MODERN AMERICAN DANCE CULTURE

MODERNAMERICANDANCECULTURE

The US probably has the greatest variety of dances from almost every culture on the planet each

adding an extra element of modern dance culture to spice it up (Kacy,p.13-30). Modern

American dances can be tracedto three main ethnic groups which areEuropeans, Latino’sand

African Americans which has the most influence in the American pop-culture. The US is home

to Hip Hop dance styles which can be traced to African American origins, Rock and roll type

dances Afro –European styles , modern square dances which have a European ancestry as well as

Salsa kind of dance of Latino ancestry. Dances especially popularized by Isadora Duncan in the

early twentieth century were boosted by incorporation of African American styles by Alvin

Alley ad Mark Morris between 1950 and 1980’s (Lisa, p. 329-352). Other dances with both

European andAfrican American elements for example developedduring the same defining a

completely new African American dance culture. The development of modern American dance

culture was based on a lessconservative approach to dancing thatallowedexpression of

expression and human feelings such as love for the opposite sex which were prohibited in many

other dance styles.

Ballroom dancing is one example of dances that has been greatly influenced in the US by

different ethnicities. In the US today, there are two main types of Ballroom dances; International

Ballroom dances and American Ballroom dance style. American style ignores many of the

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standard rules of standard ballroom dance and is usually performed as social dances rather than

for completion purposes. The Americanshave come up with styles ofballroomdances such as

rhumba, samba, EastCoast Swing with Afro-Latin elements incorporated to the initialtraditional

European dances. Salsa dances is another very popular dance style which originates from the

heart of New York City. It is believed to have been derived from the Latino dance styles like

cha-cha and mambo which originate from Cuba and Puerto Rico (John and Marks, p.26-29).

More integration was witnessed between 1975 and early 1980’s during the development of the

American Disco culture which involved many minority groups from African American, Latinos

to gays andlesbians at the time.

The America’s ever-expanding American pop culture has led to the establishment of National

andregional danceshows thatfeature dances from allethnic backgrounds. Some of the most

popular shows today include ‘So you think you can dance’, ‘Dancing with the stars’ and