People were shocked when the Waltz was first introduced in the early nineteenth century. A man dancing with his hand upon a lady's waist? No proper lady would permit it and society matrons declared it wicked and compromising. Originating in the country folk dances of Bavaria, the Waltz did not become popular among the European middle class until the first decade of the twentieth century, remaining the cherished property of the aristocracy until that time. Yet in the U.S. where these was no blue-blood cause, it proved an immediate success and was danced by the citizenry as early as 1840. The Waltz proved its mettle by being the only classical dance to survive the "ragtime revolution," albeit with diminished popularity. With the introduction of ragtime in 1910, the Waltz slipped into second place of the public's fancy, being supplanted by the many waling strutting dancers of the ear. People who had not mastered the techniques and whirling patterns of the Waltz quickly learned the simple walking patterns, paving the was for the great ragtime rage and the birth of the Foxtrot.
Adapted circa 1912 from the stage routine of the famed vaudeville dancer Harry Fox, the Foxtrot is by far the most popular of ballroom dances. For the first time, partners were permitted to hold each other closer that at arm's length. Since 1920, the Foxtrot emphasized improvisation within the normal tempo of the music. Perhaps this is why, in the past, over 75% of all popular songs were written in Foxtrot tempo. As styled by Fred Astaire, the Foxtrot is a joyful, creative dance, yet every step is keyed to the accent and tempo of the music.
The QuickStep as it is danced today, was devised by the Englishman Frank Ford in 1927. By taking out the boisterous kicking movement of the Charleston, and by making it a dance for two instead of a solo, he kept it in the ballroom. His own descrition of the dance; "Lots of Quick-time Foxtrot with spashes of Charleston here and there to liven it up."
Along with the musical jazz form, the Lindy-Swing-Jitterbug originated in the American South. related to such memorable dances as the Charleston, Black Bottom and Shag, in the 1940's the best features of these popular dances were consolidated into the Lindy Hop which is now called the Lindy. Initially, the Lindy was performed as a modified boxstep with a distinct shuffling movement. This shuffle is what makes the faster tempo of the Lindy into a Single Lindy. The more popular Triple Lindy is danced to slower tempos. In order to survive, all dances must have a firmly established basic pattern from which to improvise. Th e Lindy has this attribute, and furthermore, can be danced expertly in a relatively small area.
In the midst of the greatest period of dance revolution in American history, 1910-14, the Tango made its first appearance. With its intriguing, asymmetrical and sophisticated patterns, the Tango added romance and suavity to the nation's dancing scene and instantly struck the fancy of a dance conscious public. The Tango has no clearly defined origin; it may have originated in Argentina, Brazil, Spain or Mexico. Descended from an early Spanish folk dance, the Milonga, and early traces of Moorish and Arabic ancestry, the Tango acquired its name in the early twentieth century in Argentina, although it was being danced under various other names through out South America. The Tango is one of the most stylized ballroom dances, and one of the most popular - perhaps because it is danced so close to the partner.
When the Samba was introduced to the U.S. in 1929, it was an overnight sensation. Like many other Brazilian dances, the music uses an amalgamation of African and Latin American rhythms adorned by expressive melodic lines. In form, the Samba is serenade; the repetitions of its melody are interrupted continually by the strumming of a guitar or other stringed instrument. The Samba's lighthearted tone and intoxicating rhythms did not remain the province of the dance idiom alone and were later taken up by serious Latin American composers.
The Rumba's origins date back more the 400 years to the African slaves brought to Cuba. In its most primitive form it was an expressive pantomime danced by the Africans to the hypnotic rhythms of elemental music. Even today in Cuba's back country, this same ritual pantomime is performed. Although the Rumba as we know it is quite different from these rituals, its African, Indian and Spanish heritage is recognizable. The Rumba was first introduced in the U.S. in the early 1930's. Danced properly it is characterized by a smooth, supple hip motion and a rather heavy walking step. Above all, the Rumba bespeaks the joy of being alive.
Like the Rumba, the Cha Cha's roots lay in Cuba where local musicians began chanting the syllable to compulsive triple rhythms. The Cha Cha gathers its flavor, rhythm and charm from the Mambo (and therefore, the Rumba); it is also a stepchild of the Lindy, being danced to the same one-two-three triple step. The Cha Cha is a geographical half-breed, springing from Latin American roots and flowering under North American influence. While closely identified with the Mambo, the Cha Cha has enough intrinsic individuality to be classified as a dance apart.
No other dance from south of the border ever attained the instantaneous popularity that the zesty Mambo did when it was first introduced. The widespread influence of the Latin American dance is evident in the use popular composers make of its driving rhythm. Love ballads are being written to a slow beat; novelty songs, to a fast Mambo beat. Across the nation, dancers who have never progressed beyond the Foxtrot and Waltz are clamoring for instruction in this unabashedly fun dance. The evolution of the Mambo is almost entirely the work of one ma; Perez Prado. During the 1930's Latin-styled dance bands increasingly came before American audiences, filling the air with Rumbas, Sambas, Tangos, etc. When Prado recorded an opus called "Mambo Jambo", the fun was on.
Both Haiti and the Domnican Republic claim that the Merengue originated in their country. According to the Haitians an early ruler of their country had a lame son who liked to dance. In order that this beloved prince would not feel self conscious about his affliction, the entire popluation took to dancing as though all were lame. The Dominicans tell how the dance originated at a fiesta that was given to honor a returning war hero. When the brave warrior rose to dance, he limped on is wounded left leg. Rather than make him feel at a disadvantage, all the men present also favored their left legs on the dance floor.
The unique characteristic of the Merengue is a step which appears to be taken with a slight limp - though not really a limp. The man steps with his left leg and the girl with her right leg, flexing the knee a bit more than usual and at the same time leaning the body slighlty to the same side. The Merengue is refered to as the "singing dance". When you consider the exhilirating brightness of the stacatto rhythm, there is nothing monotonous or routine about the Merengue. West Coast Swing is a slotted dance. It is believed that the origins of the WCS are in Lindy Hop from 1937. The slot is an imaginary area, long and thin, eight or nine feet long if danced at a very slow Tempo, but shorter if the music is at a faster tempo. The follower travels back and forth in the slot dancing straight through the man. The leader consistently moves a minimum amount (at mid-way point) to her sides, barely out of her way. She lightly brushes against him each time she passes him. Socially, it is considered good etiquette (particularly on a crowded floor) to use a fixed slot, in order to allow dancing without incident. Having danced the slot repeatedly, the couple "has a claim" on the area, and other couples usually cooperate and establish their own slot parallel with the dancers.
What is now called the Viennese Waltz is the original form of the waltz and the first ballroom dance in the closed hold or "waltz" position. The dance that is popularly known as the Waltz is actually the English or slow waltz, danced approximately at 90 beats per minute with 3 beats to the bar while the Viennese Waltz is danced at about 180 beats a minute. To this day however, in Germany, Austria and France, the words "Walzer" (German for "waltz") and "valse" (French for "waltz") still implicitly refers to the original dance and not the slow waltz. The Viennese Waltz is a rotary dance where the dancers are constantly turning either in a clockwise (natural) or counter-clockwise (reverse) direction interspersed with non-rotating change steps to switch between the direction of rotation. A true Viennese waltz consists only of turns and change steps. Other moves such as the fleckerls, American-style figures and side sway or underarm turns are modern inventions and are not normally danced at the annual balls in Vienna. Furthermore, in a properly danced Viennese Waltz, couples do not pass, but turn continuously left and right while travelling counterclockwise around the floor following each other. JIVE -To jazz musicians who were the players of swing music in the 1930s and 1940s "Jive" was an expression denoting glib or foolish talk. American soldiers brought Lindy Hop/Jitterbug to Europe around 1940, where this dance swiftly found a following among the young. In the United States the term Swing became the most common word used to describe the dance. In Englad variations in technique led to styles such as Boogie-Woogie and Swing Boogie, with "Jive" gradually emerging as the generic term. After the war, the boogie became the dominant form for popular music. It was, however, never far from criticism as a foreign, vulgar dance. English instructors developed the elegant and lively ballroom Jive, danced to slightly slower music. In 1968 it was adopted as the fifth Latin dance in International competitions. The modern form of ballroom jive in the 1990's-present, is a very happy and boppy dance, the lifting of knees and the bending or rocking of the hips often occurs. Bolero is a 3/4 dance that originated in Spain in the late 18th century, a combination of the contradanza and the sevillana. Dancer Sebastiano Carezo is credited with inventing the dance in 1780. It is in a moderately slow tempo and is performed to music which is sung and accompanied by castanets and guitars with lyrics of five to seven syllables in each of four lines per verse. It is in triple time and usually has a triplet on the second beat of each bar. A version of the Cuban bolero is danced throughout the Latin dance world under the misnomer 'rumba'. This came about in the early 1930s when a simple overall term was needed to market Cuban music to audiences unfamiliar with the various Cuban musical terms. Peabody was a Foxtrot type ballroom dance in the United States of the beginning of the 20th century. It was essentially a fast One-Step danced under lively ragtime music. It was named after a police lieutenant, a William Frank Peabody, an active dancer. The dance was characteristic of its prevalent use of the Right Outside Partner position. This peculiarity is explained by the fact that Lt. Peabody was a man of considerable girth, so that for the freedom of movement he had to keep the lady to the side, rather than in front. The Hustle is a catchall name for several disco dances which were extremely popular in the 1970s. Today it mostly refers to a unique partner dance done in ballrooms and nightclubs. It has some features in common with swing dance. In the 1970s there was also a line dance called the Hustle--which is regaining popularity as people throw '70s theme parties or schools have '70s dance performances. Based on older dances such as the mambo, the Hustle originated in Hispanic communities in New York City and Florida in the 1970s. This was originally a line dance with a Salsa-like foot rhythm, that after some fusion with swing and eventual shortening of the count to "&12 3", became the present "New York" Hustle. Argentine Tango is a social dance and a musical genre that originated in Argentina and moved to Uruguay and to the rest of the world later on. In the US, it is commonly confused with ballroom tango, though this is a later derivation. Argentine Tango consists of a variety of styles that developed in different regions and eras. Even though the present forms developed in Argentina and Uruguay, they were also exposed to influences reimported from Europe and North America. While there is a flamenco tangos dance that may share a common ancestor in a minuet-style European dance. Argentine Tango is danced in an embrace that can vary from very open, in which leader and follower connect at arms length, to very closed, in which the connection is chest-to-chest, or anywhere in between. Close embrace is often associated with the more traditional styles, while open embrace leaves room for many of the embellishments and figures that are associated with tango nuevo. Tango is essentially walking with a partner and the music. Musicality (i.e. dancing appropriately to the emotion and speed of a tango) is an extremely important element of dancing tango. A good dancer is one who makes you see the music. Also, dancers generally keep their feet close to the floor as they walk, the ankles and knees brushing as one leg passes the other. Argentine Tango relies heavily on improvisation; there is no "basic step." One of the few constants across all Argentine tango styles, is that the follower will usually be led to alternate feet. Another is that the follower rarely has her weight on both feet at the same time. Argentine tango is a new orientation of couple dancing. As most dances have a rational-pattern which can be predicted by the follower, the ballast of previous perceptions about strict rules has to be thrown overboard and replaced by a real communication contact, creating a direct non-verbal dialogue.
Nightclub Two Step (Nightclub Two-step, NC2S) was initially developed by Buddy Schwimmer in the mid-1960s. The dance is also known as "Two Step" and was "one of the most popular forms of contemporary social dance" as a Disco Couples Dance in 1978. It is frequently danced to mid-tempo ballads in 4/4 time that have a characteristic Quick-Quick-Slow beat. A classic example is the song Lady In Red.