The aim of the study was to analyze the relation between motor abilities and performance in folk dances originating from the island of Hvar and modern social dances. Two groups of variables were used in a sample of 78 female students of the Teacher Training College from Split: 7 motor variables as a battery of predictors, and performance evaluation of 4 dances (2 folk dances, i.e. ciciliona and pašavijen, and 2 social dances, i.e. cha-cha-cha and rock-\u27n\u27-roll) as criterion variables. Canonical correlation analysis between the groups of variables yielded two canonical correlations of 0.94 and 0.73, with a level of significance of p<0.001. The first canonical correlation was based on marked determination of coordination and ciciliona dance, and the second one on explosive strength of the running type with below-average coordination and the cha-cha-cha, rock-\u27n\u27-roll and pašavijen dances. Regression analysis indicated the battery of motor variables used to be a good predictor of performance in all study dances, with multiple correlation of 0.93 in ciciliona, 0.84 in pašavijen, 0.75 in rock-\u27n\u27-roll and 0.73 in cha-cha-cha. In ciciliona and pašavijen, the latent dance structure is predominantly explained by coordination, in rock-\u27n\u27-roll by explosive strength, and in cha-cha-cha by explosive strength and speed. Discriminative analysis revealed the general dance performance to mostly depend on coordination, then on explosive strength, and to a lesser extent on speed (movement frequency). Dance is an irreplaceable educational tool in kinesiologic education of female students, among others for its considerable contribution to the development and maintenance of basic motor abilities
