachhome.html

4) Much Ado About Ballroom Dancing http://OutDancing.com/Ballroom

5) Online Tutorial at DanceTV.com http://www.dancetv.com/tutorial/index.html

6) What You Should Know About Ballroom Dancing Etiquette http://www.dancetv.com/tips/etique.html

 

Folk Dance Association

http://www.folkdancing.org/

This is the website of an organization that aims to provide services and information for folk dancers, folk dance leaders and folk dance groups throughout the United States and Canada.

 

Archives of the Early Lindy Hop (The Original Swing Dance)

http://www.savoystyle.com/ 

Here you can learn how to swing dance. Learn about the history of the Lindy Hop.

Some More Good Swing Dance Sites:

2) Basic Swing Dance Step http://nfo.net/.DANCE/swing.html 

3) Library of Swing Steps http://www.swingcraze.com/ussds/steps.html

4) Sonny Watson's Step Sheets http://www.StreetSwing.com/stepshts.htm

5) Swing Dance Steps http://www.rossmernyk.com/swing.html

6) Swing On!-Track 7: Ask "Dr. Swing Dance"... http://www.swingon.com/AskDr.html#Website Navigation Bar

 

Spotlight Biography: Modern Dance

http://educate.si.edu/spotlight/dance.html

Learn about this history of modern dance and the key people. Also, check out the links.

 

Websites By Kids For Kids

Southern Native American Pow Wows (1966 ThinkQuest Project) 

http://library.thinkquest.org/3081/

This website contains information about the dances, rules, dress, and history of southern Pow Wows.

 

The Ballet 

http://www.the-ballet.com/

The art of ballet is presented here. You can learn about the historical development of the dance through the courts of Europe, read biographies of many well-known dancers, access descriptions of popular ballets, and follow a "day in the life" as a young dancer takes us through his grueling training schedule.

 

More Websites for Dance

Clogging 

http://www.doubletoe.com

This is the website of the 'Double Toe Times,' the magazine of clogging and percussive dance.

 

Cyberdance: Ballet on the Net 

http://www.thepoint.net/~raw/dance.htm

This is a collection of over 3,500 links to classical ballet and modern dance resources on the Internet.

More Ballet Websites:

2) History of Ballet http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/yiannis/dance/history.html

3) Online Ballet Dictionary (American Ballet Theatre) http://www.abt.org/library/dictionary/

 

Absolute Breakdancing Moves 

http://www.scarybubs.com/bboy/moves.html

Learn how to do moves like the windmill, flares, handglide, and masterswipe.

More Breakdancin Websites:

2) Breakdancing Moves http://www.angelfire.com/bc/kuruptcrew/moves.html

3) B-Boying http://www.msu.edu/user/okumurak/styles/breaking.html

4) Article on history of Breakdancing http://www.daveyd.com/breakin.html

5) Breakdancing Heaven http://www.geocities.com/breakdancingheaven/

 

History of Dance 

http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/history.htm

This website provides a brief history of several types of ballroom dance. The site's aim is to help you understand the similarities as well as the differences of all the social dances

 

Online Cajun/Zydeco Dance Instruction 

http://www.bme.jhu.edu/~jrice/NewFiles/Instruction.html

This page is covers basic Cajun jitterbug footwork and moves.

Other Cajun and Zydeco Dance Instruction Sites:

2) Mamou Jitterbug Dance Instruction http://home.attbi.com/~nateg/mamou_jitterbug_dance.html

3) Dancin' in South Louisiana http://www.tabasco.com/html/music_letsdance.html

4) Tim's Cajun Pages http://www.elstree-online.co.uk/cajun/

 

What Is Contra Dance? 

http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/

This is a great site with loads of practical applications and information on contra dancing.

Other Contra Dance Sites:

2) Contra Dancing http://www.freewheelers.org/1DancingFool/contra.htm

 

Folk Dance Resources

http://ifdo.pugmarks.com/dancpage.html

This is a links-site to folk dances from around the world.

 

History of American Jazz Dance 

http://dance.edionysus.com/jazz/

Since the 1920s, the term "jazz dance" has been used to describe a constantly evolving form of popular and artistic dance movement. Jazz dance has improvisation and individuality at its core.

More on Jazz Dancing:

2) History of Jazz http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/jazz.htm

3) Afro-American contributions http://www.theatredance.com/mhist03.html

 

Country & Western Dance

http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/4249/danclink.htm

Here you find directions for lots of country dances.

Related Country Dance Webpages:

2) Let's Dance (Ontario Dance Steps Index) http://www.interlog.com/~rfielder/Steps.html

3) UK Choreographed Dance Database

http://www.cw-dance.bristol-uk.com/Main/Dances.htm

4) Vicki's Country Dance Steps http://somd.com/entertain/vickirader/dance-steps.htm

5) Square and Line Dancing from Texas http://hometown.aol.com/cactusstar/home.htm 

 

Polka (How to Dance) 

http://www.freewheelers.org/1DancingFool/polka.htm

Here are instructions for Polka dancing.

 

Pow Wow Dancing 

http://www.powwows.com/dance/

Here you can find information on Pow Wow Dance styles and other Pow Wow information.

More Websites on Native American Dancing:

2) Origin of PowWow http://www.mts.net/waywayweb/powwow.html

3) Native American: Dances http://sparc5.augustana.edu/library/dances.html

4) Interview with a Pow Wow Dancer http://www.rice.edu/projects/topics/meet-people/powwow/gabe-bullock.htm

 

Schottische (How to Dance) 

http://www.freewheelers.org/1DancingFool/schott.htm

The Schottische is one of the oldest of all dances; it has been called a "combination of two

movements, a polka and a circular hop, the two combined making up a most agreeable variety".

 

Square Dancing

http://www.dosado.com/articles/default.htm

Here is information about square dancing recreation, a type of folk dancing.(Articles, Humor and Misc.)

Related Dance Webpages:

2) Western Square Dance Dancer Terminology http://www.valley-trailers.org/terminology.html

3) What is Square Dancing, Round Dancing, and Clogging? http://www.squaretime.on.ca/what.html

 

Learn Tango Step-By-Step 

http://tangohk.com/learn_tango_step_by_step_%20P1.htm

The most common complaint that is heard from students, especially beginners, is that they have "forgotten the steps" to a particular figure or arrangement.

Related Website:

2) Joining the Tango-L Mailing List http://www.mods.com/austintango/tangol.html

 

Tap Dance Homepage 

http://www.tapdance.org/tap/

This page is a singular source for a world of information about tap dance, includes several bulletin boards, biographies, steps, sources of equipment, videos, books, events, studios, links to more tap sites.

 

Salsaweb 

http://www.salsaweb.com/

This is the home of an online magazine about salsa dancing

 

Websites For Teachers

Dance at Lesson Plan Search (Grade 3-12) 

http://www.lessonplansearch.com/Dance/

Here is a collection of dance lesson plans.

 

Dance Lesson Ideas 

http://pecentral.org/lessonideas/dance/danceindex.asp

These dance/rhythmic lesson ideas may be helpful to those who teach dance and rhythmic movement.

Similar Website

2) Arts Education K-6 Dance Lessons http://www.csuchico.edu/educ/cguenter/ALdance.html

 

Pow Wow (Grade 2-3) 

http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/powwow

This is a mini-unit for teaching students about this Native American celebration.

 

Status of Dance in Education (Ask Eric Digest) 

http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed348368.html

This Digest article examines the rationale for dance in education, the status of dance education, and selected issues in dance education.

 

Dance Curriculum Courses (UtahLINK) 

http://www.uen.org/cgi-bin/websql/lessons/query_lp.hts?corearea=104&area=1

Here you find curriculum written to aid the teacher and student to facilitate the learning of dance as an art form. Contains ideas for K through 12 grade levels.

 

Lesson Plan by Reg Lavergne

http://edu-ss10.educ.queensu.ca/~egnatoff/digicurr/native_society/lessons/lesson5.html

Students will develop an understanding of the defining role of rhythm in Native music. Students will also have the opportunity to identify and practice specific rhythms. 

 

Ethnic Folk Dancing: Hungary and Romania (Grade 4-5) 

http://askeric.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0201.html

The activity may be used in connection with a music or physical education unit on folk dance or folk music.

 

ballet	ballroom	break dance	country western	flamenco	dance step	samba
folk	salsa	rumba	Latin	round dance	performance art	square dance
social	modern	ethnic	syncopation	jitterbug	two-step	backbeat
waltz	grapevine	promenade	tempo	measure	beat	downbeat
syncopation	cha-cha	rock step	box step	fox-trot	hustle	country western
clogging	hip hop	Charleston	disco	Bosa Nova	balance	hustle
meringue	polka	shag	quickstep	line dance	tango	mambo
partner	lead	walkthrough	side step	'skim'	brush step	celebrate
step	slide	push-off	Lindy Hop	rhythm	waltz	rockstep
Cotton Eyed Joe	Electric Slide	line of dance	body frame	footwork	posture	poise