In many forms of music worldwide, rhythmic clapping enhances drums to provide a "handy," human form of percussion. Rhythmic hand-clapping (Palmas) by singers, dancers and even the audience, forms an essential element of Spanish Flamenco. Thousands of miles east, Qawwali, a Pakistani Sufi devotional music, features an intense hand-clapping chorus. Usually composed of five or  six musicians sitting cross-legged, this chorus usually positions itself in a row behind the lead singer, background singers and harmonium players. 

Forms of folk music and dance far and wide depart from the common "shake the hips" moves and focus instead on the hands. In Uzbekistan and other Central Asian nations, dancers tell stories with their hands, using motions that express elements of a clear narrative. In Classical Indian dancing there are over fifty hand and finger gestures called Mudras which communicate specific events, ideas or emotions.