Dance (music) - Definition and Overview

Dance as a musical form is a smaller musical composition intended for the presentation of dance. It can be used as an accompaniment for actual dance, but its main purpose is music as such.

Dance can be part of a larger composition, such as symphony or ballet. In this case it is similar to the part of a libretto that tells about a dance that happens according to the plot.

Some well-known dances in music

• Sabre Dance by Aram Khachaturian within ballet "Gayane").
• Czardas in Hungarian Rhapsodies by Ferenc Liszt
• Numerous pieces named Slavonic Dance (#1, #2,...#10,...), by Antonín Dvořák
• Habanera in Carmen by Georges Bizet
• Spring Khorovod, Dance of the Earth, Sacrificial Dance in The Rite of Spring ballet by Igor Stravinsky

See also: Dance music