amazing dances from around the world

Tap Dance s name comes from the tapping sound that s made when small metal plates on a dancer s shoes make contact with a hard floor. It was first seen in the US during the late 19th century.

This is danced to slow, melodic music and it requires the dancers to execute fluid and delicate movement.

Salsa is a dance form with origins from the Cuban Son and Afro-Cuban dance. This partner dance is quite sensual in its form since it s known for having flirtatious movements.

The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas.

Swing dance is most commonly known as a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1950s. This is the blanket term for dances such as the Boogie Woogie, Jitterbug and Lindy Hop, among others.

One of the primary dances in Portugal, it involves the dancers tapping their feet and quickly changing their positions.

This is a high-energy as well as physically demanding music hall dance usually performed by female dancers in chorus line while wearing costumes that have long skirts, petticoats and black stocking. Its primary features are skirt lifting and manipulation, high kicking and suggestive body movement.

Kabuki is a classical Japanese dance-drama that is known for the stylization of its performance and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.

This is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture wherein the performers mimic how a lion moves while wearing a lion costume.

Casually known as riverdance thanks to the popularity of an interval act in 1994 called Riverdance; this dance can be done solo or by a group and is characterized by stiffened upper bodies while performing quick and intricate footwork.