CHILE

The national dance of Chile is called the 'Cueca'. although they have been dancing this dance for many years, it only beacme the official dance of Chile in 1979. it has grown from both African and Native American roots. It is a parody of a chicken and a rooster and the children dance with hankerchiefs above their head representing the rooster. The movements involcve circles and semicircles and is danced to unstrumental music.

JAPAN

Japanese traditional dance originated during the Edo period. Kabuki, Noh Mai, Bon Odori and Nihon Buyo are four traditional types of dance. Kabuki has been around since roughly the the seventeenth century and is danced by women wearing masks. Today all these dances are done by men though as women were no longer allowed to perform. Noh Mai is tracked back as far as the thirteenth century and are done to pieces of music being played by flutes and small drums. Bon odori is a dance used to welcome the spirits of the dead. Tools are used in this dance and vary from one region to another. Nihon Buyo is a dance actually intented for entertainment on stage. it has grown and expended throughout four centuries and is influenced a lot by a mixture of American and European culture found in Japan today.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4871363984271236306&ei=KSsNSpyWC8zg-QaIj-lm&q=traditional+japanese+dance

http://www.shelleyirishdance.com/images/links_image_2.jpg

This is what Irish dancing has developed into today!