Dance around the world: Jazz dance, hip hop dance, Kathak, Funga

Jazz Dance

Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Prior to the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance. Every individual style of jazz dance has roots traceable to one of these two distinct origins.



Hip hop Dance

Hip-hop dance refers to social or choreographed dance styles primarily danced to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. This includes a wide range of styles notably breaking, locking, and popping which were developed in the 1970s by Black and Latino Americans. What separates hip-hop dance from other forms of dance is that it is often freestyle in nature and hip-hop dancers frequently engage in battles—formal or informal freestyle dance competitions. Internationally, hip-hop dance has had a particularly strong influence in France and South Korea.



Kathak

Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from northern India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers. These bards, performing in village squares and temple courtyards, mostly specialized in recounting mythological and moral tales from the scriptures, and embellished their recitals with hand gestures and facial expressions.



Funga

The Funga is a welcome and harvest dance from the Vai people of Liberia. It is made up of two dances brought to the West in the 1930’s and 1940’s by Pearl Primus. It is the "Swan Lake of African Dance" because it is the most widely known and done of the African dances.



Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip-hop_dance
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002266F/africa.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_dance

Dance around the world: Line Dance, North African Gypsy Dance, Fandango, Bhangra

Line Dance

A line dance is choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines or rows without regard for the gender of the individuals, all facing the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time. Line dancers are not in physical contact with each other. It is most commonly associated with the USA where it is danced to country western music.



North African Gypsy Dance



Fandango

Fandango is a lively folk and Andalusian (flamenco) couple-dance usually in triple metre, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping (palmas in Spanish and Portuguese).Fandango is one of the main folk dances in Portugal.



Bhangra

Bhaṅgṛā is a form of music and dance that originated in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. Bhangra dance began as a folk dance conducted by Punjabi farmers to celebrate the coming of Vaisakhi, a Punjabi festival. The specific moves of Bhangra reflect the manner in which villagers farmed their land. This musical art further became synthesized after the partition of India, when refugees from different parts of the Punjab shared their folk dances with individuals who resided in the regions they settled in. This hybrid dance became Bhangra. The folk dance has been popularised in the Western World by South Asian communities and is seen in the West as an expression of Indian and Pakistani culture as a whole. Today, Bhangra dance survives in different forms and styles all over the globe – including pop music, film soundtracks, collegiate competitions and even talent shows.



Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fandango
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhangra

Dancing around the world: Jive, Belly Dance, Garba, Irish Stepdance

Jive

In Ballroom dancing, Jive is a dance style in 4/4 time that originated in the United States from African-Americans in the early 1940s. It is a lively and uninhibited variation of the Jitterbug, a form of Swing dance.

Belly Dance

Belly dance is a Western-coined name for a traditional Middle Eastern dance, especially raqs sharqi (Arabic: رقص شرقي‎). It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli. The term "Belly dance" is a misnomer as every part of the body is involved in the dance; the most featured body part in raqs sharqi being the hips. Belly dance takes many different forms depending on country and region, both in costume and dance style and new styles have been invented in the West as its popularity has spread globally.



Garba

Garba is an Indian form of dance that originated in the Gujarat region. Many traditional garbas are performed around a central lit lamp. The circular and spiral figures of Garba have similarities to other spiritual dances. Traditionally it is performed during the nine-day Hindu festival Navarātrī. Modern garba is also heavily influenced by raas, a dance traditionally performed by men. The merger of these two dances has formed the high-energy dance that is seen today. Both men and women usually wear colorful costumes while performing garba and dandiya. There is a huge interest in Garba amongst the youth of the Indian and in particular Gujarati diaspora in Garba. Garba and Dandiya Raas are popular in America where more than 20 Universities have Raas Garba Competitions of a huge scale every year with professional choreography. Garba is also very popular in the United Kingdom where there are a number of Gujarati castes who hold their own garba for each individual community.



Irish Stepdance

Irish stepdance is a type of performance dance originating in Ireland from traditional Irish dance. Irish stepdancing has been recently popularized by the world-famous show "Riverdance" and its followers. Irish stepdance is performed in most places with large Irish populations, though most stepdancers are not of Irish ancestry. Aside from public dance performances, there are also stepdance competitions all over the world. Most competitive stepdances are solo dances, though many stepdancers also perform and compete using traditional set and céilí dances. When performed as a solo dance, it is generally characterized by a stiff upper body and the quick and precise movements of the feet.



Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Stepdancing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garba_(dance)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belly_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jive_(dance)

Dance around the world: waltz, ballet, Bachata, B-boying

Waltz

The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance from around the 16th century with evidence of it found in several European countries including France, Germany, Austria and England.



Ballet

Ballet is a formalized kind of performance dance, which originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France, England, and Russia as a concert dance form.





Bachata

Bachata is a style of dance that accompanies the music of the same name. It has its origins in the Dominican Republic.The dance is a four-step beat achieved with a walking Cuban hip motion, and a unique “pop”.



B-boying (Breakdance)

B-boying, commonly referred to as breakdancing, is a style of dance that was created, and developed as part of hip-hop culture among African Americans, and later on Latino American youths in New York City.

Dance around the world: the Cha-Cha, Paso Doble and

Cha-Cha

Cha-cha is the name of a Latin American dance of Cuban origin.Cha-cha-cha may be either danced to authentic Cuban music, or Latin Pop or Latin Rock. The music for the international ballroom cha-cha-cha is energetic and with a steady beat. The Cuban cha-cha-chá is more sensual and may involve complex polyrhythms.



Paso Doble

Paso Doble or pasodoble is a lively style of dance to the duple meter march-like pasodoble music. It actually originated in southern France, but is modeled after the sound, drama, and movement of the Spanish bullfight.



Lambada

Lambada is a Brazilian dance for couples. The dance became internationally popular in the late 1980s, especially in Latin America and Caribbean countries.



Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paso_Doble
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha-cha-cha_(dance)

Get to know South African Music: Ihashi Elimhlophe

Ihashi Elimhlophe and his Kwa Zulu-Natal dancing group are made up of fourteen members who have performed around the world and are known for their impressive singing and dancing skills. Below are two videos: one of their song Kulukhuni and one of them performing at the ANC final rally for Zuma's presidency in 2009.





Information from:
http://www.demotix.com/news/57741/ihashi-elimhlophe-style-singing-and-dancing-madrid

Learn how to Diski Dance!

According to South Africa .net:

'In South Africa, we have a different way of playing soccer. It's rhythmic, sometimes showy, but never boring. We call it Diski and it is uniquely South African. In Diski, every move has a name and there are different names from different parts of the country. Some are in Tswana, others Zulu, Sotho and even English. The moves have names like Tsamaya", "Heel Extension Mkhari" and "Chester" to mention a few. '

We at breaking perceptions were very excited by the sound of this dance and have posted a youtube video below that demonstrates how to do it so we can all be ready to Diski dance at the FIFA World Cup 2010!

Information from:

http://www4.southafrica.net/2010/WhatIsDiski

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fML326GXJPY

http://www.learntodiski.com/

What is Yuri's Night

Yuri's Night is an international celebration held on April 12 every year to commemorate two separate space exploration milestones. Firstly 45 years ago, when Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter outer space. Then 20 years later the USA launched the Space Shuttle which was designed to carry a larger crew and large volumes of cargo to orbit.

The goal of Yuri's Night is to increase public interest in space exploration and to inspire a new generation of explorers. Driven by space-inspired artistic expression and culminating in a worldwide network of annual celebrations and educational events, Yuri's Night creates a global community of young people committed to shaping the future of space exploration while developing responsible leaders and innovators with a global perspective. These global events are a showcase for elements of culture that embrace space including music, dance, fashion, and art.

On 2010 event there will be 162 parties in 57 countries on 7 continents and 2 worlds. You too can set up a party here: Start a party

Information taken from:

http://yurisnight.net/about/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri's_Night