Break Dance
Also known as b-boying or breaking, break dance is a form of street dance. Taking its inspiration from hip-hop and funk music, break dance uses four key movements to build the dance; toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes.
Capoeira
Capoeira is a martial arts that originated in Brazil. It combines elements of dance, fighting, acrobatics and musical interpretation. Capoeira is known for it’s complex routines and lightning fast moves; the kicks, speed and power of the dance creates a visual spectacle. In 2014, capoeira was given a special protected status by UNESCO as ‘intangible cultural heritage’.
Commercial Dance
Commercial dance refers to dancing done in concerts, live shows, music videos, movies, and adverts. There are many different styles of dance that can be worked into the commercial category, such as hip hop, jazz, locking, popping, breakdancing, krumping, and more.
Contemporary
Contemporary dance is a performance discipline developed in the mid-1900s. Originally taking inspiration from classical, modern and jazz disciplines, contemporary dance now borrows from a wide range of forms. Contemporary dance is a strong and controlled, expressive dance form and can include floor work, contract-release, fall and recovery, plus others.
Dancehall
Originally purely a genre of music, the culture, rhythm and energy of dancehall gave way to dance moves. It is considered that many dance moves seen in hip-hop videos are variations of dancehall moves.
Voguing
Voguing is a type of dance where you imiate the charateristics of a model on a catwalk. Just think of Madonna’s vogue video and it’s exactly that!
African Dance
African dance does not have a set specific definition due to the multiple cultures and traditions that it crosses. African dance will differ from region to region. Dance teaches social and behaviour patterns and can also be used as a storytelling device. Many dances are widely participatory where even the audience becomes involved.
Ballet
In its traditional form, ballet is a classical performance dance with a heavy emphasis on storytelling and artistic expression. Using very precise and light movements, each step is performed with balance and grace. Many fitness brands now use ballet exercises and methods as part of their workouts due to the effectiveness of the form.