Folk dance classics and popular songs
When you think of folk dancing, many schools probably include it as one of the events at their sports days or athletic festivals, right?
I’m sure many of you actually danced folk dances during your school days.
Folk dance, to begin with, refers to dances set to traditional songs from various countries, and there are a lot of pieces used for folk dancing.
In this article, we’ll introduce a wide range of folk dance songs from around the world—from standard classics to lesser-known, niche tracks.
If you’re a school teacher, a member of a PE committee, or anyone looking to choose music for a folk dance, please use this as a reference.
Folk Dance Classics and Popular Songs (1–10)
Tatarochka
This piece may not be very well known, but it’s a recommended folk dance because the choreography is relatively simple and easy to learn.
“Tatarochka” means a Tatar dance from Russia, and both the music and the moves have an Oriental feel.
The part where you raise both hands high and shout “Yakshi” is distinctive—apparently it means “wonderful.” If you’re tired of the usual folk dances, it might be fun to try folk dances from around the world that you haven’t encountered before.
Che Che Kule
Known as a children’s play song, this piece is said to have originally been a Ghanaian folk song.
Like “Sarasponda,” its incantation-like, nonsensical lyrics leave a strong impression, making it a fun and quirky tune.
The choreography involves shaking your hips while moving your hands down from your head step by step, but overseas it seems to be enjoyed as a call-and-response song, much like “The Bear in the Forest.” It’s also fascinating how a single song keeps changing depending on the order in which it gets passed along.
Kinderpolka
This song is a German children’s folk dance tune also known as the “Kid Goat Polka.” Some say it’s an arrangement of the adult folk dance from Lithuania called “Krumpakojis,” adapted for children.
The moves are simple enough for kids, but because partners change as you dance, it’s enjoyable for adults as well.
Dances with partner changes make you imagine how, in the past, there might have been such dances in rural areas for people to find marriage partners, don’t they?
Korobushka
This piece is famous for having been used as the background music for Tetris, which was a global craze from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
It originally comes from a Russian song, said to have been composed from part of the poem “The Peddlers” by Russian poet Nikolay Nekrasov.
A dance where partners change one after another like this can really set your heart racing in your youth, can’t it? There’s also a Japanese version of Korobeiniki by Yukio Hashi, so why not give it a listen?
Mayim Mayim
Many people say that this song, “Mayim Mayim,” is the most memorable of the folk dances they did at school.
It is said to be a song celebrating the discovery of water, and “mayim” means water.
Composed in Israel in 1942, it has a melody that somehow evokes the Middle East.
The choreography currently danced in Japan is said to be the same as the original local style, and the part where everyone joins hands and moves toward the center of the circle is said to represent people gathering at a well.
La Bamba
This song became famous as the theme song for the film “La Bamba,” so I think many of you have heard it.
Originally, it was a folk dance that had long been performed in Mexico’s Veracruz region.
At weddings, couples would dance using a red ribbon and work together to tie the ribbon with their feet.
You could say it was their first cooperative task as a married couple.
Because of this, Japanese textbooks introduce it under the title “Ribbon Dance.”
Jenka
Jenka is a folk dance from Finland in Northern Europe.
The dance performed in Japan, where several people line up and hop along, is called “Letkiss,” which is said to mean “let’s dance in a line.” It’s not only danced as a dance but also used as a game: when the music stops, the leaders at the front of each line play rock-paper-scissors, and the losing team joins the back of the winning team’s line.
When Kyu Sakamoto released a record of this song in 1966 and it became a hit, it started being danced all across Japan.