Danse

Danse is the French noun for dance, referring to the movement of the body in rhythm, often coordinated with music. In French, related terms include danseur (dancer) and danseuse, and the verb is danser (to dance). The word also appears in English in historical and literary contexts, most famously in phrases such as danse macabre.

Dance has a long, cross-cultural history and serves social, ceremonial, and artistic purposes. In Western tradition, it traces a development from courtly and folk dances to the emergence of ballet in Renaissance Europe, which evolved into a professional concert form by the 19th century. In the 20th century, modern and contemporary dance broadened movement vocabulary, while urban styles and global forms expanded the field further. Today, dance remains a universal practice that reflects social values, identity, and storytelling.

In music, many Baroque and Classical suites featured dances that were labeled as dances, such as allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue; these pieces were often described within French-language contexts as danser or danse forms. In art and literature, danse appears in titles and motifs, notably in the Danse Macabre, a medieval and later motif that personifies the universality and inevitability of dance as a reminder of mortality.

See also Dance; La Danse; Danse Macabre.