DANCE DESCRIPTIONS about dance styles:AMERICAN and INTERNATIONAL STYLE DIFFERENT DANCE STYLESabout the level of DanceSport classes: |
Cuban MotionThis class works on the technique of moving one's body to Latin music. It is helpful to anyone studying Latin dancing, whether at a social or competitive level. The class is open to all levels, and it makes an ideal make-up class for anyone who misses one class within the course of the cycle. Real Cuban Motion is not just swiveling your hips - this class shows you how the movement originates within the center of your body, and how, as a result, your whole body (shoulders, ribs, hips and knees) moves in an appropriate way to the rhythm of the music. Salsa/Mambo, ShinesThis is one
of the most popular social dances in New York nowadays, as there are
plenty of Latin clubs, and plenty of great Latin dancers! The cutting
edge of development for Salsa music is in NYC and Florida, both areas
with large Latin communities. Salsa works on the basis of Mambo - a
pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. At this
school, we call it Salsa if the pattern of steps begins on the
"one" beat of the music, and Mambo if it starts on the
"two" beat. Salsa is a more contemporary name for the same
step pattern, and came about when dancers started mixing up Mambo with
Hustle steps. Rumba and Cha ChaOriginally,
the Rumba was a lively, peppy dance similar to Mambo in its feel. Over
the years it has changed, and is now the name of a slow and romantic
Latin dance. Inspired by African rhythms and Latin melodies, the
Americanized version of the Cuban Rumba is the basis for the Mambo and
Cha Cha. The Rumba is a pre-requisite for good Latin dancing, and
helps sharpen your sense of rhythm, timing and muscle control. MerengueMerengue is a simple, fun dance with origins in the Dominican Republic. The simple march tempo is easy to hear and feel, and lends itself to a spontaneous, improvisational style of dance. The music is charming and happy, and often contains clever jokes or puns in Spanish. Learning the Merengue is a good way to start familiarizing yourself with Cuban Motion, which is the way that your body moves in all the Latin dances. Our Salsa, Merengue classes spend half the class time on the Merengue, and the other half on the Salsa. SambaSamba is a Latin dance with origins in Brazil. In Brazil, there are many different types of Samba, including more elegant Salon dancing, and the wild, uninhibited popular dancing associated with Carnival. Carmen Miranda is generally credited with bringing Brazilian rhythms to the United States and Europe, and since then the Samba has undergone a metamorphosis, as the steps became stylized and standardized. Samba has very distinctive and varied rhythms occurring simultaneously within every song, which helps to build richness in the music and excitement in the listening. It is often called the "South American Waltz", as it features a "rise and fall" type of motion which is associated with waltz. Swing/Lindy, Savoy Swing, West Coast Swing and JiveThe Swing
swept across the US in the early '30s, and was very popular through
the '40s. (Remember "Swing Kids", the recent movie about II
World War times?) Characterized by a carefree, relaxed style, the
Swing soon came to represent a whole generation and time, when Big
Band music was popular and musicians were judged by how well their
music could "swing". Single step, double step and triple
step versions make Swing a dance easily adaptable to a variety of
tempos of music, from moderately slow to very fast. Swing is a highly
adaptable dance, going equally well with Big Band type music,
rock-and-roll music, and many Motown songs. Swing music is generally
up-tempo and bouncy. (The same music style, at a slower tempo, is
danced as a Foxtrot.) HustleRemember the '70's? John Travolta in the white polyester suit in Saturday Night Fever? Well, that was the Hustle, but just like a lot of other things have changed in the last 20 years, the Hustle has changed a lot, too. The Hustle was born in New York's Latin community. Young Latinos were born in a culture where dancing together was the norm, but they wanted to dance to more contemporary music than the Mambo of their parents. Slowly the Latin Hustle was developed and emerged as a club style. The mainstream young people caught on to the music, and the dance style, and Hustle quickly became hugely popular, all over America and Europe, fueled in part by the movie. As hustle developed, many different styles emerged. In the late
'70's, with the emergence of punk rock and the anti-disco movement,
the hustle faded in popular culture -- but it never died! The hustle
fanatics of the '70's never gave up on the dance, and it retained a
cult popularity at underground clubs through the '80's. During this
time, hustle kept developing and changing, and the hustle that is
danced today bears little resemblance to the hustle of the '70's.
Hustle is danced to the contemporary pop dance music of the last 20
years. It is a fast, smooth dance, with the lady spinning almost
constantly, while her partner draws her close and sends her away. It
is a challenging dance, with a rhythmic pattern which plays with the
timing of the music, rather that following it exactly. Hustle is
considered an Authentic Style dance, and DanceSport is one of the
places where Hustle stays alive and keeps growing. Many of the
original Hustle dancers of the New York hustle scene continue to come
to our Monday night Hustle party, where some of the best dancing in NY
is on display, especially late in the evening. Foxtrot, Quickstep and PeabodyThe Foxtrot
has been America's most popular dance since 1913. Introduced by a
Vaudevillian named Harry Fox, it quickly became the standard of social
dancing. Foxtrot is a great dance for beginners, as it teaches the
novice variety, maneuverability, and how to combine steps easily. The
music for Foxtrot is any slow to moderately slow Big Band or pop music
song, or "slow dance". Most pop music is written in
four/four timing, which is Foxtrot's rhythm (four beats to a measure
of music). The mantra for Foxtrot is the classic dance teacher's
phrase: "Slow, Slow, Quick, Quick". Much of our popular
music is Foxtrot music, and it's a nice, slow, easy dance during which
a couple can even have a pleasant conversation. This is the classic
dance for wedding receptions and social events, and wedding couples
usually choose either a Foxtrot or a Waltz to be their first dance
together, predicting a lifetime of slow, easy, romantic cuddling (we
hope)! Waltz, Viennese WaltzWaltz is
another very popular dance. It might be the most popular dance of all
time, since it is considered the forerunner of popular social dancing.
Developed in Southern Germany in the 17th Century, Waltz's popularity
as a social dance blossomed with the music of Johann Strauss (think of
the Blue Danube, and other famous waltzes). Before the advent of the
Waltz, proper society people did not hold each other in an embrace
while dancing - only the lower classes did such an improper thing!
However, people gradually found that holding a partner around the
waist did not immediately lead to a life of sin, and the Waltz became
a staple dance for Kings and Queens as well as common folk. The Waltz
is still a very common dance all around the world. Waltz music has a
distinctive one-two-three tempo (three beats to a measure of music)
and is very commonly played at weddings and other social events. Tango, Argentine TangoTango was the romantic rage of the 1920's in the US, introduced to millions by silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino in "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse". Born in the West Indies and stylized by the gauchos of Argentina, simmered in the brothels of Buenos Aires and brought to a boil in the elegant salons of Paris, the Tango is considered a "dancer's dance". Its unique rhythms offer fabulous training for timing and footwork, building a foundation useful in any dance. It has recently become an amazingly popular dance here in America, due first to Al Pacino (of DanceSport fame!) and his sensitive rendition of a blind dancer in "Scent of a Woman" a few years ago, and then to the many Broadway shows that have featured tango in recent years (Tango Argentino, Tango x 2, Forever Tango, etc.). Madonna's "Evita" features tango dancing, and Julio Iglesias is promoting his tango album. Social Tango is not as intensely intimate as Argentine Tango, as the dancers maintain a regular social dance hold. In Argentine Tango, the dancers are often cheek to cheek, and this effect, coupled with intricate leg intertwining, gives Argentine Tango a much more sensual feel than American (Social) Tango. Tango is also a Competitive Style dance, both American and International. Although it originated in Latin countries, American or International style Tango is not considered a "Latin" dance as it does not feature Cuban Motion. It is considered a "Smooth" or Ballroom dance, as dancers hold themselves erect and swing their legs from the hip, as with the Foxtrot or the Waltz. Different Dance StylesAll the dances that we have discussed above can be danced for the simple social pleasure of people moving to music together, or can be taken to the level of competitive dancing, where the partners are no longer striving just to have fun, but rather to meet a high standard of technical and artistic goals. Authentic Style DancesThe authentic style dances are those which have grown up in response to the people dancing the dance just for fun. These are Hustle, Argentine Tango, Salsa / Mambo, Savoy Swing and basic Merengue. These dances, no matter what the level, are taught "club style", meaning the style that you would see authentic dancers dancing if you go to the clubs where people dance these dances. New steps are developed by the good dancers continually, and passed along to the rest of the dancers just by watching carefully how the good dancers dance. As dancers vary from area to area, new steps or ways of dancing these dances will develop in different areas of the country or the world. We are very in touch with what is currently being done in Buenos Aires, and so the Argentine Tango we teach is reflective of the newest innovations developed by authentic dancers in Argentina. The Salsa we teach is what is currently being done in the clubs of New York City, and the Hustle we teach is often what is developed right here at DanceSport, as our Monday Night Hustle party attracts many of the Tri-State area's finest authentic Hustle dancers. American and International Style DancingWe begin to teach the American Competitive Style in the "Silver American" advanced level classes. In both the American and International Competitive styles, the difficulty of steps is categorized by a medal category, with Bronze being basic, Silver intermediate and Gold advanced. Silver American means that the step patterns used in these classes are drawn from the Silver level of steps in the syllabus (the syllabus is a list of steps appropriate to each metal level), or even beyond. The American Competitive Style is considered more expressive and theatrical than the International Competitive Style. The partners are allowed to break away from each other, and there is room for interpretive, creative movement. While International Competitive dancers also strive to achieve interpretation of the mood of the dance through their movements, the emphasis is on meticulous attention to technical details, and competitors in Modern (Ballroom) dances cannot break or alter the "perfect" hold of each other that they create at the beginning of the dance. Social Style DancesThe other basic and intermediate level classes that we offer are taught in Social Style, which is really the basics of American Style. The steps to these dances have been written down and placed in a certain order. They are taught in order, and generally the dance will be danced in the same way anywhere in America, due to this standardization. These dances include: Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep, (Ballroom or Smooth Dances) and Rumba, Cha Cha, Samba, Mambo, Merengue, Swing (Latin or Rhythm Dances). LevelsWe recommend that students spend several months (three or four) at the basic level of any dance before proceeding on to the intermediate level. There are many steps which students are expected to know before they are appropriate candidates for intermediate level classes. If a student wants to advance, we recommend that they ask their group class instructor's advice before graduating themselves to a higher level, or they may suffer the embarrassment of their intermediate level instructor requesting them to "return to basics"! Students can stay at intermediate level for a year or more - some students do not advance beyond intermediate level, and our instructors vary the step patterns they teach enough so that a student can feel continually interested and challenged by the material. There is nothing wrong with remaining an intermediate level student forever! Advancement CriteriaFor those students who want to advance, we again strongly recommend that they check with their instructor before doing so. Advanced level authentic classes and Silver American Advanced level classes are open to graduates of intermediate level classes. If students want to pursue the International Style classes, we recommend a thorough grounding in the Silver American Advanced level classes before they go on to International Style classes. International Style classes begin with Intermediate / Advanced level Introduction to International Style classes, but Intermediate in International Style does not mean the same as plain Intermediate level in other styles. Again, we recommend that students be very comfortable at the Advanced level of Silver American and Authentic style classes before they begin the Intermediate / Advanced International Style classes, due to the technical nature of the material that is covered. |
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