Art is made up of different kinds of art. As one of the arts, dance is also a very broad world, and it is also composed of different kinds, styles and styles of dances. According to its function and purpose, dance can be divided into two categories: life dance and artistic dance. Life dance is a dance activity that people carry out for their own life needs; Artistic dance is a dance for the audience to enjoy. Life dance includes: custom dance, religious sacrifice dance, social dance, self-entertainment dance, sports dance, educational dance and so on. Folk dance, also known as festival dance, is a variety of mass dance activities held by many ethnic groups in China on festive festivals such as weddings, funerals, planting and harvest. In these dance activities, the customs, social features, cultural traditions and national personality characteristics of various ethnic groups are all shown. Religion and sacrificial dance are the dance forms of religion and sacrificial activities. Mainly used to pray for the protection of the gods, drive away disasters and diseases, turn evil into good, prosper people and animals, harvest crops, or thank the gods for their gifts; Sacrificial dance is a ritual dance form to sacrifice ancestors. In the past, people used to express their memory of their ancestors or hope that their ancestors and gods would bless them. Social dance is a kind of dance activity that people engage in social communication, enhance friendship and contact feelings. Generally, it refers to all kinds of ballroom dancing at the dance. In addition, the mass dance activities carried out by many ethnic minorities in various festivals in China are mostly social activities for young men and women to exchange freely and choose their spouses. So it can also be said that it is a social dance of all ethnic groups. Self-entertainment dance is a dance activity with the sole purpose of self-entertainment. Use dance to express and vent one's inner emotional impulses, so as to obtain the full satisfaction of aesthetic pleasure. Sports dance is a new dance that combines dance and sports, exercises the body in an artistic and aesthetic way, and makes the body and mind develop in an all-round and healthy way. For example, various fitness dances, rhythmic gymnastics, discos for middle-aged and elderly people, ice dances, water dances and HI-HOP dances in China traditional martial arts, as well as sword dances, knife dances, pictographic boxing, wuqinxi and so on, which symbolize and simulate various animals and specific images. Educational dance refers to the aesthetic dance activities in schools and kindergartens, which can play a subtle role in cultivating and beautifying people's thoughts, feelings and moral sentiments, cultivating people's unity and friendship, strengthening etiquette and improving physical and mental health. Artistic dance refers to artistic creation by professional or amateur dancers through observation, experience, analysis, concentration, generalization and imagination of social life, thus creating dance works with distinctive themes, rich emotions, complete forms and typical artistic images, which are performed by a few people on the stage or square for the masses to watch. Due to the variety of artistic dances, they can be roughly divided into two categories according to different artistic characteristics.

First kind

According to the different styles and characteristics of dance, there are: classical dance, national dance, modern dance, modern dance and ballet. Classical dance: based on national folk dance, it has been refined, sorted, processed and created by professional workers in past dynasties and passed down through long-term artistic practice. It is considered to be a dance with certain demonstration significance and classical style characteristics. Many countries and nations in the world have their own unique styles of classical dance. European classical dance generally refers to ballet. Folk dance: it is a dance form created, accumulated and developed by the broad masses in the long historical process and widely circulated among the masses. It directly reflects people's thoughts, feelings, ideals and aspirations. Due to the differences in people's life and work style, historical and cultural mentality, customs and natural environment in different countries, nationalities and regions, different national styles and local characteristics have been formed. Modern dance: it is a dance genre that rose in Europe and America at the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Its main aesthetic point of view is to oppose the formalistic tendency of classical ballet at that time, which was conformist, divorced from real life and simply pursuing skills; It is advocated to get rid of the shackles of the rigid movement procedure of classical ballet, and to express the true feelings of people freely with dance movements that conform to the laws of natural movement, and it is emphasized that dance art should reflect modern social life. Modern dance (new dance): a new dance style different from the above three styles. It is often based on the needs of expressing content and shaping characters, eclectic, drawing on and absorbing dance expression means and methods of various styles and dance schools, and eclectic for our use, thus creating a unique new dance style different from the various dance styles that have been formed. Ballet: It is a highly stylized theater dance, refined and processed by professional dancers in the court. The word "ballet" was originally a transliteration of the French word "ballet", which means "jumping" or "dancing". Its original meaning is only the floorboard of actions with legs and feet as moving parts. In order to rebuild Gu Xi's dramatic ideal of integrating poetry, music and dance, French court dance masters created "ballet", which is a comprehensive dance drama form integrating dance movements, pantomime gestures, facial expressions, theatrical costumes, music accompaniment, literary scripts, stage lighting and scenery. It has dominated the western theater dance art for more than 300 years and has been more than four centuries. It has been more than forty years since 1958 was established and introduced to ballets russes.

the second type

According to the characteristics of dance forms, there are: solo dance, duet, threesome dance, group dance, group dance, song and dance, musical, dance drama and so on. Solo dance is a dance performed by a person to complete a theme, which is often used to directly express the thoughts and feelings of the characters and reveal their inner world. Double dance, two people perform the same theme dance. It is often used to directly express the communication between characters' thoughts and feelings, and to show the relationship between characters. Three people dance, three people perform together to complete a theme dance. According to its content, it can be divided into three different types: expressing a single emotion and an obvious plot, and expressing dramatic conflicts between characters. Group dance, any dance with more than four people can be called group dance. Generally speaking, it is to express a general complex or to shape the image of the group. Through the change and transformation of dance formation and pictures, as well as the development of dance movements, postures and shapes with different speeds, strengths and amplitudes, a profound poetic artistic conception is created, which has strong artistic appeal. Group dance is a relatively large dance work composed of several dances. Each dance is relatively independent, but it is unified in the same theme and complete artistic conception. Song and dance is a form of artistic performance that combines singing and dancing. It is characterized by being good at singing and dancing, being good at both lyricism and narration, and being able to express the complex and delicate thoughts and feelings of the characters and a wide range of life contents. Musical drama is a comprehensive performance form with song and dance as the main artistic expression means to express the drama content. Dance drama is a dance work with dance as the main artistic expression means, which combines music and stage art (clothing, scenery, lighting, props) to express certain drama content.

The third category

According to age levels, there are children's dances, children dance dances, teenagers' dances and middle-aged and elderly dances.