Social dances are dances that have social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competitive and erotic functions.
A social dancing or ballroom dancing group class taught at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in The Woodlands, Texas.
Khigga is the most common social folk dance among Assyrian people.
Eighteenth-century social dance. Translated caption: A cheerful dance awakens love and feeds hope with lively joy, (Florence, 1790)
Dance is an art form, often classified as a sport, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or by its historical period or place of origin. Dance is typically performed with musical accompaniment, and sometimes with the dancer simultaneously using a musical instrument themselves.
Two modern dancers
Members of an American jazz dance company perform a formal group routine in a concert dance setting.
Mesolithic dancers at Bhimbetka
Dancers and musicians on a Sasanian bowl, Iran