Different peoples of the world have their own culture, history, religion. These features are reflected in many ways: in the style of communication, everyday behavior, of course, in choreography.
Dances of the peoples of the world convey national, cultural and religious features. They are based on the manifestation of feelings, sensations, some of them are associated with everyday processes. Their root lies in ancient times, when people made ritual movements, trying to appease the gods or subjugate the forces of nature, imitated the movements of animals before hunting, and so on. Dancing before the battle, they often tried to gather strength and raise morale. Over time, such dances lost their primitive meaning.
Dances of the peoples of the world can be divided into entertaining, imitative, cult, warlike. By the number of participants there are group, collective or individual.
Special attention should be paid to Slavic dances. They are rooted in ancient Indo-European customs. The first Slavic dances, according to a long-held belief, were among the rites of tribal knowledge, being a connecting link between the world of people and the sky. They were almost always accompanied by singing and music. Sometimes at the same time they drank a special drug that helps to switch to a specific state. A round dance was especially popular.
One Byzantine historian named Leo Deacon noted that in ancient times, the frantic dances of the Slavs often led them to exhaustion. He wrote that these dances were not only of ritual significance, but also contained many military techniques. According to him, the Slavs were fierce warriors who learned to fight with dances. Interestingly, this legacy has not been lost at all. Centuries later, such dances were reflected in the Zaporizhzhya gopak. One French traveler who visited the Sich, was surprised to note that the Cossacks could dance and sing almost all their free time. Hopak was a special dance that was used to teach combat skills with and without weapons. It includes many hits and different types of defense.
Dances of the peoples of Africa are very diverse. They contain many jumps and imitations of animals. They can be conditionally divided into military, ritual, hunting, evocative spirits associated with initiation, welcoming. Military dances occupy a considerable place in the life of Africans. Previously, with their help, young guys were taught various methods of handling weapons. The famous ngolo dance is very popular in the south and west of Africa. It includes the development of various wrestling techniques. Initially, it arose as a duel, as a result of which the winner became the husband of any girl he liked without having to pay a ransom for her. Interestingly, the ngolo, brought by black slaves to Brazil, became the basis of capoeira - a special
kind of martial arts.Dances of the peoples of the world are often of a fighting nature, as mentioned above. This also includes some Chinese taolu - sets of techniques that are practiced and practiced by practitioners of one or another type of martial art. Most likely, the Ukrainian hopak also belongs to this category.
Dances of the peoples of the world are a reflection of the beliefs, culture, history and spirituality of people. In some of them, certain knowledge or skills are conveyed in sign language . Others are purely entertaining.