History Main / MagicDance

* Alfred, and indeed all his fellow Sartan, of MargaretWeis & Tracy Hickman's ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle''. {{Justified|Trope}} that the Sartan use magic runes, and drawing them on the floor by dancing them is a viable means of spellcasting.

* In ''Videogame/UtawarerumonoItsuwariNoKamen'', a noble uses thaumaturgy through a chicken dance to invoke fire magic.

* The demon prince Raid in ''Anime/MahoujinGuruGuru'' is a MagicKnight who can perform some potent magic via dancing. Unfortunately, he's BlessedWithSuck as his Magic Dances are all really ''really'' stupid. To a lesser extent, female lead Kukuri occasionally incorporates dancing in the drawing of her [[GeometricMagic magic circles]] and it's implied doing so is a natural element of her magic.

* The WhateleyUniverse's Fey used an ancient MagicDance to ''seduce'' some fire elementals into helping her, during her Christmas story.

*** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', the Dancer class is given only to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII Penelo]]. Her dances all revolve around wrecking the enemy's status, as a foil to Hurdy's [[MagicMusic Bard]] class, which improves status. Both of these are {{Call Back}}s to the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' classes of the same name, with similar abilities.

* One of the more common complaints about ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' film was that the elemental bending was portrayed in a way that less resembled martial arts, and more resembled interpretative dance.

* The sending dance in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''.
* The Songstress in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' uses dance-type moves to causes status effects on enemies.

* ''FireEmblem'' has the Dancer class that is able to dance for another unit, allowing it an extra move. Especially notable in that regard is Ninian from ''FE 7'', which is central to the plot [[spoiler: since she's a half-dragon woman who has lost almost all her energy and powers, only being able to channelise what's left through her dances and her magical rings]]. Her brother Nils does pretty much the same thing, [[MagicMusic but with a song.]]
** Another ''Fire Emblem'' Dancer key to the plot is [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Azura]], who is a major character in the game and whose dancing is so magical that [[spoiler: she dances to perform an exorcism on the King of Nohr.]]

* Mog of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has dance as his special skill, which he uses to cast a variety of [[GeoEffects terrain-based magic]]

* The DragonQuest series has a few abilities that are this trope. Depending on the game, they are usable by the player or are enemy-only.
* ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Super Smash Bros Brawl]]'' has Luigi's final smash, done by confusedly spinning in place.

* In ''[[Videogame/UtawarerumonoItsuwarinoKamen Utwawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen]]'', a noble uses thaumaturgy through a chicken dance to invoke fire magic.

* In ''Series/EmeraldCity'', East's funeral rites included much swaying and shivering on the part of Glinda's acolytes and West's employees, as well as some flailing and shaking on the part of West herself. It's unclear how much of this was required for the magic of the funeral ritual to work (Glinda and West only mention "tongue" and "[[MagicalIncantation singing her to rest]]" when they discuss the ceremony) and how much was for show, but why would they bother with the theatrics when the Wizard admitted that he opened the ceremony up to the public to reinforce their prejudice against witches? It's implied not all rituals require this (Glinda looks shocked when West starts to dance), so it may be unique to the specific ritual West performed to [[spoiler:take East's spells from her corpse]].

Compare MagicalGesture and MagicMusic. Also see FullContactMagic. May be aided by or result in SummonBackupDancers.

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* Bolorenof in ''HunterXHunter'' combines this with MagicMusic: His body has holes in his flesh that, when he dances, vibrates the wind going through them, making him a woodwind instrument. When dancing in certain ways, he produces songs that summon things to attack for him.

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* [[TropeOverdosed Naturally]], this has made an appearance in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. The {{Badass}} MagicalNativeAmerican Listens-to-Wind used dancing as a catalyst for spells against [[spoiler:the [[EldritchAbomination skinwalker]]. And [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome proceeded to "kick [its] ass up between [its] ears"]].]]

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* Aleister Crowley believed that Isadora Duncan was the best in the world at MagicDance. To be fair, on one occasion, she danced by herself, in a toga on an empty stage and the audience left praising the costuming, scenery and choreography.

A DanceBattler uses his dancing techniques as a means of fighting, overpowering his opponents with unpredictable movements, all while [[RuleOfCool looking cool]].

So, of course, there's a wizard version: FunctionalMagic or some other kind of power(s) that, instead of [[MagicalIncantation vocal recitations]] or [[GeometricMagic drawings and diagrams]], [[RitualMagic require specific body movements and rhythms]] to be activated. More often used by {{Magic Knight}}s than by {{Squishy Wizard}}s, given the more physical nature of its use.

* ''Magic Steps'', the first in TamoraPierce's ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic The Circle Opens]]'' books, is about a boy whose powers are related to dance.

* ''TabletopGame/SpheresOfPower'' has the Skilled Casting tradition that lets you use any Perform, Profession, or Craft check to cast your magic, This means that you can [[RuleOfCool breakdance someone to death]].

** The TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting also had the Spelldancer, once a favorite of the Character Optimization boards, that could increase the power of spells by dancing for a few rounds.
* Tabletop/SpheresOfPower has the Skilled Casting tradition that lets you use any Perform, Profession, or Craft check to cast your magic, This means that you can [[RuleOfCool breakdance someone to death]].
* {{GURPS}} includes dance magic as a type of limitation on magery.

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', pretty much any Performance Charm will work with dancing just as well as speechmaking, music, or any other performance. Want to stop an army in its tracks with a waltz? Go for it, and have a [[RuleOfCool 2-die stunt]] while you're at it.

* Tabletop/SpheresOfPower has the Skilled Casting tradition that lets you use any Perform, Profession, or Craft check to cast your magic, This means that you can [[RuleOfCool literally breakdance someone to death.]]

* Tabletop/SpheresOfPower has the Skilled Casting tradition that lets you use any Perform, Profession, or Craft check to cast your magic, This means that you can literally breakdance someone to death.

* SpheresOfPower has the Skilled Casting tradition that lets you use any Perform, Profession, or Craft check to cast your magic, This means that you can literally breakdance someone to death.

** Another '"Fire Emblem'' Dancer key to the plot is [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Azura]], who is a major character in the game and whose dancing is so magical that [[spoiler: she dances to perform an exorcism on the King of Nohr.]]

* The Dancer class in ''RagnarokOnline'' can cause a number of effects this way.

* A 2008 April Fool's joke for ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' claimed that a Bard class would soon be added to the game using this trope (manifesting in a GuitarHero-style minigame). More to the point, some of the ingame holidays allow players to perform dances for special benefits (such as the Ribbon Dance during the Midsummer Festival, which boosts the performers experience gain). [[http://www.wowwiki.com/Bard_(hero_class) See here for more details]].