The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:
- They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music.
- They are not designed for public performance or the stage, although traditional folkdances may be later arranged and set for stage performances.
- Their execution is dominated by an inherited tradition rather than by innovation (although like all folk traditions they do change over time)
- New dancers often learn informally by observing others and/or receiving help from others.
More controversially, some people define folk dancing as dancing for which there is no governing body or dancing for which there are no competitive or professional performances.
Read more about Folk Dance: Terminology, Europe, Middle East & South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America
Famous quotes containing the words folk and/or dance:
“Myths, as compared with folk tales, are usually in a special category of seriousness: they are believed to have “really happened,” or to have some exceptional significance in explaining certain features of life, such as ritual. Again, whereas folk tales simply interchange motifs and develop variants, myths show an odd tendency to stick together and build up bigger structures. We have creation myths, fall and flood myths, metamorphose and dying-god myths.”
—Northrop Frye (1912–1991)
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—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)