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Encyclopedia > Country dance

The following dance categories are closely related to each other:

Contents

Folk dance

Folk dance is a term used to encompass a large number of dances that tend to share the following attributes:

  • They were originally danced in about the 19th century or earlier (or are, in any case, not currently copyrighted);
  • Their performance is dominated by an inherited tradition rather than by innovation;
  • They were danced by common people, regardless of whether they were danced by any sort of aristocracy;
  • There is no one governing body that has final say over what "the dance" is or who is authorized to teach it. This also means that nobody has the final say over the definition of folk dance or the minimum age for such dances.

Some examples of families of folk dances would be:

Ethnic/Traditional dance

The terms Ethnic and Traditional dance are used when it is required to emphasize the cultural roots of the dance. It this sense, nearly all folk dances are ethnic ones. Even if some dances, such as Polka, cross ethnic boundaries (and even cross the boundary between Folk and Ballroom dance), ethnical differences are often considerable enough to speak of, e.g., "Czech Polka" vs. "German Polka".


On the contrary, not all ethnic dances are folk ones. The simplest example are ritual dances or dances of ritual origin.


Country dance

Country dance is a loose term for a variety of dance forms. Among these are:


Clogging - Contradance - Cumbia - Galop - Mazurka - Minuet - Polka - Polonaise - Quadrille - Redowa - Schottische - Two step


Country dance overlaps with contemporary folk dance and with contemporary ballroom dance. Most country dances and ballroom dances originated from folk dances, with gradual refinement over the years.


Some specific forms of country dance, such as English Country Dance refer to specific folk dances. The term "country dance" first appeared in the 16th century, before any of the above-mentioned dances paragraph came into existence.


The meanings of country music and country dance were once more intertwined than they are today. Contemporary country music has roots in the various forms of dance music that traditionally accompanied country dance, but is now mostly a separate concept.


See also Country/western dance.


Street dance

Modern Street dances such as Hip hop are not generally considered folk dances because they do not meet the above criteria. In particular, street dances are living and evolving dance forms, while folk dances are to a significant degree bound by tradition.


The main distinction this term bears is with respect to Ballroom dance with its reglamented technique and formalized dance schools and studios.


See also

External link

  • Folk Dancing (http://www.recfd.com/), some more information about folk dancing

  Results from FactBites:
 
Country dancing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (705 words)
Although we know of many examples of ceremonial dances, seasonal dances and occupational dances, there is no definite example of country dancing before the 15th century.
Social dancing obviously continued after 1918 but it evolved into ballroom dancing at the formal end of the social scale, or solo performance at the informal end.
Some country dances are confined to their place of origin: Strathspeys in Scotland, Mazurkas in Hungary.
Scottish country dance: Information from Answers.com (1910 words)
Country dancing had its first hey-day during the 18th century, when it was popular in the fashionable places of England (it wasn't called "Scottish" then, just "country dancing") and was brought to Scotland by the gentry and well-to-do town populace who wanted to keep doing what they had found and liked in places like Bath.
New country dances invented in Scotland did acquire features from earlier Scottish social dances such as the Highland reel, and in fact country dances using reel-style formations were very popular indeed towards the end of the 18th century.
Country dancing was in danger of dying out, when in 1923 the Scottish Country Dance Society (SCDS) (affectionately called "the Society") was founded in Glasgow with the goal of preserving "country dances as danced in Scotland" (this was only recently changed to read "Scottish country dances").
  More results at FactBites »


 

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