Dance history and genres
People have danced for thousands of years: to pray, to celebrate and to tell stories. Over time dance grew into many genres (kinds).
- Folk dance: danced by ordinary people at festivals, with simple steps passed on in families. Examples: bhangra, garba, Irish step dance.
- Classical dance: trained over many years, with fixed grammar and stories. Examples: Bharatanatyam and Kathak in India, ballet in Europe, classical dance traditions in China.
- Social and ballroom dance: for pairs or groups, such as the waltz and the tango.
- Modern and contemporary dance: freer, uses breath, floor and weight.
- Street and pop dance: hip-hop, breaking, popping, from city life.
Each genre has its own music. To see a longer story of how dance changed from age to age, read History of dance.
Music for dance: beat, tempo, accent, phrase
Dancers listen for four things in the music.
- Beat: the steady pulse, like a heartbeat. You can tap it with your foot.
- Tempo: how fast the beat is. It is measured in BPM (beats per minute). 60 BPM is one beat every second. 120 BPM is two beats every second.
- Metre / bars: beats are grouped. Counting in 4 gives 1-2-3-4. Counting in 3 gives 1-2-3, which feels like a waltz. The first beat of each group is the strong beat (the accent).
- Phrase: a few bars that feel like one sentence, often 8 beats or 16 beats. Big changes in a dance usually happen at the start of a phrase.
Dance music also has rhythm patterns (long and short sounds), mood (happy, calm, sad) and instruments that fit the genre: dhol for bhangra, tabla for Kathak, piano for ballet class, synthesiser beats for street dance.
How movement answers the music
A dancer can follow the music in different ways.
- On the beat: one step for each beat. This is the simplest.
- Double time: two steps in each beat, so the dance looks busy and fast.
- Against the beat: a step in the gap between beats (syncopation), which gives a playful feel.
- Mood match: smooth, long movements for calm music, sharp, small movements for sudden music.
Sometimes the dance comes first and the music is made for it. Sometimes a dance is made to a finished song. Both are fine.
Choreography: planning a dance
Choreography is the plan of a dance. The person who makes it is the choreographer. The word comes from old Greek words meaning 'writing dance'. A choreographer decides:
- Moves: the steps, jumps, turns and arm shapes (the movement vocabulary).
- Space: where dancers stand and travel, in lines, circles or groups; high, middle or low levels.
- Time: tempo, rhythm and when each move lands on the music.
- Dancers: solo, pair or group; who copies, who does something different.
- Form: the shape of the whole piece, such as A-B-A (a theme, a contrast, then the theme again).
Steps to make a short dance: choose the music, count its beats and phrases, make 2 or 3 key moves, join them into an 8-beat phrase, repeat and change one thing (direction, level or speed), then add a clear start and a clear ending pose.
Try it: make your own 8-beat phrase
Play any song and tap your foot to find the beat. Count 1-2-3-4 and decide which beat is strong. Now make a phrase: four beats of a move that goes forward, four beats of a move that turns back. Do it once slowly, then once fast. In the 3D, use the sliders and the Next beat button to check your counting.
Key formulas and definitions
- Seconds per beat = 60 ÷ BPM
- Beats in a phrase of 2 bars (counting in 4) = 4 × 2 = 8
- Key terms: beat, tempo, bar, accent, phrase, genre, choreography, choreographer
Worked examples
1. A song is at 120 BPM. How many seconds is one beat?
Seconds per beat = 60 ÷ 120 = 0.5 s. So there are two beats every second.
2. A phrase has 2 bars and each bar is counted in 4. How many beats is the phrase, and how long does it last at 60 BPM?
Beats = 2 × 4 = 8. At 60 BPM each beat is 1 s, so the phrase lasts 8 seconds.
3. A dancer wants a calm, floating feel. Which tempo and movement should the choreographer pick?
A slow tempo (for example 60 to 80 BPM) with long, smooth movements. Fast tempo and sharp moves would give an excited feel.
4. A dance in A-B-A form uses an 8-beat phrase for each part. How many beats does the whole dance have?
There are three parts and each has 8 beats, so 3 × 8 = 24 beats. At 96 BPM that is 24 × 60 ÷ 96 = 15 seconds.
5. At 90 BPM, how many beats are there in one minute, and how many 4-beat bars?
90 beats in one minute. Bars = 90 ÷ 4 = 22.5, so 22 full bars and a half bar.
Common mistakes
- Thinking beat and rhythm are the same. The beat is the steady pulse; rhythm is the pattern of long and short sounds on top of it.
- Starting a new move on any count. Big changes look best on beat 1 of a phrase.
- Dancing at the same speed for every song. Tempo and mood of the music should change the dance.
- Thinking choreography means only steps. It also covers space, time, dancers and the form of the whole piece.