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:
“In the past, the English tried to impose a system wherever they went. They destroyed the nation’s culture and one of the by- products of their systemisation was that they destroyed their own folk culture.”
—Martin Carthy (b. 1941)
“The gentlemen [at a ball], as they passed and repassed, looked as if they thought we were quite at their disposal, and only waiting for the honour of their commands; and they sauntered about, in a careless indolent manner, as if with a view to keep us in suspense.... I thought it so provoking, that I determined in my own mind that, far from humouring such airs, I would rather not dance at all.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)