Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an imagination form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting. Dance is also dependent to elucidate methods of non-verbal communication (see chassis language) between humans or animal group (bee dance, patterns of behaviour such as a mating dance), ambulation in inanimate objects (the leaves danced in the wind), and cocksure musical forms or genres. In sports, gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are dance disciplines while martial arts kata are often compared to dances.

Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic, artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movement (such as folk dance) to virtuoso techniques such as ballet. Dance can be participatory, social or performed for an audience. It can also be ceremonial, competitive or erotic. Dance movements may be without significance in themselves, such as in ballet or European folk dance, or Ladies Latin Dance Shoes have a gestural vocabulary/symbolic logical order as in many Asian dances. Dance can embody or express ideas, emotions or tell a story.