12 traditional dances from around the world

Whether you're synchronized in Mongolia or twirling in Turkey, Gloria Estefan's words still ring true: The rhythm is gonna get you

Traditional dances
Sarah Eberspacher's avatar
Lauren Hansen's avatar
By ,
last updated

Russian Cossacks perform during the annual Mansky festival, near the Mana river in Russia. (REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin)

Members of a local troupe perform during the commemoration of the Algerian War of Independence in Setif, Algeria. (REUTERS/Louafi Larbi/CORBIS)

Bedouins dance during the Sanaa Summer Festival in Sanaa, Yemen. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Dancers perform at a hotel in Honiara, Solomon Islands. (REUTERS/Daniel Munoz)

Traditional Tsam folk dancers perform in the mountains south of Mongolia's capital city Ulan Bator. (Kieran Doherty/In Pictures/Corbis)

Belarusian women take part in the Rusalle festival (the holiday of mermaids) in the village of Sosny, Belarus. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko)

Irish girls take part in a traditional Irish step dance in a Galway courtyard. (Barry Lewis/In Pictures/Corbis)

Women perform at a traditional wedding ceremony in the village of Galicnik, Macedonia. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

A widow dressed as the Hindu god Krishna dances during the Janmashtami festival in Vrindavan, India. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood)

People watch the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in England. (REUTERS/Darren Staples)

Women in traditional dress commemorate El Salvador's Independence Day. (REUTERS/Ulises Rodriguez)

The "Whirling Dervishes," or Sufi Whirling, dancers perform in Turkey. (MORANDI Bruno/Hemis/Corbis)

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.

Latest