ETYM French danse, of German origin. Related to Dance.
1. A party of people assembled for dancing.
2. An artistic form of nonverbal communication.
Rhythmic movement of the body, usually performed in time to music. Its primary purpose may be religious, magical, martial, social, or artistic—the last two being characteristic of nontraditional societies. The pre-Christian era had a strong tradition of ritual dance, and ancient Greek dance still exerts an influence on dance movement today. Although Western folk and social dances have a long history, the Eastern dance tradition long predates the Western. The European classical tradition dates from the 15th century in Italy, the first printed dance text from 16th-century France, and the first dance school in Paris from the 17th century. The 18th century saw the development of European classical ballet as we know it today, and the 19th century saw the rise of Romantic ballet. In the 20th century modern dance firmly established itself as a separate dance idiom, not based on classical ballet, and many divergent styles and ideas have grown from a willingness to explore a variety of techniques and amalgamate differ.
ent traditions.
Eastern history.
The oldest surviving dance forms are probably those of the East. Hindus believe the world was created by Shiva, a dancing god, and religious themes permeate their dances. The first Indian book on dancing, the Natya Sastra, existed a thousand years before its European counterpart. The bugaku dances of Japan, with orchestra accompaniment, date from the 7th century and are still performed at court. When the Peking (Beijing) Opera dancers first astonished Western audiences during the 1950s, they were representatives of a tradition stretching back to 740, the year in which Emperor Ming Huang established the Pear Garden Academy.
Western history.
The first comparable European institution, L’Académie Royale de Danse, was founded by Louis XIV 1661. In the European tradition social dances have always tended to rise upward through the social scale; for example, the medieval court dances derived from peasant country dances. One form of dance tends to typify a whole period, thus the galliard represents the 16th century, the minuet the 18th, the waltz the 19th, and the quickstep represents ballroom dancing in the first half of the 20th century. The nine dances of the modern world championships in ballroom dancing are the standard four (waltz, foxtrot, tango, and quickstep), the Latin-American styles (samba, rumba, cha-cha, and pasodoble), and the Viennese waltz. A British development since the 1930s, which has spread to some extent abroad, is “formation” dancing in which each team (usually eight couples) performs a series of ballroom steps in strict coordination.
popular dance.
Popular dance crazes have included the Charleston in the 1920s, jitterbug in the 1930s and 1940s, jive in the 1950s, the twist in the 1960s, disco and jazz dancing in the 1970s, and break dancing in the 1980s. In general, since the 1960s, popular dance in the West has moved away from any prescribed sequence of movements and physical contact between participants, the dancers performing as individuals with no distinction between the male and the female role. Dances requiring skilled athletic performance, such as the hustle and the New Yorker, have been developed.
classical dance.
In classical dance, the second half of the 20th century has seen a great cross-fertilization from dances of other cultures. Troupes visited the West, not only from the USSR and Eastern Europe, but from such places as Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, and Senegal. In the 1970s jazz dance, pioneered in the US by Matt Mattox, became popular; it includes elements of ballet, modern, tap, Indian classical, Latin American, and African-American dance. Freestyle dance is loosely based on ballet with elements of jazz, ethnic, and modern dance.

1. To move in a graceful and rhythmical way.
2. To move in a pattern; usually to musical accompaniment; do or perform a dance; SYN. trip the light fantastic.
3. To skip, leap, or move up and down or sideways.

the Younger (1741-1825) English architect. He is best remembered for his unorthodox designs for Newgate Prison 1770–80, London (demolished 1902).
An exponent of the Neo-Classical tradition, absorbed on a visit to Italy as a young man, he retained a highly individual and innovative style. He was to exert a lasting influence on his pupil, John Soane. Indeed, his design for All-Hallows Church, London Wall, 1765–67, can be seen as a precursor of Soane’s refined Classicism. His father George Dance, the Elder was the architect of the Mansion House 1739–42, London.

(1946-) English film and television actor. He became known when he played the sympathetic Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown 1984. He has also appeared in Plenty 1986, Good Morning Babylon, The Golden Child both 1987, and White Mischief 1988.
His television appearances include First Born 1989.
He played Coriolanus in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1989 production.