Dance scenes breathe life into stories, from lively club nights to spontaneous kitchen jigs. When writing about these moments, a common question arises: how should Dance Names be styled? Should they be capitalized, italicized, quoted, or left in lowercase? It’s a style question that isn’t explicitly covered in many writing guides, but understanding the underlying principles of proper nouns and common nouns can lead us to a clear solution.
When referring to a specific dance with a set choreography, it should be treated as a proper noun and capitalized. Think of dances like the Electric Slide or the Macarena – these are distinct routines tied to particular songs. In these cases, capitalization is key, and quotation marks or italics are unnecessary. After all, we don’t italicize or quote place names or personal names.
However, when you’re talking about a general style of dance that can be performed to various music with a matching rhythm, you should use lowercase. Dances like the waltz, salsa, or tango fall into this category. You can waltz to countless pieces of music in 3/4 time, making “waltz” a general term, not a specific, named entity.
Examples:
- Everyone joined in and danced the Electric Slide when the classic song started playing.
- She signed up for salsa dancing classes to learn new moves.
This distinction mirrors how we handle other words in English. Consider the word “officemate.” Is it one word, two words, or hyphenated? Dictionaries might not offer a definitive answer. But by looking at similar words like “roommate,” “bandmate,” and “teammate,” all closed compounds, we can logically infer “officemate” should also be one word. Similarly, applying the rules for proper and common nouns provides a solid framework for styling dance names.
While style guides might not explicitly detail dance name capitalization, applying logic and understanding grammatical conventions provides a reliable approach. By differentiating between specific, choreographed dances and general dance styles, you can confidently and correctly write about dance in your stories.
Happy writing and dancing!
