Contrasts of American Traditional Dance Styles
Traditional dance in America has various contrasting aspects and schools of practice:
- Some are formal styles that have standards and regulating bodies, while others are informally practiced.
- Some are oriented to performance or competition, while others are done with no regard to judges and standards.
- Some are choreographed in advance, while others are freeform.
- Some are meant to be repeated exactly as handed down by tradition, where others are open to spontaneous composition.
- Some are done as couple or group social dancing, where some physical contact occurs between the dancers — while others are done "solo" or in loosely formed small groups … without any contact between dancers.
- Most forms of dance require musical accompaniment (or just percussion), while others can be practiced without any accompaniment.
Filling the later case for each of those aspects is American traditional informal freeform solo folk dancing. This category includes Flat Foot Dancing (AKA Flat-Footing), Hoofing (AKA Hoofin'), Buck Dancing, Soft Shoe (casual tap dancing performed in shoes without metal taps), Clogging (in its older non-show form), Irish Sean-Nós Dance, and the Irish Jig. (Various other names may be applied for this category of dance, depending upon the specific regional, language, cultural, or social group.)
Traditional couples and group social dance forms such as Cakewalk Dance, Square Dance, Hoedown, Line Dance, or Contra Dance might have interludes of this solo form of dancing between those dances.
More modern American dance styles—including those oriented to performance (such as Vaudeville and Tap Dance), competitive (such as Irish Stepdance and Ballroom Dance), or other forms commonly studied at dance schools—may employ some of these same steps. However, those modern dances are more likely to emphasize steps oriented towards showmanship or correctness of form.
Read more about this topic: American Traditional Informal Freeform Solo Folk Dancing
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