140 Fun Facts About Dance

Which partner dance was born in the 1880s in port areas along the Río de la Plata?

Argentina and Uruguay jointly got the dance added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2009.

Ballet originated during the Renaissance of the fifteenth century in which country?

It was later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia, which is why its vocabulary is French.

The waltz is danced in which time signature?

The name comes from the German Walzer, meaning to roll or revolve, and the dance shocked 18th-century society because couples held each other so closely.

Which singer made the moonwalk famous during "Billie Jean" on Motown 25 in 1983?

The move existed for decades before that night; California dancers called it the backslide, tap dancers called it a skate and Marcel Marceau called it walking against the wind.

Breaking (breakdancing) made its debut as an Olympic sport at which Games?

The IOC approved it in December 2020 after a proposal by the World DanceSport Federation; many practitioners prefer the term breaking, seeing 'breakdancing' as a media label.

Breaking developed among African American and Puerto Rican youth in which New York City borough?

The dance grew up alongside hip-hop, whose DJs looped the rhythmic drum breaks of funk and soul records for the dancers.

Which composer wrote the ballet Swan Lake in 1875-76?

The ballet was a failure at first; the version most companies dance today is the 1895 Petipa and Ivanov revival staged in St. Petersburg.

The score of The Nutcracker is noted for its use of which bell-like keyboard instrument?

The composer had already used the instrument in his little-known 1891 symphonic ballad The Voyevoda.

Which company gave the 1877 premiere of Swan Lake in Moscow?

The original choreographer was Julius Reisinger; the same ballerina now usually dances both the white swan Odette and the black swan Odile.

The Nutcracker ballet is set on which night of the year?

The plot comes from Alexandre Dumas's retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

Roughly what share of annual ticket revenue do major US ballet companies earn from The Nutcracker?

The full ballet was initially less successful than the 20-minute suite that had premiered nine months earlier; it only became a North American staple from the late 1960s.

Flamenco developed within the gitano (Romani) subculture of which region of southern Spain?

The oldest written record of flamenco music dates to 1774, in José Cadalso's book Las Cartas Marruecas.

Riverdance began life in 1994 as a seven-minute interval act at which televised event?

Its roots go back further: composer Bill Whelan had written a suite called Timedance for the 1981 Eurovision interval act.

Which male Irish dancing champion starred alongside Jean Butler in the original Riverdance?

Producers John McColgan and Moya Doherty expanded the act into a full stage show that opened in Dublin on 9 February 1995.

Which Spanish duo recorded 'Macarena', which topped the US chart for 14 weeks in 1996?

VH1 ranked it the No. 1 greatest one-hit wonder of all time in 2002, and all versions have sold more than 14 million copies.

The Charleston, the defining dance of the 1920s, is named after a harbour city in which US state?

The rhythm was popularised by James P. Johnson's 1923 tune from the Broadway show Runnin' Wild, and the dance peaked in 1926-27.

Whose 1959 recording of 'The Twist' hit No. 1 in 1960 and again in 1962, launching a dance craze?

Dick Clark suggested the cover after noticing teenagers doing the dance; in 2012 the singer led an estimated 4,000 people in a record-setting mass twist in DeLand, Florida.

Who wrote the song "The Twist" after seeing teenagers in Tampa, Florida, doing the dance?

His version was only the B-side of a 1959 single, "Teardrops on Your Letter", before a cover turned it into a phenomenon.

What is the ancient, pre-Western-contact style of Hawaiian hula called?

The Western-influenced style that grew up in the 19th and 20th centuries is ʻauana, a word meaning to wander or drift, and uses guitar and ukulele.

Capoeira, blending fighting with dance, acrobatics and music, comes from which country?

It was first mentioned in an official document in 1789 as an offence and was only legalised in 1937.

The Lindy Hop was born in 1928 in the African-American communities of which New York City neighbourhood?

Its defining move is the swingout, and troupes such as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers took it around the world in the swing era.

The Lindy Hop takes its name from a 1927 feat by which aviator?

Newspapers said 'Lucky Lindy' had 'hopped the Atlantic', and the first dances called lindy hop appeared around the time of his flight.

The term 'salsa' was popularised in 1960s-70s New York by Fania Records and which bandleader?

It was an umbrella label for a New York form of Afro-Caribbean dance music with roots in Cuban son, danzón, mambo and cha-cha-chá.

Which BBC ballroom contest did Guinness name the world's most successful reality TV format in 2010?

The format has been exported to about 60 countries as Dancing with the Stars, and it has aired live on Saturday nights since May 2004.

Who hosted Dancing with the Stars for its first 28 seasons, starting in 2005?

He was simultaneously hosting America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC when the show premiered.

The BBC dance contest's title merges Come Dancing with which 1992 Baz Luhrmann film?

Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly presented from the first series in 2004; Baz Luhrmann's film was his feature debut.

Which 1990 documentary about New York's drag ball scene brought voguing to the mainstream?

The documentary won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1991; the dance draws on the poses of models in Vogue magazine.

Bharatanatyam, the oldest of India's classical dance traditions, comes from which state?

It was known as Sadiraattam until it was renamed in 1932, and is famous for its fixed upper torso, bent knees and hand-gesture vocabulary.

The name of the north Indian classical dance Kathak comes from a Sanskrit word meaning what?

The kathakaar were travelling storytellers who danced tales from the Hindu epics; Kathak is also the only Indian classical dance to carry Persian elements, thanks to Mughal court patronage.

Which actor played dance instructor Johnny Castle opposite Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing (1987)?

Writer Eleanor Bergstein based the story on her own childhood summers in the Catskills' Borscht Belt.

Dirty Dancing was filmed largely at Lake Lure in which US state?

The film is set in a 1963 Catskills resort, but was shot in Lake Lure and at Mountain Lake, Virginia; it went on to earn over $214 million worldwide.

Tony Manero, John Travolta's disco-dancing character in Saturday Night Fever, lives in which NYC borough?

The story came from a 1976 New York magazine article by Nik Cohn that was later revealed to be mostly fictional.

Rudolf Nureyev defected from the Soviet Union in 1961 at an airport in which city?

He was 23 and it was the first defection of a Soviet artist in the Cold War; he later directed the Paris Opera Ballet from 1983 to 1989.

Fred Astaire made ten Hollywood musicals, including Top Hat and Swing Time, with which dance partner?

His only competitive Oscar nomination came not for dancing but for the 1974 disaster film The Towering Inferno.

In 2015 Misty Copeland became the first Black woman promoted to principal dancer at which company?

She did not start ballet until age 13, remarkably late for a professional, and was quickly regarded as a prodigy.

Merengue is the national dance of which country?

It is described as a 'danced walk', with both partners' hips moving in the same direction throughout the song.

The polka originated in the nineteenth century in which region?

The name probably comes from the Czech půlka, meaning half-step, though it was recast as a tribute to Poland after the 1830-31 November Uprising.

How many dancers make up a set in a square dance?

Square dancing is so tied to the image of the American cowboy that 31 US states have made it their official state dance.

The name cha-cha-chá is an onomatopoeia said to imitate what?

Violinist Enrique Jorrín created the rhythm in early-1950s Havana because dancers struggled with the syncopation of the danzón-mambo.

The dancing plague of 1518 broke out in which city?

It began with a woman known as Frau Troffea dancing in the street in July; the leading theory today is stress-induced mass hysteria.

The Hokey Cokey peaked as a British music-hall novelty dance in which decade?

Variants of the song and dance go back to at least 1826, and it became a UK chart hit twice in the 1980s.

How many US states have designated square dancing as their official state dance?

The dance descends from English country dances and 18th-century French quadrilles, and travelled to North America with European settlers.

Haka are ceremonial dances of which people?

Scholars say the popular idea that haka are war dances is mistaken; they are performed for welcomes, achievements and funerals.

The composition of 'Ka Mate', the haka made famous by the All Blacks, is attributed to which war leader?

He was a leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe; New Zealand teams have performed a pre-match haka since the 1888-89 Native football team tour.

National Tap Dance Day in the US falls on May 25, the birthday of which tap legend?

The day was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1989; tap grew from a fusion of Black American juba and Irish step dancing.

Which impresario founded the Ballets Russes, the 20th century's most influential ballet company?

Despite its name the company never performed in Russia; it commissioned Stravinsky, Picasso, Matisse and even Coco Chanel.

Which 1913 ballet, choreographed by Nijinsky, nearly caused a riot at its Paris premiere?

It eclipsed Nijinsky's Jeux, which had premiered to indifference just two weeks earlier.

Which modern-dance pioneer was the first dancer to perform at the White House and receive the Medal of Freedom?

She danced and taught for more than seventy years and created the Graham technique still taught worldwide.

One theory says the foxtrot, premiered in 1914, is named after which vaudeville performer?

Vernon and Irene Castle gave the dance its grace, and W. C. Handy claimed his 'Memphis Blues' inspired it.

In Irish stepdance, what is a competition called?

Female competitors traditionally wear curly wigs and ribbed white 'poodle socks', a hyper-stylisation that grew up in the Irish diaspora.

Samba originated among Afro-descendant communities in which Brazilian state?

The word once referred to several Latin duet dances with roots in Congo and Angola; today samba peaks in importance at Carnaval.

The 10,000-year-old dance paintings at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka are in which country?

Egyptian tomb paintings of dancing figures dated to around 3300 BC are the other famous early record.

A ballet dancer performing 'en pointe' supports their whole body weight on what?

The technique arose from a desire to make female dancers look weightless and sylph-like, and it takes years of training to attempt.

Fred Astaire's only competitive Academy Award nomination came for which 1974 disaster film?

He won the Golden Globe and BAFTA for the role, decades after his 1949 honorary Oscar.

Which French king founded the Académie Royale de Danse in 1661, the West's first dance institution?

He was a serious dancer himself, appearing as Apollo in the Ballet Royal de la Nuit in 1653, which helped earn him the nickname the Sun King.

What is the name of the short, stiff ballet skirt that projects horizontally from the hips?

The Romantic version is the soft, bell-shaped one that reaches the calf or ankle; Marie Taglioni is usually credited with wearing the first tutu in 1829.

The Nutcracker's plot was adapted from a French retelling of a Hoffmann story by which author?

Tchaikovsky's suite of eight numbers was performed and encored in March 1892, nine months before the full ballet opened in St Petersburg.

Anna Pavlova's signature solo, The Dying Swan, was choreographed for her in 1905 by whom?

It is danced to Saint-Saëns's Le cygne; the meringue dessert is also named after her.

Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Kirov Ballet in 1974 while on tour in which country?

He then danced with American Ballet Theatre and spent one season with New York City Ballet to learn Balanchine's style.

Bob Fosse won an Oscar, Tonys and Emmys in 1973. The Oscar was for directing which film?

The Tonys were for Pippin and the Emmys for Liza with a Z; his style is known for bowler hats, turned-in knees and jazz hands.

Isadora Duncan, the pioneer of modern dance, died in 1927 when what became tangled in the wheel of a car?

She was born in California but spent most of her career in Europe and Soviet Russia; SNL parodied the accident in its first season.

The waltz shocked polite society when it became fashionable in the 1780s in which city?

A visitor wrote that the people there were 'dancing mad'; the dance reached England in 1791 and was spread across Sussex by German soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars.

In International-style ballroom, how many dances make up the Standard and Latin categories combined?

Standard is waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, slow foxtrot and quickstep; Latin is cha-cha, samba, rumba, paso doble and jive.

Depression-era dance marathons could last roughly how long?

Horace McCoy worked as a bouncer at them and turned the experience into the novel They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Which composer wrote the tune 'The Charleston' for the 1923 Broadway show Runnin' Wild?

The steps probably came from the challenge dances of the African American Juba tradition; in Harlem the dance became a fast kicking step.

Capoeira is first mentioned in an official document in 1789 as what?

Its roots trace to the Angolan martial art engolo; UNESCO listed the capoeira circle as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014.

Samba, the Afro-Brazilian dance of Carnival, is characterised by what time signature?

Fast footwork and swaying hips ride the syncopated rhythm; it can be danced solo, in pairs or in group formations.

Public hula performances were banned in 1830 by which Hawaiian ruler under missionary pressure?

King Kalākaua reversed course decades later, encouraging traditional arts during his 1874–1891 reign.

How many basic positions of the feet are there in classical ballet?

Dancing master Pierre Rameau credited their codification to choreographer Pierre Beauchamp in 1725.

In ballet, what is a 'pas de deux'?

The French phrase literally means 'step of two'; a grand pas de deux typically has five parts.

Which Romantic ballet, first performed in Paris in 1841, features the ghostly Wilis?

The Wilis are the ghosts of betrayed women who dance men to death; the music is by Adolphe Adam.

Which 1870 comic ballet by Léo Delibes centres on a lifelike doll?

Sixteen-year-old Giuseppina Bozzacchi created the lead role of Swanhilda.

Who choreographed the original 1890 production of Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty?

The scenario by Ivan Vsevolozhsky was based on Perrault's fairy tale.

Which Stravinsky ballet was written for the 1910 Paris season of the Ballets Russes?

Michel Fokine choreographed it from Russian fairy tales about a magical bird.

Which Petipa ballet of 1877 features the celebrated 'Kingdom of the Shades' scene?

Set in India, its music is by Ludwig Minkus; the title means 'the temple dancer'.

Which Russian-born choreographer is styled the father of American ballet?

Called the father of American ballet, he led the company for more than 35 years.

Founded in 1776, which Moscow company is among the world's oldest of its kind?

Its dancers were first employed by Prince Urusov and English entrepreneur Michael Maddox.

Which Ballets Russes star choreographed L'après-midi d'un faune in 1912?

He could dance en pointe, rare for a man, and was admired for gravity-defying leaps.

Which English ballerina was named prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet?

Queen Elizabeth II named her prima ballerina assoluta; Nureyev became her famous partner.

Which retired Royal Ballet ballerina later judged Strictly Come Dancing?

She began her professional career at Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet.

Matthew Bourne's 1995 restaging of Swan Lake was famous for what?

Bourne saw his first ballet, Swan Lake, at Sadler's Wells when he was eighteen.

Which choreographer founded his namesake American Dance Theater in 1958?

His masterpiece Revelations is one of the most performed dance works in the world.

Which composer was Merce Cunningham's lifelong partner and frequent collaborator?

Cunningham's first New York solo concert, in April 1944, was with Cage.

Twyla Tharp's Broadway dance musical Movin' Out is set to the songs of which artist?

It premiered in Chicago in 2001 with many dancers from her own company.

Which choreographer shared the Best Director Oscar for West Side Story with Robert Wise?

He also received an honorary Oscar for his choreographic achievements on film.

Pina Bausch's Tanztheater company was based in which German city?

Bausch was born in nearby Solingen in 1940.

Which anthropologist-choreographer was called the 'queen mother of black dance'?

She earned an anthropology degree at the University of Chicago while running a dance school.

Ruth St. Denis co-founded the Denishawn School in 1915 with whom?

Denishawn trained future modern-dance pioneers including Martha Graham.

Which Hollywood choreographer was famous for kaleidoscopic overhead shots of showgirls?

He developed the techniques in Samuel Goldwyn's Eddie Cantor musicals.

Gene Kelly co-directed and choreographed Singin' in the Rain (1952) with whom?

The film also starred Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.

Whose 'Jumpin' Jive' routine in Stormy Weather (1943) is called one of film's greatest?

Fayard and Harold performed 'Jumpin' Jive' with Cab Calloway's orchestra.

Which performer's costume of a short skirt of artificial bananas became a Jazz Age icon?

She headlined the Folies Bergère and was the first Black woman to star in a major film, in 1927.

Tap dance grew from Black American traditions blended with which other dance heritage?

Its roots include the juba dance and Irish step dances; the sound comes from metal taps on heel and toe.

Which tap dancer choreographed the Broadway show Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk?

Glover made his Broadway debut as a child and had appeared in Black and Blue at 15.

Which celebrated tap dancer starred in the 1989 film Tap and played Ben on Will & Grace?

He also danced opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov in White Nights (1985).

The moonwalk is also known by what other name?

It is a popping move in which the dancer glides backwards while appearing to walk forward.

Which music video was the first selected for the US National Film Registry, in 2009?

John Landis directed it; the Library of Congress called it the most famous music video of all time.

Which K-pop video became the first on YouTube to reach a billion views, in December 2012?

Psy's horse-riding dance was released on July 15, 2012.

Voguing evolved out of the ballroom scene of which New York neighbourhood?

Madonna's 1990 song 'Vogue' brought the late-1980s style to the mainstream.

Krumping was created in the early 2000s in which part of Los Angeles?

Founders included Ceasare 'Tight Eyez' Willis; the 2005 documentary Rize explored the scene.

Which dance troupe beat Susan Boyle to win Britain's Got Talent in 2009?

Some members were still at school or university when they appeared on the show.

So You Think You Can Dance was created by which two American Idol producers?

The Fox show is the flagship of an international franchise.

The quickstep evolved in the 1920s from the foxtrot combined with which dance?

Other ingredients included the shag, peabody and one-step.

Bachata is a social dance that originated in the 1960s in which country?

It was originally danced only in closed position, like the bolero.

Cumbia is said to come from Afro-descendant funeral traditions in which country?

Traditional cumbia uses three drums and three flutes.

Which Mexican courtship dance from Guadalajara is the country's national dance?

Known in English as the Mexican hat dance, it dates from the 19th century.

The conga line derives from a carnival dance of which country?

It became popular in the US in the 1930s to 1950s.

The limbo is based on traditions from which Caribbean nation?

The name may derive from 'limbus' in Trinidadian English.

Sirtaki was choreographed for which 1964 film?

Mikis Theodorakis wrote the music, so it is also called 'Zorba's dance'.

Dabke is a line dance from which region?

The leader heads the line, which forms from right to left; the name may mean 'stamping of the feet'.

Bhangra is a folk dance from which region of the Indian subcontinent?

It is especially associated with the Vaisakhi harvest festival in April and May.

Kathakali is a traditional dance-theatre form native to which Indian state?

It is practised almost entirely by the Malayali people.

Which classical dance form originated in the temples of Odisha in eastern India?

Kuchipudi, by contrast, is named after a village in Andhra Pradesh.

Butoh, the Japanese dance theatre form, arose in 1959 through which two founders?

It emerged in the aftermath of World War II.

Kabuki's founder, Izumo no Okuni, formed what kind of group in Kyoto?

Women were banned from kabuki in 1629 and it became all-male.

Hopak originated as a male dance among which Cossacks?

The Ukrainian folk dance is now performed by couples, soloists and mixed groups.

The earliest record of Morris dancers, from 1448, notes a payment by which London guild?

Seven shillings were paid to Morris dancers; the dance is often done with handkerchiefs or sticks.

The tarantella is named for a spider bite once thought to cause hysteria in which region?

Victims supposedly danced for hours or days to cure the 'tarantism'.

The can-can became a popular music-hall dance in which decade?

Stars like La Goulue and Jane Avril later earned big fees at the Moulin Rouge.

The mazurka is a stylised folk-dance form from which country?

Chopin's mazurkas made it a fixture of 19th-century European ballrooms and salons.

Which French composer wrote the 1928 orchestral dance work Boléro?

It was written for dancer Ida Rubinstein and is one of Ravel's most famous pieces.

Labanotation, a system for recording human movement, was invented by whom?

His first book on it, Schrifttanz (Written Dance), was published in German in 1928.

'Cha-Cha Slide' was originally written by DJ Casper as what?

He wrote it for his nephew, a fitness trainer at a Chicago health club; it topped the UK chart in 2004.

In Flashdance (1983), Jennifer Beals' character Alex works by day at what?

Her dance scenes used body doubles, including a breakdance move by Crazy Legs.

In Footloose (1984), Kevin Bacon's Ren McCormack moves to which fictional town?

A local minister played by John Lithgow enforces the town's dance ban.

Black Swan (2010) follows a production of Swan Lake by which company?

Darren Aronofsky directed; Vincent Cassel plays artistic director Thomas Leroy.

Billy Elliot is set in County Durham during which event?

Jamie Bell played the 11-year-old and Julie Walters his ballet teacher.

Which actor starred with Jenna Dewan in the 2006 dance film Step Up?

Anne Fletcher directed the teen dance drama.

A Chorus Line opened on Broadway in 1975 with music by whom?

Michael Bennett conceived and directed it; Edward Kleban wrote the lyrics.

How many Oscars did the 1961 film West Side Story win, a record for a musical?

It was nominated for 11, and Jerome Robbins also received a special award.

Napoleon Dynamite's talent-show dance is performed to which Jamiroquai song?

The song came out in 1999; the routine is Napoleon's skit for Pedro's campaign.

In which city were the Radio City Rockettes founded in 1925, as the Missouri Rockets?

Choreographer Russell Markert was inspired by Britain's Tiller Girls and wanted taller Americans who could do eye-high kicks.

The Rockettes have performed at which New York event every year since 1957?

They were known as the Roxyettes when impresario Roxy brought them to his Roxy Theatre before Radio City opened.

Zumba was created in the 1990s by aerobics instructor Beto Pérez in which Colombian city?

After forgetting his usual music he taught a class to salsa and merengue cassettes, initially calling the result 'Rumbacize'.

Which company introduced Dance Dance Revolution in Japan in 1998?

Part of the Bemani series, it pioneered the rhythm-and-dance genre and inspired imitators such as Pump It Up and In the Groove.

Whose 1934 song gives the Oxford English Dictionary its first recorded use of 'jitter bug'?

The word began as a jibe by Black Savoy Ballroom regulars at whites who danced the Lindy Hop too fast and jumpy.

'Belly dance' translates which French term, first used in an 1864 review of a Gérôme painting?

Chicago World's Fair entertainment director Sol Bloom used the French name; the public gleefully translated it and assumed it was salacious.

Which 1992 music video is credited with launching country line dancing into the mainstream?

Choreographer Bill Bader's dance for 'Boot Scootin' Boogie' spawned at least 16 line dances bearing the song's name.

The Electric Slide is danced to 'Electric Boogie', a song written by which reggae musician?

Marcia Griffiths recorded it in 1982; a 1989 remix reached No. 51 on the Hot 100 and became her biggest single.

Which publisher launched the Just Dance video game series in November 2009?

The first game's tracklist ranged from MC Hammer and Elvis to the Spice Girls, Gorillaz and Baha Men.