What is Folk Dance?

When I ask this question the replies I often get conjure up an image of young children in peasant skirts, aprons and scarves, holding hands and skipping in a circle. While it might look like this on the surface, it is SO much more, a dance style which I feel has enormous value in our society today, yet is often overlooked due to lack of understanding.

Folk Dance, more recently renamed International Dance, in an effort to popularize it, is just that. The dances can teach the participants about the culture from which they are derived. It is so important in our increasingly multi-cultural society to understand those from a different background and culture.

It has always been a group activity and in this setting many life skills can be taught – teamwork, social contact and cooperation and consideration for others, all very important in a society becoming increasingly isolated through dependence on technology to communicate.

It is healthy exercise which contains a huge range of suitability for different ages, from very small children to the elderly, a huge range of levels of difficulty from simple to challenging, making it accessible and enjoyable for all.

Studies undertaken have proven its benefits, not only physical but mental and social as well.

The complex rhythms and different instruments used by many cultures add to our understanding of music and increase appreciation, knowledge and musicality.

This, to me, is what “Folk Dance” is about.