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1 Folk dance

Folk dance is a term used to encompass a large number of dances that tend to share the following attributes:

• They were originally danced in about the 19th century or earlier (or are, in any case, not currently copyrighted);
• Their performance is dominated by an inherited tradition rather than by innovation;
• They were danced by common people, regardless of whether they were danced by any sort of aristocracy;
• There is no one governing body that has final say over what "the dance" is or who is authorized to teach it. This also means that nobody has the final say over the definition of folk dance or the minimum age for such dances.

Some examples of families of folk dances would be:

• Contradance
• English country dance (Although today's ECD is a revival)
• International folk dance
• Irish dance
• Maypole dance
• Morris dance
• Sword dance
• Scottish country dance (Although the RSCDS is a governing body and country dancing in general was at first a pastime of the nobility)
• Square dance
• Russian country dance (And singing. Or singing and dancing )

2 Ethnic/Traditional dance

The terms Ethnic and Traditional dance are used when it is required to emphasize the cultural roots of the dance. It this sense, nearly all folk dances are ethnic ones. Even if some dances, such as Polka, cross ethnic boundaries (and even cross the boundary between Folk and Ballroom dance), ethnical differences are often considerable enough to speak of, e.g., "Czech Polka" vs. "German Polka".

On the contrary, not all ethnic dances are folk ones. The simplest example are ritual dances or dances of ritual origin.

3 Country dance

Country dance is a loose term for a variety of dance forms. Among these are:

Country dance overlaps with contemporary folk danceThe following dance categories are closely related to each other: Folk dance Folk dance is a term used to encompass a large number of dances that tend to share the following attributes: They were originally danced in about the 19th century or earlier (or and with contemporary ballroom dance. Most country dances and ballroom dances originated from folk dances, with gradual refinement over the years.

Some specific forms of country dance, such as English Country DanceEnglish Country Dance sometimes abbreviated ECD, is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which dates from the late sixteenth century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing". Although her time was th refer to specific folk dances. The term "country dance" first appeared in the 16th century, before any of the above-mentioned dances paragraph came into existence.

The meanings of country music and country dance were once more intertwined than they are today. Contemporary country music has roots in the various forms of dance music that traditionally accompanied country dance, but is now mostly a separate concept.

See also Country/western dance.