Popular Styles of Dance

There are many different styles of dance, each one with its own set of skills, music and style. Many dancers start out taking several different dance classes, learning an overview of a handful of types of dance before specializing in one area, as they get older. Here is a brief overview of some of the most popular styles of dance.

Contemporary

This style of dance incorporates lyrical, modern, ballet and jazz. Contemporary dance is all about connecting the mind and the body through dance movements. It is typically done barefoot and there is a heavy emphasis on strong controlled legwork. This style often allows the dancer creative freedom, and can be danced to a variety of different music.

Ballet

Ballet is often referred to as the backbone of dance. The fundamentals used in ballet are often used throughout all other styles of dance as well. There are three main classifications: classical ballet, neoclassical ballet and contemporary ballet. This style of dance is used to tell a story. It relies heavily on technique and requires an enormous about of diligence and dedication to perfect. Ballet is typically danced to classical music and is done wearing slippers or pointe shoes.

Jazz

This type of dance is very fun and energetic. It is typically paired with upbeat music such as hip-hop or show tunes to add a theatrical flare. Jazz dancers often have more freedom to express their own individual personality through their dance performances. These dances usually have quick footsteps, lots of leaps and turns and unique moves.

Tap

Tap dance is probably best known for the type of shoes the dancers wear. Tap dancers wear special shoes with metal taps on the soles that allows them to create their own drum like rhythmic patterns and sound while they dance. Although a majority of the focus in this dance is on the feet, jazz dancers use their upper bodies and arms a lot to blend the movements of their routine.

Hip-hop

Hip-hop is a style of dance that evolved from hip-hop culture and is typically danced to of course, hip hop music. Breakdancing is the most well known type of hip-hop dance, but other styles include krumping, popping and locking. This style of dance is probably the most different from the other forms. It is generally very energetic and allows the dancer to have freedom of movement within the routine and incorporate their personalities.

Ballroom

Ballroom dances are done with a partner, almost always a man and a woman. For this reason, it is known as the social dance, because of the interaction between the two dance partners. There are several popular types of ballroom dances including the Cha Cha, foxtrot, jive, lindy hop, mambo, paso doble, quickstep, rumba, samba, tango, Vietnamese waltz, and the waltz.

For more information and tips on dancing, checkout CoachUp’s dance resource articles!

CoachUp is the safest and easiest way to find a coach for personalized training. With our 100% money-back guarantee and vetted coaches, anyone can achieve their full athletic potential. Find your perfect coach today and become the athlete you want to be!