From Tango to Kabuki: Dance Traditions Around the World

The World is celebrating International Dance Day. The date, 29 April, was chosen as a tribute to Jean-Georges Noverre, the creator of modern ballet, who was born on 29 April 1727.

One of the most glittering and challenging performing arts - dance has always been full of indigenous magic, traditional techniques and many other features that has made dancing incredibly popular across the globe.

You must have heard of many popular types of dance, for instance the passionate Tango from Rio de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay or mysterious dance-drama from Japan, Kabuki, which became an important part of modern culture and still attracts thousands of people who are eager to discover what their body is capable of.

Check out Sputnik's gallery to find out how people dance around the world.

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Revellers from Unidos da Tijuca samba school perform during the first night of the carnival parade at Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 8 February 2016.

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Kabuki performers take part in the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup ahead of the Pool A game at Tokyo Stadium between Russia and Japan in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, 20 September 2019.

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Hopak is a Ukrainian folk dance that originated as a male dance among the Zaporozhian Cossacks. These days
it is danced by couples and mixed groups.

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Maori warriors preform a Haka - a dance of welcome - during a Powhiri ceremony for US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta while visiting Auckland, New Zealand, on 21 September 2012. The ceremony is an ancient Maori tradition used to determine if visitors came in peace or with hostile intent.

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Whirling dervishes perform a "Sema" during one of the many ceremonies to mark the 744th anniversary of the death of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the Persian founder of Sufism who lived in the 13th century - at Mevlana Cultural Centre in Konya, Turkey, on 19 December 2017.

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Prairie Island Indian Community performs Wacipi (Pow Wow). In Dakota language, the word “Wacipi” literally means “they dance.”

CC BY-SA 2.0 / Lorie Shaull / Prairie Island Indian Community Wacipi (powow)

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Balinese islanders perform a Kecak dance at Tanah Lot, Tabanan, on the island of Bali, 29 September 2006. About 5,000 dancers took part in the moment to promote tourism on Bali which has dropped after the two bomb blast attacks in 2002 and 2005.

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Khmer classical dance is an iconic feature of Cambodian culture.

CC BY-SA 3.0 / Jadamta / Khmer classical dance

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The locals dance above Blithfield Reservoir in Staffordshire, UK, 2006.

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Flamenco dancers from Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras perform a scene from "Shadows (Sombras)" during their opening night at the City Center on 7 March 2019, during the 2019 New York City Center’s Flamenco Festival.

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Evangadi Dance, which translates into English as 'night dancing', is a traditional Ethiopian dance among the Hamar people and is deeply rooted in the country's culture.

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Andres Uran and Estefania Arango, from Colombia, compete in the Stage category final at the annual Tango Dance World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, 21 August 2019.