Standard and

Latin-American Dances

By: Liza Romsics 10. B

• These dances came into existence as folk dance generally, they were new music styles at the time of their development, the dancers listen to the melody and the rhythm and they follow it with their steps and movements.

Waltz:

• Slow, three-quarter rhythm standard dance. It is considered to be the mother of the present day dances. The Waltz began in southern Germany in the 17th century.  The popularity of the Waltz dance grew with the music of Johann Strauss and eventually blossomed in the 20th century.  It is the basis of many dances and is popular today all over the world.  The basic components of Waltz are walking steps and side steps. "Rise and Fall" and "Body Sway" are some of the styling characteristics which make the simplest Waltz steps and patterns elegant and beautiful.

Viennese Waltz

• The Viennese Waltz, which derived from the Austrian Landler, is an elegant fast paced, whirling dance where the partners hold each other as if in a romantic embrace.

• The Viennese Waltz is a faster paced dance than the standard waltz which also makes it somewhat more challenging to do. Like the standard waltz the Viennese Waltz incorporates a simple, elegant rotation and swinging movements, though there should be no foot rise on the inner turns. The Viennese Waltz also requires a good deal of stamina, actually as much energy is needed as for the polka.

Tango

• The origin of the word tango means the "tambor" the drum. The Argentine Rodriguez the Cuban created the tango in 1905 from the ”habanér” and the Argentine ”milonga”. The Tango is a very emotional dance.

Quickstep

• The Quick Step is a fast, happy, lighthearted dance. The footwork can be a little complex using a slow, quick, quick, slow, quick, quick tempo. Like other dances the slow steps are on the heel, but the quick Steps are on the toes.

Rumba

• The rumba comes from Cuban dancing and is the slowest of the five Latin American dances. Its style is tight with a distinct hip sway and little rise and fall from movement of the dancer's knees and ankles. The rumba, like the waltz and foxtrot, is a progressive dance, where the dancers move around the dance floor.

Samba

• It originates from Brazil where it is a national dance. People dance many versions of it at the local carnival in Rio. Their version of Samba is danced in solo. It is in fact a totally different dance from the Samba dancers’ dance as a part of Latin-American programme. Samba music is in 2/4 time with 2 beats per bar.

Paso Doble• The Paso Doble is originally

a Spanish folkdance. The Paso Doble is one of the few dances that is for the men. Depending on their interpretation she may take the part of the matador's cape, or the bull, or in some cases even the matador at different times throughout the dance. Paso doble has less hip movement than the other Latin American dances and other characteristics make it closer to the International Standard dances.

Cha-cha-cha

• A happy, carefree, cheeky, party-time dance. Like the rumba, the cha-cha-cha has its origin in Cuba. The name reflects the sounds of an instrument and the dancers' shuffling feet. Also like the rumba, the cha-cha-cha is tight and has little rise and fall.

Jive

• The jive is a dance style from African-American communities in the United States. It developed in the early 1940s and is based on the jitterbug, a kind of swing dance. At the time, "jive" was a word for meaningless talk. The style of the dance was brought to England.

• The modern jive dance has frequent knee bending and hip movement. It became the fifth Latin American dance in 1968.

Sources:

• http://www.castleschoolofdancing.com/standard.htm#Viennese

• http://www.better-ballroom-dancing.com/ballroom-dancing---slow-fox-trot.php

• http://www.ehow.com/about_5104225_latin-american-dances.html

• http://www.dancebybethtrost.com/dance_styles.html• http://www.better-ballroom-dancing.com/ballroom-

dancing---the-paso-doble.php