So, I'm trying to determine which forms of dance would be most physically demanding for weight loss and maintaining great tone.

I think Ballet and street dancing would be the best examples

Hey Bean,
Definitely agree with Ballet and Street Dancing.

Would also add competitive Ballroom Dancing (Latin and Standard), especially Quickstep, Tango, Jive, and Samba.

Zumba can be pretty demanding, but it is more a fusion of different Colombian-based dance styles such as Salsa.

Capoeira and Hip Hop can be pretty demanding too!

quote:

Capoeira

I've never heard of Capoeira? what is it like?

Hey Bean,

It's a Brazilian dance form that combine martial arts. Here are some quick links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira

You can also see some examples on www.youtube.com (search for "Capoeira")

Click here for some examples ...

This is amazing, I'm a huge fan of Brazilian music and to see the skill theses people have is remarkable.

Closest thing I can compare would be stunt dancing. ex like this behind the scene training video from Bring it On

stunt training

The remarkable thing is Capoeira seems like it's ones own ability to push the body limited without assistance.

AMAZING!!!

Thanks very much for sharing the stunt training video. Isn't it great that videos is so readily available now over the Net?

A few weeks agao, in So You Think You Can Dance (Canada) 2009, they incorporated Capoeira. The only thing is that the dancers didn't seem to have enough time to really make it look natural.

This one is a video from last year, which featured two male dancers:

Capoeira Dancing from 2008 SYTYCD Canada

But when you do see proper Capoeira done by real Capoeira dancers, it truly is amazing!

I think modern dances are really demanding. Can you consider taebo a sort of dancing?

Hi,
http://www.dancecrazy.com Salsa dance is the most demanding dance as one needs to have a good physique. Learning salsa dance steps at home will improve confidence in your abilities. You'll find that you look forward to dancing and social situations in general. ANYONE can dance, and dance well.
When you think about it, dance is actually the most natural form of exercise around, makes you feel and look great.

Hi ballroomdancer33,
Great question about Taebo being sort of dancing. I think if you define dancing as any "movement done to music", then it definitely could be considered a form of dancing, or at least dance-based martial arts exercise form. Do you take Taebo?

Hi Maaza,
Salsa definitely is demanding ... and FUN! And people of all ages can do it. It also really focuses on lead and follow, as opposed to competitive dancing which sometimes can focus too much on choreography. While choreography is great for shows and performances, it's lead and follow that truly shows the skills of the best dancers - no matter the age or body type!

I am a ballet dancer and I think it is one of the most demanding dances.