Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance�modern jazz dance�emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance. Every individual style of jazz dance has roots traceable to one of these two distinct origins.  Jazz dance is frequently influenced by other dance styles and other dance styles are in turn influenced by jazz dance.  It is a faster paced dance techniquetypically danced to popular culture music.

A formalized kind of performance dance, which originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France, England, and Russia as a concert dance form.  It is a highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary. It is primarily performed with the accompaniment of classical music and has been influential as a form of dance globally.

"On the tips of the toes" and is a part of classical ballet technique made possible by specially reinforced shoes called pointe shoes or toe shoes.

A form of dance characterized by a tapping sound that is created from metal plates attached to both the ball and heel of the dancer's shoe. These metal plates, when tapped against a suitable surface, create a percussive sound and as such tap dance is both a form of dance as well as the act of playing a musical instrument.

 Primarily danced to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. This includes a wide range of styles notably breaking, locking, and popping which were developed in the 1970s by Black and Latino Americans. What separates hip-hop dance from other forms of dance is that it is often improvisational in nature.