Back

Latin

Cha-Cha

Cha Cha is a rhythmical Latin dance which originated in the 1940's as a modified form of Mambo. It's fun, energetic, sexy and flirtatious, easily distinguished from other dances by its addictive "Step, Step, Cha Cha Cha" rhythm. The proper count is "2, 3, cha-cha-cha" or "2, 3, 4 and 1".

Swing/Jive
 Jive is a dance style in 4/4 time that originated among African-Americans in the early 1940's. It is a lively and uninhibited variation of the jitterbug. Many of its basic patterns are similar to these of the East Coast Swing with the major difference of highly syncopated rhythm of the triple steps, which use straight eighths in ECS and hard swing in Jive.

Samba
 Samba is a lively, rhythmical dance of Brazilian origin in 2/4 time danced under the Samba music. However, there are three steps to every bar, making the Samba feel like a 3/4 timed dance.The basic movements are counted either 1-2 or 1-a-2, and are danced with a slight downward bouncing or dropping action. This action is created through the bending and straightening of the knees, with bending occurring on the beats of 1 and 2, and the straightening occurring on the "a".

Mambo
 Mambo is a Latin dance of Cuban origin that corresponds to mambo music. It is rhythmically similar to the slower bolero, though it has a more complex pattern of steps. Mambo is danced in 4/4 meter at a speed of around 188 beats per minute (45-47 measures per minute). The steps are performed with Cuban hip motion, a weight change while bending the knee - this will result in the hip motion which is typical for Salsa. In mambo however this move is made to appear more sudden and accentuated.

Rumba
 A Rumba is generally considered to be a medium-tempo 4/4 Latin ballad, although the American style Rumba tends to be slightly more upbeat and rhythmical, at a tempo of 32-36 mesures per minute. The Latin percussion section punctuates the music with syncopated accents, while bass, guitar and piano keep a steady beat and fill in the harmony. A singer or instrumental soloist usually takes the melody.

West-Coast Swing

West Coast Swing is a partner dance derived from Lindy Hop. It is characterized by a distinctive elastic look that results from its basic extension-compression technique of partner connection, and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor. Within the spectrum of partner dances, West Coast Swing is one of the most improvisational.

Paso Doble

Pasodoble is based on music played at bullfights during the bullfighters' entrance (paseo) or during the passes (faena) just before the kill. The leader of this dance plays the part of the matador. The follower generally plays the part of the matador's cape, but can also represent the bull or a flamenco dancer in some figures. Because of its inherently choreographed tradition, ballroom Paso Doble for the most part danced only competitively, almost never socially — or at least not without sticking to some sort of previously-learned routine.
Standard


Waltz

Waltz is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, flowing movements, continuous turns, and rise & fall. Graceful and elegant, Waltz dancers glide around the floor almost effortlessly. At 28-30 measures per minute, the tempo is slow at best, but the expressive quality of the music often invites very powerful and dynamic movement from dancers.


Foxtrot

The international style Slow Foxtrot, or "SlowFox", is a smooth progressive dance characterized by graceful, flowing movements across the dance floor. Continuous foot passing actions, heel turns, weaves and fallaways are staple movements of the Foxtrot. It is a difficult dance to master, for even the most basic patterns are technically demanding.

Tango

Tango is earthy and dramatic. Although walking movements dominate, Tango walks, having a "stalking" or "sneaking" character, are unlike the walks of other ballroom dances. Movements are sometimes slow and slithery, and other times sharp and stacatto, such as a quick foot flick or a sharp head snap to promenade position. Tango has the same counter clockwise flow of movement around the dance floor, but with a lesser sense of urgency in comparison to the smoother and more continuous ballroom dances. American Style Tango, especially at highly-developed skill levels, makes great use of open and alternate dance positions to further showcase Tango's dramatic nature.

Quickstep
 This dance gradually evolved from the 1920's into a very dynamic dance with a lot of movement on the dance floor, with many advanced patterns including hops, runs, quick steps with a lot of momentum, and rotation. The tempo of quickstep dance is rather brisk as it was developed to ragtime era jazz music which is very fast paced comparative to other dance music.

Viennese
Waltz

Traditionally, the name Viennese Waltz refers to a very specific musical genre: The relatively fast Waltzes of the the Romantic era in Vienna. The music is usually written in 6/8 time at a tempo of 29-30 measures per minute, although it is sometimes written as a fast 3/4 at 58-60 measures per minute. It is almost always instrumental, written for orchestras of varying sizes. The most well-known of all composers of Viennese Waltz music is Johann Strauss, responsible for such notorious works as the Blue Danube and Tales From the Vienna Woods.
But the music of Johann Strauss and similar composers of the 1800's only acounts for a fraction of the music which is popular these days for dancing the Viennese Waltz. Dancers are enjoying many different styles of fast 6/8 Waltz, much of which is not Viennese at all. The music can be instrumental or vocal, Classical, Celtic, Country or even a "Top 40" hit.

Back