Modern Dance Styles

If you are interested in modern dances, here is a great resource for you.

Jess wrote a knol that list styles of dance today, along with the description and video of the dance style.

Jess list as follow:

1. classical ballet – a very popular form of dance, which involves quite rigorious training of the body. It originates in France, thus the French name for the style.
2. contemporary/modern – this is often described as very ‘interpretive’.
3. jazz ballet – often associated with popular culture songs or music and is slightly less rigorious that ballet, but non-the-less requires lots of energy and stamina.
4. lyrical jazz – is an appropriation of ballet and jazz ballet, and can carry influences from contemporary or modern styles of dance.
5. tap – involves creating rhythms and sound with metal taps attached to the bottom of a shoe.
6. hip hop/street/streetfunk – this group is often described as ‘urban’, and is influenced by many different cultures and histories.
7. JFH (jazz-funk-hip hop) – this is a fusion of jazz, funk and hip-hop, and is typically performed to RnB/Hip-Hop/Rap and pop music.
8. pop and lock – often associated with hip hop/street/street funk but involves very strong and controlled movements of the body. Isolation is vital in this genre.
9. breakdancing – this style requires lots of physical strength, particularly strength to hold your own weight and often keep your entire body up off the ground.

For the details on each of the dance styles, please visit Jess’ knol.