We humans are natural dancers. Dances can be celebrations, or for praise, or for an audience – or just a simple act of letting the rhythm move your body. Dancers can communicate ideas, preserve cultural identities, strengthen social bonds, or just have a lot of fun. Collected here are recent photographs of us, human beings around the world, professional and amateur, in motion for all of the reasons above and more.
A dancer from the English National Ballet performing ‘Ballets Russes’ at Sadler’s Wells poses in her ‘Dying Swan’ costume designed by Karl Largerfeld on June 16, 2009 in London, England. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
Tommy Tucker and Sarina Robinson swing dance in Central Park to honor legendary Lindy Hop dancer Frankie Manning May 22, 2009 in New York City. More than 2,000 Lindy Hoppers from around the world gathered in New York to celebrate Manning’s life and mark what would have been his 95th birthday as he passed away prior this year on April 27. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
People dance under the rainbow as they refuse to let the wet weather dampen their high spirits during the Bela Music 2009 rock festival at the Borovaya airfield just outside of the Belarus capital Minsk, Saturday, May 23, 2009.(AP Photo)
Villagers dance during a ceremony for the opening of housing units in the al-Dhafir village west of Sanaa, Yemen on May 24, 2009. The houses were built by Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal for victims of the December 28, 2005 landslide in al-Dhafir. The landslide killed 65 people and destroyed 27 of the village’s 31 houses. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)
Honda’s humanoid robot “Asimo” leads pupils in a dance at a primary school during its first appearance in Wuhan, Hubei province, China on May 26, 2009. (REUTERS/Stringer)
A North Korean waitress dances with Chinese visitors at a North Korean restaurant in the Chinese border city of Dandong, May 28, 2009.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater members Antonio Douthit, Glenn Allen Sims and Kirven Boyd.
Egyptian groom Ayman Muhammad, 32, dances with his bride Mona as they take a midnight boat trip on the Nile River on June 1, 2009 in Cairo, Egypt. (David Silverman/Getty Images)
Festival visitors wear plastic bags around their feet as they dance during a rain shower at the music festival “Rock am Ring” (Rock at the Ring) at the Nuerburgring racetrack in Nuerburg, western Germany on June 6, 2009. (PHILIPP GUELLAND/AFP/Getty Images)
A dancer from the Argentine troupe Fuerza Bruta performs during opening night at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, Florida, June 10, 2009. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
Employees of a marine park perform an underwater mermaid dance routine inside a giant aquarium in Manila, Philippines on June 5, 2009. (JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty Images)
Hindu devotees perform a ritual dance before immersing an idol of the Goddess Durga into the revered Ganges River, in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, June 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Dancers of the World Roma festival Khamoro dance at the Old Town square in Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday, May 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Dancers dressed as Kumari, The Living Goddess, perform a traditional dance in Kathmandu, Nepal in this June 13, 2009 picture. A group of boys and girls from Vajra Kala Kunja dance troupe performed in public to showcase their learning of fast-disappearing Nepali traditional dance.
Monks from the Shaolin Temple in China rehearse a dance entitled “Sutra” as part of the annual Singapore Arts Festival, on Wednesday May 20, 2009.(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Doug Walker and his “New York City Float Committee” group break dance in Times Square Station (Damon Winter / The New York Times)
Dancers dressed in traditional costumes perform during a street parade in central Colombo, Sri Lanka on May 22, 2009. The parade of over 200,000 people was part of continuing celebrations to commemorate the victory of government troops over the Tamil Tiger rebels in their 25-year war.
In this photo taken on March 21, 2009, Lawrence Carter-Long tapes up his battered feet before the a performance of GIMP in New York. In GIMP, a performance choreographed by Heidi Latsky, a troupe of abled and disabled dancers explores beauty in its many forms.
