Flamenco is very popular in southern Spain. It begins with guitar music and clapping（击掌）and then dancers join the performance. Sometimes a woman dances alone and sometimes she dances with a man. The woman always wears a long, colorful dress. She moves her arms and hands slowly but her feet move in fast difficult steps. The man often wears black. Both dancers click their shoes on the floor when they dance around each other.
Cossack dances are from Russia and Ukraine. They are very energetic — some are more likegymnasticsthan dancing! Dancers have to be very fit because they jump very high and kick their legs up and down. They often jump over swords（剑）, The movements are similar to traditional Cossack activities, for example, sword fighting and getting on and off horses.
Limbo dancing is first from West Africa but today it is an important part of celebrations in the Caribbean. Young people have to dance under a pole（杆）. The pole is often on fire and the dancer mustn't touch it! After a successful "limbo", they put the pole lower and do it again. Some dancers can dance under a pole just twenty centimeters off the ground!
Mask（面具）dances are important for the Dogon people in Mali. Each village makes different masks. They are often huge and colorful. There are masks of people, monsters or local animals like crocodiles and monkeys. Mask dancers are always men and they dance to the sound of drums for hours after the death of a person in the village. Today, Dogon villagers also perform the dances for tourists.
