Matt Cardy / Getty Images

The Helston Town Band leads dancers through a private home as they take part in the Early Morning Dance as part of the Helston Flora Day celebrations on May 8, 2012 in Helston, England. The dance, which starts at 7am and is the first in a series throughout the day, goes all over the town and even in and out of houses and shops.

Getty Images reports — Helston Flora Day celebrates the passing of winter and the arrival of spring. The streets of the town of Helston in Cornwall, south west England, are filled with revelers from early morning, with musicians and dancers weaving in and out of shops and houses.

The highlight is the midday Furry dance which was traditionally the preserve of the town's gentry. For this dance, the men wear top hats and tails while the women dance in their finest dresses.

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Matt Cardy / Getty Images

People dance in the early morning light as they take part in the Early Morning Dance.

Matt Cardy / Getty Images

Dancers follow the Helston Town Band as they take part in the Early Morning Dance.

Matt Cardy / Getty Images

Participants in the Flora Dance, also known as the Furry Dance, make their way through the town.

Matt Cardy / Getty Images

Participants in the Flora Dance make their way through the town.

Slideshow: Spring is in the air!

Diego Azubel / EPA

An early spring coaxes the birds, bees, flowers and humans to come out from winter hibernation to enjoy the sunshine.

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Justin Lane / EPA

Dancers perform during open auditions for the Rockettes dance company's 2012 Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on May 3. Hundreds of dancers are trying out for a few spots in the dance company.

Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

Aspiring dancers audition at Radio City Music Hall for a chance to become a world-famous Radio City Rockette in the upcoming 2012 production of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. This year will mark it's 85th season and the show will run from November 9 - December 30. 2012.

Timothy A. Clary / AFP - Getty Images

Aspiring dancers prepare to audition at Radio City Music Hall.

Justin Lane / EPA

Dancer Felicia Giunta (R), of Long Island, New York, checks her make up while waiting in line for open auditions for the Rockettes dance company's 2012 Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.

According to radiocity.com, Rockettes "must be between 5'6" and 5'10 1/2" tall" and proficient in jazz, tap, and ballet.

See more images of dancing in PhotoBlog.

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All photos by Mike Segar / Reuters

One of the largest ballroom dancing competitions kicked off this week in New York City with students and dancers from over 200 countries competing.  The event is hosted by the Arthur Murray Ballroom Dance Studios, which is celebrating its 100^th year of teaching social and competitive dancing worldwide.

Dance instructor and businessman Arthur Murray began by selling dance lessons through the mail. He would draw and sell footprints which people placed on the floor and followed the steps to learn the moves. His slogan was "If you can walk, we teach you how to dance.”

Currently there are about 270 Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studios worldwide.

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Tina Fineberg / AP

Participants of a "Soul Train" flash mob make their way along the line during a tribute to "Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius, Feb. 4, in New York's Times Square.

AP reports:

Jon Quick said 'Soul Train' inspired him to become a professional DJ.

He wore an afro wig and held up a speaker blaring disco music on Saturday as dancers bounced along Broadway near 46th Street.

Full story: Cornelius remembered in NYC as inspiring, generous

Tina Fineberg / AP

Participants of a "Soul Train" flash mob make their way along the line, Feb. 4.

Tina Fineberg / AP

"Soul Train" line flash mob participants dance, Feb. 4.

Tina Fineberg / AP

Michael Kohen, center, dances his way down the line as he takes part in a "Soul Train" line flash mob, Feb. 4.

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Kacper Pempel / Reuters

A mostly elderly crowd dances to the samba rhythms of DJ Wika Szmyt in a Warsaw, Poland club on Jan. 4.

Slideshow: DJ Granny

Kacper Pempel / Reuters

Click to see 73-year-old DJ Wika spin the tunes for her audience.

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There was something about DJ Wika Smytz that stopped me in my photo editing tracks today. She had this certain charisma and charm that made me want to see more. Photographer Kacper Pempel captured her youthful exuberance in a setting that is usually reserved for much younger generations.

If I were walking the streets of Warsaw and heard the samba styling of DJ Wika, I don’t think I could resist entering the club.

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Nam Y. Huh / AP

Michael Lieb, left, and his wife Rosyln smile during a dance therapy class for people with Parkinson's disease at the Hubbard Street Dance Center in Chicago on Nov. 5, 2011.

The Associated Press reports from CHICAGO:

The two things that have brought Michael and Roslyn Lieb closer together couldn't be more different: Parkinson's disease and dance, one slowly taking away, the other giving back in ways they never imagined.

After tremors in his right arm and leg 11 years ago led to Michael Lieb's diagnosis with the debilitating brain disease, his wife became his caretaker. But two years ago, she developed a tremor, too. The diagnosis: Parkinson's.

"I couldn't believe it. It seemed incredible to me that we both should have the disease," he said. "It came as a real shock, a real downer."

"No one in either of our families has Parkinson's," she said. "It's come out of the blue for both of us."

Now retired, the couple still love to read, go to the symphony and opera, and get together often with family and friends. Once a week, they head to an unusual Chicago dance class tailored for Parkinson's patients.

Nam Y. Huh / AP

Patients listen to assistant instructor Heidi Landgraf, center, during the class.

A nurse first recommended the Hubbard Street dance classes three years ago, and Michael Lieb figured he had nothing to lose. His wife went along — first to help Michael, now to benefit herself, too.

Nam Y. Huh / AP

Michael Lieb takes part in the class.

The tremors and stiff, awkward movements of Parkinson's hardly seem compatible with dancing. But exercise is sometimes recommended for Parkinson's patients, to improve flexibility, and brain specialists are investigating if dance offers something more.

For the Liebs, the answer is clear.

"It just lifts the spirits," said Roslyn Lieb, 69. "It does transport us, to a different planet where Parkinson's doesn't matter so much."

"We check our Parkinson's at the door and we're all one community, mutually supportive and we dance together," said her 71-year-old husband. "It's just a marvelous experience." Continue reading.

Nam Y. Huh / AP

Nacho Doce / Reuters

Deaf ballet student Raissa Goncalves and her blind classmate Vitoria Rodrigues rehearse Don Quixote at the Association of Ballet and Arts for the Blind, in Sao Paulo on Nov. 19, 2011.

Nacho Doce / Reuters

Blind ballerina Vitoria Rodrigues, member of the Association of Ballet and Arts for the Blind, stands backstage before performing Don Quixote at the Brigadeiro Theater in Sao Paulo on Nov. 26, 2011.

Dancing is challenging enough when you have all of your senses. The movements, the rhythm, the music... the audience. It is hard to imagine performing on a stage that you cannot see.

Watching your movements while surrounded by mirrors has always been an important part of training for ballerinas. These visually impaired dancers must learn their moves by trusting their other senses and their instructors. In 1995, Fernanda Bianchini embraced these challenges and created new techniques when she began offering free dance classes to the blind and founding the Association of Ballet and Arts for the Blind in Sao Paolo, Brazil. She has since expanded her teachings to include the deaf and mute.

On Reuters' photographers blog, Nacho Doce writes about the challenges he faced in order to make these pictures:

It was one of the most difficult assignments I’ve ever had. I had to learn quickly the steps of their rehearsals so as not to get in the way of their dancing. They surprised me with steps and jumps in which I feared tripping and injuring them. One of the instructors was also nervous with my position, and although I soon understood their movements I knew they could change at any time. That could have been tragic for them.

What most impressed me was seeing how a deaf-mute dancer helped a blind one, and vice versa. They helped each other by holding hands to learn classic ballet together, with extraordinary simplicity and beauty. Simplicity describes the way they behaved together, and their young age made an even deeper impact on me. Continue reading.

Nacho Doce / Reuters

Ballerina and teacher Fernanda Bianchini helps handicapped student Joyna Silva as they rehearse Don Quixote at the Association of Ballet and Arts for the Blind, in Sao Paulo on Nov. 19, 2011.

Nacho Doce / Reuters

Blind ballerina Giovanna Zuttion of the Association of Ballet and Arts for the Blind gets makeup applied before performing Don Quixote at the Brigadeiro Theater in Sao Paulo on Nov. 26, 2011.

Nacho Doce / Reuters

Ballet dancer Everton Bispo (R) and blind student Marina Gimaraes rehearse to perform Don Quixote at the Association of Ballet and Arts for the Blind, in Sao Paulo November 19, 2011.

Nacho Doce / Reuters

Blind ballerina Geyza Pereira, a member of the Association of Ballet and Arts for the Blind, pauses backstage before performing Don Quixote at the Brigadeiro Theater in Sao Paulo on Nov. 26, 2011.

Oded Balilty / AP

People outside a dance studio watch dancers perform with the curtains open for the first time in three years in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 21.

The Kolben Dance Group opened the curtains at its Jerusalem dance studio last Monday, allowing passers-by to see through the building's large picture windows as its dancers engaged in rehearsals for upcoming performances.

The move would seem uncontroversial, but the dance studio's curtains have become a symbolic front in what the Associated Press today described as a battle for the soul of Israeli society.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that the curtains had been kept closed for several years, reportedly under pressure from the local municipality and members of the ultra-Orthodox community who had also threatened the company's members. The sight of the dancers might inflame the passions of men, some believed.

Oded Balilty / AP

People are reflected in a window as they watch dancers perform in a dance studio in Jerusalem on Nov. 21.

Read more in the AP's report on the wider cultural and political conflict which pits radicalized religious activists and conservative lawmakers against secular, liberal Israelis.

Previously on PhotoBlog: Gender segregation on the rise in Israel