Dances We Teach - page two

Probably the most popular Latin dance in the U.S., the Cha Cha Cha began as a part of the Mambo. It was so easy and so much fun, it became the rage of the early 1950's. It's infectious one-two, one-two-three rhythm demands that sitters become dancers. Everybody can learn the Cha Cha Cha, and they should.

The rumba originated from Afro-Cuban folk rhythms and became popular in the 1930's. Danced in 4/4 time, the basic step is quick-quick-slow, quick-quick-slow. This is a good dance for beginning dancers and serves as an excellent breather between salsa and merengue sets in social dancing. Rumba is considered the sexiest of the Latin dances. Like the tango, the couples dance very closely and use a lot of body language to express emotion between them. Beginning dancers can experience the closeness of partner dancing while advanced rumba dancers can master the art of body language.

There are several different styles of swing dance. East Coast Swing (sometimes called the Jitterbug) is an American Folk dance originated in the 1940's and was popularized by Swing Bands and Jitterbug Contests. Variations of Swing include Lindy hop, jive, boogie-woogie, rock & roll and shag. Basic swing involves many turns and intricate hand movements, and advanced levels can involve throws and flips. It can be very athletic and “hoppy”, or grounded and shuffling. The West Coast Swing is a bluesy form of swing danced in 4/4 time to slower tempos than most other forms of swing. This dance differs from other swing styles because it is a “plank” dance. The partners move back and forth as if on a plank, and the men are seen to push and pull the women to where they need to go. The Lindy Hop originated in Harlem in the late 1920’s and is the original swing dance from which all other swing dances (east coast, west coast, jitterbug) evolved. The lindy hop begins with a syncopated two step that is followed by separate steps for each partner, including kicks and spins.

This dance was developed in Cuba from the influx of American influence into the rumba. American Gl's danced swing moves to rumba music that was sped up, and the Cubans said they "danced like Mambos." A Mambo is a voodoo priestess. The mambo is the predecessor of cha cha cha, and many of the same steps in the latter dance can be done to the mambo rhythm. Considered a little more difficult than cha cha cha, mambo's timing sometimes confuses the beginner. However, once learned, the mambo is a favorite of the dance enthusiast. This dance is many times confused with the salsa, which is indistinguishable with regard to steps. Salsa is very closely related to the Mambo, and in fact some forms of Salsa have exactly the same footwork but moved on a different rhythm. Created by Puerto Ricans in New York City in the late 1940's, they modified the timing of the steps to occur starting at the first beat of every four counts and added ethnic styles to the existing Mambo dance.

The national dance of Brazil became the rage of Brazilian society in the 1930's but began as an exhibition dance in Paris in 1905. Movie star and singer Carmen Miranda is credited with making the dance popular in the US in the early 1940's. It is extremely popular today because it is easily adaptable to different tempos.

Paso Doble is an infrequently seen dance that originated from Spain. The movements of the man are symbolic of a matador (a bullfighter), and the woman is his cape. This dance involves many stylized dramatic movements and posturing and is one of the few dances where the male and female partners do different moves. This dance is for advanced levels and is done mostly for competitions.