# Does Anyone Really Like Watching "Folk Dancing" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834 "2013-03-24T18:51:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/1 "2013-03-24T18:51:21Z")
Maybe I am just jaded and don’t appreciate the cultural aspect, but nothing bores me faster than watching any form of folk dancing. I don’t care about the “colorful costumes” or that running commentary that claims the arm movements symbolize the calling of the gods and the swaying of the hips calls to the ocean to bring peace and tranquility or whatever nonsense this is all supposed to represent. For me, watching folk dancing is about as exciting as watching a bunch of meth heads tweaking on a dance floor. But then again, people seem to like going to these shows - there was that phase of the oddball Irish whateveryoucallit dance with their arms glued to their sides, and at every Hawaiian luau there are the hula dancers or Polynesian fire dancers, and all over the world there are folk dancing festivals and somehow they find an audience to pay to watch this. Just wondering who likes watching these folk dancers, and more importantly why? What am I, the jaded OP, missing? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/2 "2013-03-24T19:09:03Z")
Way too broad a brush, there. Some kinds of folk dancing, I like. Some kinds, I don’t. Some kinds, I don’t care about the dancing one way or the other, but will go to a show because I like the style of music that goes with it. There are as many different kinds of folk dancing as there are kinds of folk. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/3 "2013-03-24T20:31:25Z")
It’s worth noting that some people like folk music, and often the dancing comes part and parcel with the performance. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/4 "2013-03-24T20:45:13Z")
Watching, no. Doing, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/5 "2013-03-24T20:52:16Z")
I like it, and frankly, the less stylized and more “authentic” it is, the more I like it. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/6 "2013-03-24T21:06:06Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Watching, no. Doing, yes. Listening, yes. Watching, no. Doing, _hell_ no. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/7 "2013-03-24T21:09:07Z")
“pole” dancing is rather popular here…does it count as folk dancing? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/8 "2013-03-24T22:39:13Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > “pole” dancing is rather popular here..does it count as folk dancing? Maybe for pole folks. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/9 "2013-03-24T22:42:03Z")
I’ll watch just to see what happens next. Those motherf\*\*\*ing Morris dancers will try anything. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/10 "2013-03-24T23:04:30Z")
I got kicked out of Riverdance for using my arms. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/11 "2013-03-24T23:20:01Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Maybe I am just jaded and don’t appreciate the cultural aspect, but nothing bores me faster than watching any form of folk dancing. No strong opinions here, but I think a lot of people agree with you, because in Canada I used to hear the term “ethnic dancing festival” used as a derisive cliche when debating government spending on immigrant communities. (as in, “Contrary to popular belief, the money is actually helping families and not just being spent on ethnic dancing festivals…”) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/12 "2013-03-24T23:55:07Z")
I don’t know why anybody likes watching _any_ dancing. Doing the dancing I totally understand, but not the watching of. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/13 "2013-03-25T00:39:06Z")
Actually, that’s a good question for the OP. Do you enjoy watching any form of dancing at all? Because if so, the dancing you like watching is probably closely related to some form of folk dancing or another. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/14 "2013-03-25T01:32:00Z")
I wonder if dance, as an art in itself, could survive without music? Image a ballet troupe, with tiny receivers and earbuds for their music and rhythmic cues, but the audience hears nothing but the sounds of the dancers feet and the grunts and gasps as they dance and toss each other across the stage. I think this has been done as an experiment, but it doesn’t seem to have caught on. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/15 "2013-03-25T04:02:25Z")
Deaf people dance, so I’d say the answer is “yes”; the signed poetry recitals I’ve seen looked a lot like dancing, too. Then again, the rythm of the feet on the floor is an integral part of the music, in some dances (taps, zapateado…) I like strong legs on a guy. The folk dances I like best are warrior dances with lots of jumping around. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/16 "2013-03-25T04:35:47Z")
For some reason, Russian folk dances don’t bore me. Prisiadkas, polkas, real sabers. Terrific. Strut and hip-hop bore me. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/17 "2013-03-25T11:47:18Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t know why anybody likes watching _any_ dancing. Doing the dancing I totally understand, but not the watching of. Really, you’ve never seen any dancing that just made you say “WOW!” (as in either “That’s great dancing!” or “What the fuck was THAT?”) to yourself? Have you seen… [The Nicholas Brothers?](http://youtu.be/MJPOoDq82Iw) [Swing dancing?](http://youtu.be/mHANNkKBSNU) [Gene Kelly?](http://youtu.be/D1ZYhVpdXbQ) [Christopher Walken?](http://youtu.be/XQ7z57qrZU8) [Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers?](http://youtu.be/mxPgplMujzQ) [Jaan Pehechaan Ho?](http://youtu.be/IgeuUAzThto) (this is what Enid is watching at the beginning of the movie **Ghost World** ) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/18 "2013-03-25T11:48:23Z")
It depends. In Texas, there are folkloric groups who do Mexican dances–generally in colorful costumes & backed by mariachi bands. Often student groups but they have lots of spirit. The Arneson River Theater on San Antonio’s Riverwalk has a really excellent show every summer, featuring folkloric dancing, flamenco & other good stuff–with adult performers. Those Irish step dancers usually use canned music–which I tend to find monotonous. Houston’s International Festival, coming up, features lots of local & regional dance groups; I need to check out the Indian (as in India) group This year, [Brazil is the honored country](http://www.ifest.org/)–so we’ll have samba dancers. Who have been known to turn macho men into rabid fans. As a kid, we did square dancing in school. Lots of fun. The only group dancing I do regularly is the Hokey Pokey & the Chicken Dance–every time Brave Combo comes to town… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/19 "2013-03-25T12:01:11Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Really, you’ve never seen any dancing that just made you say “WOW!” Yes, but that’s being amazed, rather than being entertained by dancing. I’m okay with seeing the dancing in a Stage Musical, because there’s entertainment value in the singing and storytelling alongside it. But just seeing people dance doesn’t interest me at all, especially in a situation like _Dancing With The Stars_ or pretentious modern dance. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834/20 "2013-03-25T13:25:41Z")
The more unusual the costumes or dance moves (e.g. doing backflips in a grass skirt with a bottle of tequila on your head), the more interesting I find it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-like-watching-folk-dancing/653834.md?page=2)