Swing

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History

Swing dancing began during the Harlem Renaissance, a period of

great cultural and intellectual achievement among African Americans in
the 1920s and 1930s. The dances were generally performed to jazz
music, another burgeoning art form of the time period. The Savoy
Ballroom in Harlem was the birthplace of the Lindy Hop. In a sense the
dance was the African American response to European social dances.
However, while Latin American dances grew from a mix of Spanish
colonial forms and African beats, swing was more like a mockery of
Europe's sedate waltzes. Sure, the dance was performed with a partner,
but the wild movements were a mix of tap, Charleston and free-form
expression created as the inspiration struck. This improvisation had its
roots in Africa. However, dancing with a partner was a foreign concept in
African dance forms, so that is the enduring contribution of European
dances to swing.

Swing dancing moved beyond the black community in the 1930s. It

was viewed unfavorably by dance teachers, but they couldn't contain
what was happening in local clubs. As swing dancing's fame grew and it
spread across the United States, regional styles arose during the 40s and
50s.

Eventual variations of swing dancing included the original Lindy

Hop, Balboa, Collegiate Shag, Carolina Shag, East Coast Swing and West
Coast Swing. East Coast Swing is considered an American competitive
ballroom dance and other styles of swing dance are sometimes noted as
ballroom dances. Although each of these styles has its own distinctive
steps, one of the hallmarks of the dance remains improvisation and free-
spiritedness.

Despite being decades past the style's heyday, it still enjoys a

resurgence from time to time. Even when the dance isn't currently in
favor with trendsetters, college groups and swing dance nights at hipster
clubs keep the spirit alive. While some dancers enjoy performing to
nostalgic songs, you can find people swinging to everything from country
to hip-hop. Modern dancers maintain many of the classic movements,
but because of the form's openness to new ideas, you never know what
innovative combination you might see on the dance floor.

Modern dancers enjoy both social dancing and performance. In

addition to official DanceSport competitive dancing, local organizations
also plan performances and competitions. Social dancing usually results
in more restrained movements to prevent injury to themselves or other
dancers. It may also be more repetitive as there isn't a need to pack a lot

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of moves in a short period of time. Dancers are more likely to do
whatever feels most comfortable with the music, even if it means
performing the same spin or pass multiple times.

Basic steps:

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Waltz

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History

The peasants of Bavaria, Tyrol, and Styria began dancing a dance

called Walzer, a dance for couples, around 1750. LANDLER, also known
as the Schleifer, a country dance in ¾ time, was popular in Bohemia,
Austria, and Bavaria, and spread from the countryside to the suburbs of
the city. While the eighteenth century upper classes continued to dance
the minuet, bored noblemen slipped away to the balls of their servants.

Describing life in Vienna (dated at either 1776 or 1786), Don

Curzio wrote, “ The people were dancing mad […] The ladies of Vienna
are particularly celebrated for their grace and movements of waltzing of
which they never tire.” There is a waltz in the second act finale of the
opera “Una Cosa Rara” written by Martin y Solar in 1786. Solar’s waltz
was marked Andante con moto, or “at a walking pace with motion”, but
the flow of the dance was sped-up in Vienna leading to the
Geschwindwalzer, and the Galloppwalzer

In the transition from country to town, the hopping of the Ländler,

a the dance known as Langaus, became a sliding step, and gliding
rotation replaced stamping rotation.

In the 19th century the word primarily indicated that the dance
was a turning one; one would “waltz” in the “Polka” to indicate rotating
rather than going straight forward without turning.

The Viennese custom is to slightly anticipate the second beat,

which conveys a faster, lighter rhythm, and also breaks of the phrase.
The younger Strauss would sometimes break up the one-two-three of the
melody with a one-two pattern in the accompaniment along with other
rhythms, maintaining the ¾ time while causing the dancers to dance a
two-step waltz. The metronome speed for a full bar varies between 60
and 70, with the waltzes of the first Strauss often played faster than
those of his sons.

Shocking many when it was first introduced, the waltz became

fashionable in Vienna around the 1780s, spreading to many other
countries in the years to follow. It became fashionable in Regency period.
The waltz, and especially its closed position, became the example for the
creation of many other ballroom dances. Subsequently, new types of
waltz have developed, including many folk and several ballroom dances.

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Basic Steps:

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Foxtrot

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History

According to legend, he was unable to find single female dancer

capable of performing the more difficult two-step. As a result, he added
stagger steps (two trots), creating the basic Foxtrot rhythm of slow-slow-
quick-quick. The dance was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye
of the talented husband and wife duo Vernon and Irene castle who lent
the dance its signature grace and style.

“Get Together; Fox trot”, however, had been published in 1905.

W.C. Handy (“Father of the Blues”) notes in his autobiography that

Noble Sissle told a story that Handy’s Memphis Blues was the inspiration
for the Fox Trot., Jim Europe, the Castle’s music director, would play
slowly the Memphis Blues during breaks from the fast paced Castle Walk
and One-step. The Castles were intrigued by the rhythm and Jim asked
why they didn’t create a slow dance to go with it. The Castles introduced
the “Bunny Hug” in a magazine article. They went abroad and in mid-
ocean sent a wireless to the magazine to change the “Bunny Hug” to the
“Foxtrot

It was later standardized by Arthur Murray, in whose version it

began to imitate the positions of Tango.

At its inception, the Foxtrot was originally danced to rag time.

Today, the dance is customarily accompanied by the same Big band
music to swing dance is also danced.

From the late teens through the 1940s, the foxtrot was certainly
the most popular fast dance and the vast majority of records issued
during these years were foxtrots. The waltz and tango, while popular,
never overtook the foxtrot. (Even the popularity of the lindy hiphop in the
1940s didn’t dent the foxtrot because the foxtrot could be danced to
those lindy hop records, as well.)

When rock and roll first emerged in the early 1950s, record
companies were uncertain as to what style of dance would be most
applicable to the music. Famously, Decca records initially labeled its
rock and roll releases as “Fox trots”, most notably “Rock around the
clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets. Since that recording, by some
estimates, went on to sell more than 25 million copies, “Rock Around the
Clock” is technically the biggest-selling “Foxtrot” of all time.

Over time, Foxtrot split into slow (Foxtrot) and quick (quickstep)
versions. In the slow category, further distinctions exist between the
International or English style of foxtrot and the continuity American

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style, both built around a slow-quick-quick rhythm at the slowest tempo,
and the social American style using a slow-slow-quick-quick rhythm at a
somewhat faster pace.

Basic step

The fox trot basic or "magic

step." He steps forward, forward, The woman's steps in the fox
side, close. The timing is slow, trot basic.
slow, quick, quick.

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Cha-cha

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History

The dance teacher Pierre Zurcher Margolie ('Monsieur Pierre', who

partnered with Doris_Lavelle) from London visited Cuba in 1952 to find
out how and what Cubans were dancing at the time. He noted that this
new dance had a split 4th beat, and to dance it one started on the
second beat, not the first. He brought this dance idea to England and
eventually created what is known now as Ballroom dance cha-cha-cha.
The validity of his analysis is well established for that time, and some
forms of evidence exist today. First, there is in existence film of Orquesta
Jorrin playing to a cha-cha-cha dance contest in Cuba; second, the
rhythm of the Benny More classic Santa Isabel de las Lajas written and
recorded at about the same time is quite clearly synchopated on the
fourth beat. Also, note that the slower bolero-son ("rumba") was always
danced on the second beat.

Basic steps:

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Tango

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History

American style tango’s evolutionary path is derived from Argentina

to U.S., when it was popularized by silent film star Rudolph_Valentino
in1921, who demonstrated a highly stylized form of Argentine tango "The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)". As a result, the Hollywood style
steps mixed in with other social dance steps of the times began this
branch away from the Argentine style. Meanwhile, the tango was also
making its own inroads into Europe.

Following the English standardization of their version of Tango,

Arthur Murray, a ballroom dance instructor in the U.S., tried his own
hand at standardizing the ballroom dances for instruction in his chain of
social dance schools. Consequently, his tango syllabus incorporated
steps with Argentine, Hollywood and socially popular influences and
techniques. This looser social style was referred to as American style by
the English.

Argentine tango made its way to Europe and gained popularity

particularly in Paris. As the European dancers enjoyed the music and
passion of the dance, they began to inject their own culture, style and
technique. In an effort to teach a standardized version of the tango, the
English eventually codified their own version of tango for instruction in
dance schools and for performance in competitions in 1922. The
resulting style was referred to as English style, but eventually took on
the name International style, as this became the competitive ballroom
version practiced around the world.

Eventually, championships in the international style tango were

organized all over Europe with numerous participating countries.
Adjudicators were able to judge against a standardized syllabus and
book of techniques, thereby creating a more objective means of picking
the champions, even though artistic interpretation remains an important
element of competition.

Initially, the English dominated the International style tango, but

eventually, technicians from other backgrounds, most notably the
Italians, have chipped away at the English standard and created a
dynamic style that continues to raise the competitive bar.

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Basic steps

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L.A. Walks Dance

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History
It originally came from Texas, U.S.A. it uses country dance steps
with its style using forward, backward, sideward right and left. L. A. walk
attained its popularity among ballroom enthusiast because a partner is
not needed.

Basic Steps

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La Crumba

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History
It originally came from Cuba. It uses quick steps that everyone can
dance. LA Crumba attained its popularity along with other ballroom
dances like salsa, samba, rumba, mambo, jive, and quick step.

Basic Steps

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Boogie

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History
It is a jazz piano style characterized by sustained rolling eight
beats to the bar off in the hand, a fast rhythmically intense version of
blues guitar. It was played as dance, music in honky-tonks or as
entertainment given by apartment tenants. The style did not reach wide
popularity until the mid-1930 when it was promoted by the jazz record
producer, John Hammond, after hearing a recording of”Honky Tonk
Train Blues”/ he sought out its composer, Mead Lux Lewis, who was
working in a Chicago car wash. Lewis made many records for Hammond
as Pine Smith an Ammons did. They formed a boogie-woogie trio and
played in Carnegie Hall at the height of the craze of the late 1930.

Basic Steps

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Quick step

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History

The Quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the

Foxtrot, Charleston, Shag, Peabody, and One step. This dance is English
in origin and was standardized in 1927. The Quickstep now is quite
separate from the Foxtrot. Unlike the modern Foxtrot, the man often
closes his feet, and Syncopated step are regular occurrences as was the
case in early Foxtrot. In some ways, the dance patterns are close to the
waltz, but are danced to 4/4 time rather than 3/4 time.

This dance gradually evolved into a very dynamic one 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 compared to other dance music.

By the end of the 20th century the speed of Quickstep as done by

advanced dancers has increased even more, due to the extensive use of
steps eight note durations. While in older times quickstep patterns were
counted with "quick" (one beat) and "slow" (two beats) steps, many
advanced patterns today are cued with split beats, such as "quick-and-
quick-and-quick-quick-slow".

Basic Steps

Man's steps
Step1. Stand in closed dance position on your left foot with your right
foot free, facing back to diagonal center.
Step2. Count one, two (say “slow”--two beats); rotate slightly to the left
and take a step back onto your right foot, knee bent.
Step3. Count three (say “quick”--one beat); step to the side on the ball of
your left foot.
Step4. Count four (say “quick”); bring your right foot to your left and
change weight to the ball of your right foot. Both legs should be fairly
straight, with the knees slightly flexed. At this point, you should be
facing the wall.
Step5. Count five, six (say “slow”); step forward and slightly to the side
on your left foot, stepping on the ball of the foot and then sinking softly
onto the heel with a bent knee. Keep your left side forward so you end up
in outside partner position. You should now be moving diagonal wall.

Woman's steps
Step1. Stand in closed dance position on your left foot with your right
foot free.
Step2. Count one, two (say “slow”--two beats); rotate slightly to the left
and take a step forward onto your left foot, heel first and then roll onto
the ball of the foot, knee bent.
Step3. Count three (say “quick”--one beat); step to the side on the ball of
your right foot.
Step4. Count four (say “quick”); bring your left foot to your right and
shift your weight to the ball of your left foot. Both legs should be fairly
straight, with the knees slightly flexed.
Step5. Count five, six (say “slow”); step back and slightly to the side on
your right foot. Step on the ball of the foot and then sink softly onto the
heel with a bent knee.

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Samba

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History
The Samba, the national dance of Brazil, made its debut in the
U.S. in the early 1940's. The most important distinguishing
characteristic of the Samba is its vertical bouncing action. As in the
other Latin dances, ball steps are taken along with knee action and body
sway. The basic rhythm is “slow—a—slow” or “one—a—two.”

Basic steps

Man's Part

Step1. Begin with the closed dance frame.

Step2. Bend your right knee and step forward on your left foot on count
1.

Step3. Pause on count 2.

Step4 .Bend your left knee and step forward and to the right with your
right foot on count 3.

Step5. Bring your left foot next to your right foot on count 4 and bend
your right knee as you transfer your weight to your left foot.

Step6. Repeat Steps 2 through 5, this time stepping back on your right
foot and to the left with your left foot.

Woman's Part

Step1. Begin with the closed dance frame.

Step2. Bend your left knee and step back on your right foot on count 1.

Step3. Pause on count 2.

Step4. Bend your right knee and step back and to the left with your left
foot on count 3.

Step5. Bring your right foot next to your left on count 4 and bend your
left knee as you transfer your weight to your right foot.

Step6. Repeat Steps 2 through 5, this time stepping forward on your left
foot and to the right with your right foot

Paso Doble (“two step”)

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(South France)

History
Originating in South France, the Paso Doble is mostly a competitive Latin
style dance, but it is sometimes danced at social events in Germany,
Spain and France. Similar to International Standard footwork, the

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footwork in Paso Doble is composed of forward steps with the heel leads.
Paso Doble has less hip action than other International Latin dances.
Paso Doble uses music that is played at bullfights. The man plays the
role of the matador while the lady plays the role of the matador's cape,
the bull or a flamenco dancer.

Basic steps

Lead Steps to the Basic

With the dancers in a rigid and closed dance frame, lead's left
hand clasping the follow's right held out from the body, and his right
hand at her back, her left hand held at his bicep, the dancers need to
keep a rigid and close hold throughout the steps.

The lead begins facing line of dance and steps forward with the left,
letting the body rotate to the center of the dance floor as the right foot
steps ahead. Remaining on the balls of the feet, beats 3-8 are stepped in
a chasse.

The next eight beats begin with one of the "cape" moves, as the
man takes three steps in a tight, counterclockwise circle, finishing off the
last beats with side steps back against the line of dance.

All of these moves should be sharp and quick, with the chest and
head held up and out epitomizing "pride and dignity."

Follow Steps to the Basic

The follow basically mirrors the steps of the lead, moving

backwards in the tight circle, using the motion to lend the impression of
a flowing cape to the traditionally long skirts worn by the woman for the
paso doble. The dance is very intensely connecting between the two, with
eye contact and physical contact lending an urgent tension between the
two dancers.

Rumba (Africa / Cuba)

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History
Not only is the Rumba the most popular Latin slow dance in
America, it is also the #1 dance chosen by wedding couples. In addition,
Rumba is the foundational dance of all the other Latin and American

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Rhythm dances. Cuban action (which makes Latin dances look Latin) is
an important characteristic of this dance. The basic rhythm of the
Rumba box is “slow—quick—quick.” The list of Latin dances from slow to
fast is: Bolero, Rumba, Cha Cha, Mambo and lastly Jive.

Rumba footwork consists of smooth toe-heel staccato action. This

footwork along with Cuban motion, gives Rumba its characteristic hip
moving action. The Cuban action develops naturally from alternately
bending and straightening the knees. Posture in Rumba is more forward
toward your partner than it is in the ballroom dances. In addition, strong
Latin arm styling will give your Rumba a fantastic Latin flare.

Basic Steps

Step1

Stand up straight, take a deep breath, and face your partner. If

you are a woman, hold up your right hand, and put your left hand lightly
on the man's right shoulder.If you are a man, grasp the woman's hand
lightly in your left hand, and put your right hand at the small of her
back, above the waist.

Step2

Dance quickly. Rumba is danced in quick, light steps with

movement across the dance floor and tight turns. Its basic step is in the
shape of a box, done half at a time, and counted slow-quick-quick, slow-
quick-quick. If you are a woman, start your basic rumba box step by
picking up your right foot and moving it back only about four inches. Put
your weight on your right foot. This is your first slow step.Pick up your
left foot, pull it back to meet your right foot and then move it to your left
about four inches. Put it down on the dance floor and shift your weight
to it. Bring your right foot to meet your left foot. Those were your next
quick-quick steps.

Step3

Start your basic rumba box step by picking up your left foot and
moving it forward about four inches if you are the man. Put your weight
on your left foot. This is your first slow step.Pick up your right foot, and
push it forward to meet your left foot and then move it to your right
about four inches. Put it down on the dance floor and and shift your
weight to it. Bring your left foot to meet your right foot. Those were your
quick-quick steps.

Step4

Start to complete your first box step in rumba by stepping forward

about four inches with your left foot if you are the woman. This is your
first slow step.Pick up your right foot, push it forward to meet your left
foot and then move it to your right about four inches. Put it down on the
dance floor and shift your weight to it. Bring your left foot to meet your
right foot. Those were the second set of quick-quick steps to complete
your rumba box.If you are a man, pick up your right foot and move it
back about four inches. Put your weight on your right foot. This is your
slow step to complete your basic rumba box. Pick up your left foot, pull it

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back to meet your right foot and then move it to your left about four
inches. Put it down on the dance floor and shift your weight to it. Bring
your right foot to your left foot. Those were the second set of quick-quick
steps to complete your basic rumba box.

Step5

Sway those hips! Remember, each time you take a sideways step,
sway your hips just like a very fast pendulum. The more you can put
your weight forward on your toes, and dance in a light, choppy fashion,
the easier the hip movement will be, and the more expressive the dance will
be to onlookers.

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