**Dance**

[Asalbanoo]

Dance generally refers to movement used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting.

Dance is also used to describe methods of non-verbal communication (see body language) between humans or animals (bee dance, patterns of behaviour such as a mating dance), motion in inanimate objects (the leaves danced in the wind), and certain musical forms or genres.
Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic, artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movement (such as Folk dance) to virtuoso techniques such as ballet. In sports, gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are dance disciplines while Martial arts 'kata' are often compared to dances.
Dance can be directly participatory, social or performed for an audience. It can also be ceremonial, competitive or erotic. Dance movements may be without significance in themselves, such as in ballet or European folk dance, or have a gestural vocabulary/symbolic system as in many Asian dances. Dance can embody or express ideas, emotions or tell a story.
Choreography is the art of creating dances, and the person who does this is called a choreographer.


Origins and history of dance
Dance does not leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave painting. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human culture. Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from circa 3300 BC and the Bhimbetka rock-shelter paintings in India.
One of the earliest structured uses of dance may have been in the performance and telling of myths. Before the introduction of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing these stories down from generation to generation. [1]
Another early use of dance may have been as a precursor to ecstatic trance states in healing rituals. Dance is still used for this purpose by cultures from the Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert.[2]
Sri Lankan dances goes back to the mythological times of aboriginal yingyang twins and "yakkas" (devils). According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originate, 2500 years ago, from a magic ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king.
Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, and ethnic dances.
Dancing and music

Many early forms of music and dance were created and performed together. This paired development has continued through the ages with dance/music forms such as: Jig, Waltz, Tango, Disco, Salsa, Electronica and Hip-Hop. Some musical genres also have a parallel dance form such as Baroque music and Baroque dance whereas others developed separately: Classical music, Classical ballet.
Although dance is often accompanied by music, it can also be presented independently or provide its own accompaniment (tap dance). Dance presented with music may or may not be performed in time to the music depending on the style of dance. Dance performed without music is said to be danced to its own rhythm.

[Asalbanoo]

Tango is a social dance form originating in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The musical styles that evolved together with the dance are also known as "tango".

Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine Tango, Ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango, Chinese tango, and vintage tangos. The Argentine tango is often regarded as the "authentic" tango since it is closest to that originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay, though other types of tango have developed into mature dances in their own right.

Music and dance elements of tango are popular in activities related to dancing, such as figure skating, synchronized swimming, etc., because of its dramatic feeling and its cultural associations with romance and love.

[Asalbanoo]

The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of music from Europe, the South American Milonga, and African rhythms. Jorge Luis Borges in "El idioma de los argentinos" writes:"Tango belongs to the Rio de la Plata and it is the son of Uruguayan "milonga" and grandson of the "habanera". The word Tango seems to have first been used in connection with the dance in the 1890s. Initially it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants.


Tango postcard, c. 1919
In the early years of the twentieth century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the USA, and Finland. In the USA around 1911 the name "Tango" was often applied to dances in a 2/4 or 4/4 rhythm such as the one-step. The term was fashionable and did not indicate that tango steps would be used in the dance, although they might be. Tango music was sometimes played, but at a rather fast tempo. Instructors of the period would sometimes refer to this as a "North American Tango", versus the "Rio de la Plata tango" also called "Argentine Tango". By 1914 more authentic tango stylings were soon developed, along with some variations like Albert Newman's "Minuet" Tango.


In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930 caused Tango to decline. Its fortunes were reversed as tango again became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the government of Juan Perón. Tango declined again in the 1950s with economic depression and as the military dictatorships banned public gatherings, followed by the popularity of Rock and Roll. The dance lived on in smaller venues until its revival in the 1980s following the opening in Paris of the show Tango Argentino and the Broadway musical Forever Tango.

[Asalbanoo]

There are a number of styles of tango:

Argentine Tango
Ballroom Tango, see Ballroom dance
Finnish Tango

[edit] Argentine Tango (Tango Argentino)
Main article: Argentine Tango


The embrace of two Argentine tango dancers
Argentine Tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras of Argentina and Uruguay. The dance developed in response to many cultural elements, such as the crowding of the venue and even the fashions in clothing. The Argentine Tango styles are mostly danced in either open embrace, where lead and follow connect at arms length, or close embrace, where the lead and follow connect chest-to-chest.

Different styles of Argentine Tango are:

Tango Canyengue
Tango Liso
Tango Salon
Tango Orillero
Tango Milonguero (Tango Apilado)
Tango Nuevo
Show Tango (also known as Fantasia).
These are danced to several types of music:

Tango
Vals (the tango version of waltz)
Milonga (a related dance that usually has a faster tempo)
Tango Electronico
"Alternative Tango," i.e. non-tango music appropriated for use in the dance
The "milonguero" style is characterized by a very close embrace, small steps, and syncopated rhythmic footwork. It is based on the petitero or caquero style of the crowded downtown clubs of the '50s.

In contrast, the tango that originated in the family clubs of the suburban neighborhoods (Villa Urquiza/Devoto/Avellaneda etc.) emphasizes long elegant steps, and complex figures. In this case the embrace may be allowed to open briefly, to permit execution of the complicated footwork.

The complex figures of this style became the basis for a theatrical performance style of Tango seen in the touring stage shows. For stage purposes, the embrace is often very open, and the complex footwork is augmented with gymnastic lifts, kicks, and drops.

A newer style sometimes called "Tango Nuevo" has been popularized in recent years by a younger generation of dancers. The embrace is often quite open and very elastic, permitting the leader to lead a large variety of very complex figures. This style is often associated with those who enjoy dancing to jazz- and techno-tinged "alternative Tango" music, in addition to traditional Tango compositions.

[Asalbanoo]

Ballroom tango, divided in recent decades into the "International" (English) and "European" styles, has descended from the tango styles that developed when the tango first went abroad to Europe and North America. The dance was simplified, adapted to the preferences of conventional ballroom dancers, and incorporated into the repertoire used in International Ballroom dance competitions. English Tango was first codified in October 1922, when it was proposed that it should only be danced to modern tunes, ideally at 30 bars per minute (i.e. 120 beats per minute - assuming a 4/4 measure).

Subsequently the English Tango evolved mainly as a highly competitive competitive dance, while the American Tango evolved as an unjudged social dance with an emphasis on leading and following skills. This has led to some principal distinctions in basic technique and style. Nevertheless there are quite a few competitions held in the American style, and of course mutual borrowing of technique and dance patterns happens all the time.

Ballroom tangos also use different music and styling from Argentine tangos, with more staccato movements and the characteristic "head snaps". The head snaps are totally foreign to Argentine tango.

[Asalbanoo]

The tango spread from the dominant urban dance form to become hugely popular across Finland in the 50's after the wars. The melancholy tone of the music reflects the themes of Finnish folk poetry; Finnish tango is almost always in a minor key.

The tango is danced in very close full upper body contact in a wide and strong frame, and features smooth horizontal movements that are very strong and determined. Dancers are very low, allowing long steps without any up and down movement. Forward steps land heel first, and in backward steps dancers push from the heel. In basic steps, the passing leg moves quickly to rest for a moment close to the grounded leg.

Each year the Tangomarkkinat, or tango festival, draws over 100,000 tangophiles to the central Finnish town of Seinäjoki, which also hosts the Tango Museum. This leads Finns to regard this unlikely provincial town as the "second city of tango" after, of course, Buenos Aires.

[Asalbanoo]

Argentine and Ballroom Tango use very different techniques and vocabularies, to the point where some consider them related in name only. In Argentine tango, the body's center moves first, then the feet reach to support it. In ballroom tango the feet move and the whole body weight follows.

Ballroom tango steps are staccato, and generally follow a specific "slow, slow, quick, quick, slow" rhythm. The "slow" steps are best described as 'quick, hold', as the dancer rushes to step and then holds before rushing to the next step. This matches the staccato accents that appear in ballroom tango music.

In Argentine tango, the steps are typically more gliding, but can vary widely in timing, speed, and character, and follow no single specific rhythm. Because the dance is led and followed at the level of individual steps, these variations can occur from one step to the next. This allows the dancers to vary the dance from moment to moment to match the music (which often has both legato and/or staccato elements) and their mood.

The Argentine Tango's frame, called an abrazo or "embrace," is not rigid, but flexibly adjusts to different steps, and may vary from being quite close, to offset in a "V" frame, to open. The Ballroom Tango's frame is more rigid, with the arms tenser and held higher.

There is a closed position as in other types of ballroom dance, but it differs significantly between types of tango. In Argentine Tango, the "close embrace" involves continuous contact at the full upper body, but not the legs. In Ballroom tango, the "close embrace" involves close contact only at the hips and upper thighs, and not the upper torso.

In Argentine Tango, the ball or toe of the foot may be placed first. Alternately, the dancer may take the floor with the entire foot in a cat-like manner. In the International style of Tango, "heel leads" (stepping first onto the heel, then the whole foot) are used for forward steps.

Ballroom tango steps stay close to the floor, while the Argentine Tango includes moves such as the boleo (allowing momentum to carry one's leg into the air) and gancho (hooking one's leg around one's partner's leg or body) in which the feet travel off the ground. Argentine Tango features other vocabulary foreign to ballroom, such as the parada (in which the leader puts his foot against the follower's foot), the arrastre (in which the leader appears to drag or be dragged by the follower's foot), and several kinds of sacada (in which the leader displaces the follower's leg by stepping into her space).

Most other types of tango, such as Finnish and Chinese, are close to the Argentine in their technique and vocabulary.

[Asalbanoo]

A waltz (G.: Walzer, It.: Valzer, Fr.: Valse, Cat.: Vals) is a ballroom and folk dance in 3/4 (help•info) time, done primarily in closed position. The most common basic figure of a waltz is a full turn in two measures using three steps per measure.
The waltz first became fashionable in Vienna around the 1780s, spreading to many other countries in the years to follow. The waltz, and especially its closed position, became the example for the creation of many other ballroom dances. Subsequently, new types of waltz have developed, including many folk and several ballroom dances.
In the 19th century the word primarily indicated that the dance was a turning one; one would "waltz" in the polka to indicate rotating rather than going straight forward without turning.

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In the 19th and early 20th century, numerous different forms of waltz existed, including versions done in 2/4 or 6/8 (sauteuse), and 5/4 time (5/4 waltz, half and half).
In the 1910s a form called the "Hesitation Waltz" incorporated Hesitations and was danced to fast music. A Hesitation is basically a halt on the standing foot during the full waltz measure, with the moving foot suspended in the air or slowly dragged. Similar figures (Hesitation Change, Drag Hesitation, Cross Hesitation) is incorporated in the International Standard Waltz syllabus.
• In contemporary ballroom dance, the fast versions of the waltz are called Viennese Waltz.
• International Standard Waltz has only closed figures; that is, the couple never leaves closed position.
• The American Style Waltz, in contrast to the International Standard Waltz, involves breaking contact almost entirely in some figures. For example, the Syncopated Side-by-Side with Spin includes a free spin for both partners. Open rolls are another good example of an open dance figure, in which the secondary partner alternates between the primary partner's left and right sides, with the primary partner's left or right arm (alone) providing the lead.
• The Cross Step Waltz is a newer style of waltz where the first step is a cross-step into the line of directon. This was popularized in classes at Stanford University and allows for a much richer assortment of variations.
• The Peruvian Waltz (Called and recognized in Peru as vals criollo).
• The Mexican Waltz (vals mexicano) follows the same basic rhythmic pattern as the standard waltz, but the melodies reflect a strong Spanish influence.
• Tango vals allows the dancers to dance one, two, three, or no steps to any four beats of waltz music; and to vary the number of steps per bar throughout the song.
• The Venezuelan waltz
• Country Western Waltz is 99% progressive, moving counter clock wise around the dance floor. Both the posture and frame are relaxed, with posture bordering on a slouch. The exaggerated hand and arm gestures of some ballroom styles are not part of this style. Couples may frequently dance in the promenade position, depending on local preferences.
• Mazurka Waltz.
Waltzes were the staple of many American musicals and films, including "Waltz in Swing Time" sung by Fred Astaire.

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Classical composers traditionally supplied music for dancing when required, and Schubert's waltzes were written for household dancing, without any pretense at being art music. However, Chopin's 18 waltzes, along with his mazurkas and polonaises, were clearly not intended to be danced to. They marked the adoption of the waltz and other dance forms as serious composition genres.
Other notable contributions to the waltz genre in classical music include 16 by Brahms (originally for piano duet), and Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales for piano and La Valse for orchestra