Dance (event)

A dance party (also referred to as a dance) is a social gathering where dancing is the primary activity. Some dance parties are held in a casual setting and open to the public, such as a rave, or those held in nightclubs and discothèques.

Other types of dance parties may be a formal or semi-formal private event which often require guests to don formal wear and have an invitation or membership within the community hosting the event, such as school dances and cotillions.

Guests of formal dances often attend in pairs, as consorts or "dates" for one another. The term "stag" refers to going without a consort to a dance organized for couples. Dances commonly take place during the evening, although some are held earlier during the daytime; such events are known as tea dances.

Casual dances are dances that do not have a formal dress requirement; these may include school and community events, raves, evening entertainments provided for guests aboard a cruise ship, and events organized for certain holidays, such as Halloween and Mardis Gras.

A school dance is a dance sponsored by a school, and may be casual or formal. Casual school dances were originally limited to Western countries, although schools in other countries are beginning to adopt such events. There are some schools, such as Arlington High School in Arlington, Massachusetts, that prohibit school-hosted dances, citing sex and alcohol problems.

One of the most significant school dances is prom, a relatively formal event normally reserved for Junior grade and Senior grade students. Some schools host a winter formal, a similar event, for the lower grades. In the 1950s, informal school dances in the United States were often called sock hops. The traditional Sadie Hawkins dance may be formal or semi-formal.

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