Dancing is powerful and it's something that we've done as humans for pretty much as long as we've been humans and there are suggestions that it even predates that.
Dancing has been used to celebrate, heal, and in rituals such as religious festivals. Human civilisation is only about 6,000 years old, but dancing is about suspected to be around 9,000 years old.
As soon as we had the time to dance, we've been dancing. But why is dancing so important, and how do modern humans dance?
In this article, we'll look at the importance of dancing and the styles and trends that have made dancing ubiquitous for certain age groups and demographics.
Why Is Dancing Important?
Dancing has been hugely important culturally for millennia, but why is it so important nowadays? It's still hugely important culturally, but it's also good for your health, something that's more important than ever with our increasingly-sedentary lifestyles.
Dancing is a great way to exercise, burn calories, improve your balance, and even improve your brain. Learning dance routines is a great way to give your brain a workout and you'll definitely break a sweat for most of today's dance crazes and challenges.
We've moved on a bit from shamanic rain dances and the dances that accompanied human sacrifice (I hope!), but dancing is as popular as it ever has been.
So which are the most popular styles of dance in the 21st century?
What Are the Most Popular Dance Styles?
The most popular styles of dancing will depend on where you are, your background, and the types of music you dance to, but here are a few of the styles that you're very likely to see if you head into a dance school and ask for lessons.
- Ballet
- Ballroom
- Contemporary
- Hip Hop
- Jazz
- Tap Dance
- Folk Dance
- Irish Dance
- Modern Dance
- Swing Dance
Of course, there are also schools, classes, and even dance tutors dedicated to these popular styles of dance and many others that you can also look for.
Beyond the popular styles of dance taught in dance schools and by dance teachers, there are also specific dances that make their way into our everyday lives, often on the back of hugely popular songs.
15 Famous Dance Crazes
Every so often a song comes along and the accompanying dance or dance move becomes as popular as the song itself.
There have been so many like that over the years that it's almost impossible to limit the number to just a handful of them, but here are some fine examples of popular dance crazes.
For many of these, once you hear the song, you can't help but do the dance move that goes with it. How many of them do you know?
- Apache - Sugarhill Gang
- Crazy In Love/All the Single Ladies
- Harlem Shake – Baauer
- Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO
- The Ketchup Song (Aserejé) – Las Ketchup
- Thriller – Michael Jackson
- U Can't Touch This – MC Hammer
- Y.M.C.A. – Village People
Of course, if you have any suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comments!
The Rise of TikTok Dance Challenges
Did you think that we'd forgotten about TikTok? You can't talk about popular dances without talking about the cultural impact of TikTok and TikTok dance challenges.
If you're a little bit out of the loop or don't spend most of your waking life on the platform, then don't worry! We're here to explain what they are, how they became so popular, and point you in the direction of some of TikTok's most popular dances!
How Did TikTok Dances Become Popular?
There are a few sources of inspiration for TikTok dances and most of them come unsurprisingly from the cultural impact of things outside of TikTok.
Of course, culture acts as a dialogue and you'll see that things popular on TikTok make their way into other parts of popular culture much just as much as you'll see dances making their way onto TikTok.
One such source of inspiration for TikTok dances has been hip-hop culture and, more importantly, hip-hop dances. Finding the exact source and origin of each dance can be tricky because they come from clubs and it's not like everyone's recording every dance they see or do while they're having a night out!
Then there are dance crazes that come from outside of music. You might remember the huge popularity of dances and celebrations being pulled straight out of the video game Fortnite by some of the world's most popular soccer players. Of course, a lot of the dances put into these games are also from popular culture and also often from hip-hop.
Finally, the dance crazes become popular on the back of celebrities or popular TikTok users. All it takes is for somebody with a huge following to do a new dance and the next thing you see the whole thing snowballing into the biggest dance craze of the year.
How Has TikTok Changed the Dance Industry?
Thanks to TikTok and TikTok dance challenges, new people are becoming interested in dancing, learning new routines, and posting videos of themselves dancing.
Love or hate TikTok dance challenges, they've had a positive impact on the lives of many who've taken to dancing after seeing that dancing isn't just for dancers.
It's also increased accessibility to dance by making it something that you can do as long as you have a smartphone and somewhere to dance, even if it is just your bedroom!
Putting all these dances in front of a bigger audience is all well and good, but as we mentioned, a lot of these dance moves come from hip-hop or black culture and, in many cases, these dances go uncredited.
On the other hand, it's also introducing huge groups of TikTok users to genres of music and dance that they may not have otherwise encountered had it not been for the app.
Most Popular TikTok Dances in 2023
TikTok is a fairly volatile platform and what's popular one day may quickly become outdated the next. In any case, here are just a few of the songs that you'll hear playing while you practise TikTok dance crazes.
Look out for them!
Flowers – Miley Cyrus
This song has been huge so it was only a matter of time before it became picked up by TikTok users and danced to. Check out the account of @BrookieandJessie for a fine example.
Follow the Leader – Rumba del Sol
This is a classic song, but the dance moves are certainly new. The first place we saw this was from @oscarortiz1.0 and we reckon the craze is only going to get bigger.
Ceilings – Ailani
This song (or at least a sped-up version of it) has got everyone from brides to rugby players running around in dresses. You're bound to come across one of the versions if you spend enough time scrolling on TikTok.
Collide – Justin Skye
Sped-up versions of this song have also been rather popular with TikTokers who've been taking the track as the backdrop for some pretty cool routines.
Superbowl Performance – Rihanna
The Superbowl is huge, Rihanna is huge, and everyone on TikTok has been having a go at their own take on her epic performance at one of sport's biggest events.
However, the easiest way to find the latest TikTok trends and dances is by spending time on the platform. If you watch enough dance challenges, you'll naturally be shown some of the biggest ones because that's just how the algorithm works.
Of course, if you want to take your dancing beyond that of TikTok stars (not that they aren't good dancers), you can learn to dance in dance schools or from private dance tutors.
Video tutorials are all well and good, but they can't correct your form and trending dances only go so far. It can be useful to learn a few moves for your own TikTok, but to really get better at dancing, you need to learn about the underlying theory, draw upon several different genres and styles, and get feedback and corrections from an expert in dance!
Fortunately, you can find plenty of dance teachers and tutors right here on our website as well as around the internet! There are private dance tutors for different styles and levels so you're bound to find one that's right for you.
The good thing about learning with a tutor is that they can tailor and adapt the lessons to you and how you like to learn. Even if you just want to dance to make better TikToks, you can find a tutor out there to help you.
Discover dance classes near me here on Superprof!
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