International Dance Day is an interesting international observance introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Council (CID), a UNESCO partner NGO, and is celebrated on April 29 every year.
The day coincides with the birth anniversary of the French dancer and ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre, although the date is not linked to any particular person or form of dance.
The main purpose of the International Dance Day is to attract the attention of the wider public to the art of dance.
In celebration of the Day let us have a look at 5 most famous Dance moves:
1. Moonwalk: Who doesn't know about this? It is a dance move that presents the illusion of the dancer being pulled backwards while making attempts to move forward. The move became popular around the world after Michael Jackson performed it during a performance of "Bille Jean" on the television show "Motown 25: yesterday, Today, Forever" on March 25, 1983.
2. The Hockey Pokey: Also known as hokey cokey, okey cokey, or cokey cokey, it is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure, well known particularly in English-speaking countries.
3. The Hustle: It is a catchall name for some disco dances that were extremely popular in the 1970s. It has some feature in common with Swing Dance, while its basic steps are somewhat similar to the Discofox, which emerged around the same time.
4. The Charleston: This is a famous dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. One of the most popular versions is the 'Tap Charleston' which is thought to have been invented by Leonard Reed, which is the Charleston with breaks into open position to do tap steps.
5. The Robot: Although it would be best done by actual robots, this famous dance move is a constant party favorite all around the world. This move gained fame after Michael Jackson used it while performing 'Dancing Machine' with his brothers.
Here are 10 Fun facts about dance in observance of the International Dance Day 2014:
1. The 'Dancing Plague' of 1518 was a mania that hit France and killed dozens of people through heart attack or exhaustion. The disorder forced people to just dance uncontrollably until they collapsed.
2. The Longest conga dance line was set by 119,986 people in Miami in 1988.
3. Psy's megahit number 'Gangnam Style' has actually killed an English man. He reportedly overexerted himself while imitating Psy!
4. World's first 'Sustainable' Dance floor opened at Club Watt in Rotterdam, Sweden in 2008. It is said that each tile of the room sits on springs that are hooked up to generators. The harder people dance, more the springs are compressed, thereby producing more energy, which runs the LED lights in the floor.
5. Dance includes many superstitions including the expression "break a leg". When you say that to someone before a show, people believe the exact opposite will happen on stage.
6. Hindu religion is considered to be very closely related to dance and music right from the reference of Lord Shiva's Tandav dance to Goddess Saraswati's sweet music of Veena.
7. Capoeira is a mix of dancing and fighting believed to be created by African slaves that were brought in Brazil 300-400 years ago, who were prohibited from practicing martial arts.
8. It is said that Break-dance was first created as a "less lethal" form of fighting between African-American street gangs in 1970s particularly in the Bronx area of New York City.
9. Tango is considered to be the most sensual dance of modern times.
10. Dancers are generally disciplined, focused and high achievers who usually tend to be successful students and hard workers.
[ED:VS]
