The terms exotic dancer and exotic dance can have different meanings in different parts of the world and depending on context. In the erotic sense, "exotic dance" is a often used to refer to practitioners of striptease

Striptease

A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...

. In a non-erotic sense, it can mean many forms of foreign or cultural dance.

Forms of exotic dancing

In a non-erotic sense, the word "exotic" applies to the fact that something is out of the ordinary or perceived by spectators as unusual. It can also apply to those dancers who master a rare or largely lost art form, including whirling dervishes, shaman

Shamanism

Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...

 dancers and religious dancers. Middle Eastern dance

Belly dance

Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...

 is often referred to as exotic dance in this way, though its use of hip/pelvic movement and isolation often results in its conflation with exotic dance in the erotic sense.

Other forms of exotic dance are aerial dance

Aerial Dance

-Aerial dance:Aerial modern dance is a sub-genre of modern dance first recognized in the United States in the 1970s. The choreography incorporates an apparatus often attached to the ceiling, allowing performers to explore space in three-dimensions...

, many forms of experimental dance, pogo

Pogo (dance)

The pogo is a dance in which the dancers jump up and down, while remaining in the same location; the dance takes its name from its resemblance to the use of a pogo stick, especially in a common version of the dance, where an individual keeps their torso stiff, their arms rigid, and their legs close...

, breakdance and all other dance forms with unconventional movements. Strictly speaking, many anarchistic dance forms in wild parties can be considered as exotic dance, when movements take place that are not used in standard or Latin dance.

In an erotic sense, the term "exotic dance" is used as a synonym for erotic dancing

Erotic dancing

Erotic dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is the stimulation or arousal of erotic or sexual thoughts or actions....

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