This section of my website Dance Lessons Brighton is dedicated to giving you as much information as possible on the different styles of dance out there in this big bad world! I am going to briefly talk about the top 7 out there today.
From what I can tell, dance styles are a bit like going to the ice cream shop. There is so much variety, and when you finally pick your flavour, you start wishing that you picked the choc-chip! All I can say, and I will be recommending this to the kiddies is that its worth trying everything – eventually they will find something they love. After all, when you are kids if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it!
Ballet is cool, because it has been the backbone of dance for centuries. Many other styles or genres are based on the fundamentals of ballet. Ballet uses music and dance to tell a story and quite often transport the audience to another world. Graceful, beautiful and captivating!
Jazz is very cool because the style relies heavily on improvisation, expression and originality. If you child is quite original, and a little quirky then this could be for him/her. Jazz really does involves bold and dramatic movements, including body contractions and isolation. I remember when I used to go watch my cousins dance many years ago – jazz was my favourite part of the show.
Tap dancing is where the dancers wear special shoes with metal soles, which means they have the ability to use their feet like drums to create a rhythm. I have really fond memories watching all those old school black and white movies with Charlie Chaplin – he was an outstanding tap dancer. Unfortunately, for you parents out there, that will mean investing in sometimes expensive tap shoes.
Hip-hop is probably, in this day and age, the most popular form of dance for kiddies. I think it probably has something to do with shows like the X-factor and Britain’s got Talent where a lot of Hip Hop acts have become very popular.
Unfortunately, sometimes, because of the negative press and the bad reputation associated with Hip-Hop music the style is somewhat controversial. Hip-hop includes various moves such as breaking, popping, locking and krumping, and even house dance. Improvisation and personal interpretation are essential to hip-hop dancing.
Classical Ballet has some very strict rules, and Modern Dance was created as a bit of rebellion against Ballet. The strict rules have been relaxed and the dancer has a little more freedom to express themselves emphasizing creativity in choreography and performance.
Perhaps aimed more at the I have a few very good Venezuelan friends, and they swear by Latin Dance! They are very loud and emotional people, just like the dance style! it’s a fast paced partner based dance style. There are some pretty outrageous hip movements involved so maybe not for the kiddies just yet – but did you know that the movements aren’t intentional, and are a results of the changing of weight from one foot to another?
Again a cool dance technique which was very popular during the 50’s and 60’s. it’s a very lively dance style in which couples spin, SWING, and jump together. That’s why they call it the swinging 60’s and I have very fond memories of, again, watching some cool movies like Back to the Future where there was a lot of Swing Music and dancing involved!