Throughout history, a culture's social dances have been a mirror into the lives of its people. When social rules were formal and rigid, so were the dances of the period. Less restrictive rules of conduct meant less restrictive forms of dance were accepted. The history of dance is a history of people.
Medieval Dance
Two forms of dance existed during medieval times - the sacred and the secular. Sacred dances were performed as symbols of Biblical events or divine acts. The Hymn of Jesus was one such dance. It was a round or ring dance, that featured 12 dancers who represented the twelve apostles.
Peasants and nobles alike engaged in secular dance as a means of self-expression. A phenomenon called choreomania appeared in the 12th century and was characterized by participants dancing in a frenzied manner. The Dance of Death first appeared during the Black Death plague and was danced on the graves of victims. Medieval dancing was typically a way of communicating deep-seated emotions, such as reverence and fear.
- Medieval Music: A description of the types of music and dance during medieval times.
- Music in the Middle Ages: Discussion of music and dances common during the time period.
Renaissance Dance
Dancing became less restrictive and more fashionable during the Renaissance. There were five types of dance during the period - the branle, pavan, allemande, canary, and galliard. Special tunes were written for different types of dances. Most dances of the time involved simple steps, but the canary was quite complex.
- Types of Dance in the Renaissance: A description of the popular dances of the time.
- Dances of the Late Renaissance: The way early Renaissance dances differed from those performed later in the period.
- The Renaissance: A discussion of the music and dance relationship during the Renaissance.
Baroque Dance
While there were other forms of dance during the Baroque period, the French Noble style is the style most often mentioned. Called the precursor to classical ballet, the French Noble style of dance was thrown into prominence during the reign of France's Louis XIV. Medieval dances such as the branle were elaborated upon and new dance forms called danses à deux were developed. These were the first ballroom dances. English country dances remained popular with the peasants and slowly found their way into ballrooms during the Baroque period.
- Baroque Dance: An introduction to Baroque dance.
- Baroque Music: A guide to Baroque music.
19th Century Dance
Dance forms changed drastically during the 19th century. In the early 1800s, dance was still formal, but less stringent types of dance began to make inroads toward the mid-1800s. English country square and round dances were still danced, but the waltz became a much talked about form long before it finally became fashionable to actually dance in the 1840s. From the 1850s on to the end of the century, the waltz and ballroom dancing were in vogue.
- Dancing in the 1800s: Description of typical dance habits in the 1800s.
- 19th Century Social Dance: Description of dances that were popular during different time periods in the 1800s.
- Waltz Basics: Basic waltz steps.
20th Century Dance
Until the 20th century, Europe led the way in social dancing. That changed in the early 1900s, however, thanks to America's ragtime music, and professional dancers, Irene and Vernon Castle. Ragtime music came from African-Americans who combined their native music with musical forms from Europe. The two-step, later changed to the one-step, fit ragtime music perfectly. The Castles first performed versions of these new American dances in Paris and then in New York. Because the Castles were considered elegant and respectable, ragtime and its dances were accepted and swept America first, then Europe.
The 1920s was the Flapper era. Dances like the Fox-Trot and Charleston became all the rage. The depression of the 1930s saw dancing become popularized in the movies and new dances like the Jitterbug and Lindy Hop appeared. Swing music, a form of jazz, exploded during the 1930s and 1940s. Swing dancing steps always included what is known as a swingout, where the female partner is released to a single handhold.
With the introduction of rock and roll in the 1950s, swing dances were adapted to fit in with the new rhythms. As the 1960s progressed, fewer swing style moves were included in dance. The 1970s saw a whole new type of dance in disco music. Initially disco was a swing-style partner type of dance, but solo dance performances quickly became the norm. In the 1980s, hip-hop music, coming from the inner city with Jamaican influences, became popular and with that, so did hip-hop dance. Hip-hop dance is an improvisational dance form that involves breaking, locking, and popping.
- History of Dance in America: America's dancing history.
- One Legend of the Origin of Swing: A history of swing along with theories about how it developed.
- Dance Crazes: A history of American dance crazes from the 1950s on.
- The Black Beat Made Visible: Hip Hop dance and Body Power.
- Swing Dances: Descriptions of swing dances and accompanying music.
- Dance History: Brief history of African dances during and after slavery in the United States.
Written by Michael S. Atwood