Dance: History, Styles, and Steps

1. DANCE • Refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music • It is dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic and moral constraints

2. Uses of dances • As a form of expression • Social interaction • Presented in a spiritual or performance setting • To describe methods of non-verbal communication between humans and animals

4. Ballroom dancing • Refers collectively to a set of partner dances that is enjoyed socially and competitively around the world • It originated in the Western world

5. History of Ballroom Dancing • historically, it refers to any form of social dancing as recreation

6. History of Ballroom Dancing • in the past, ballroom dancing was a social dance for the privileged or for the nobles and folk dancing was for the lower classes

7. History of Ballroom Dancing • Ballroom dancing was derived from the word BALL • The word Ball originated from a Latin word BALLARE meaning “to dance”

8. International Style • 1. INTERNATIONAL STANDARD • Slow Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and the Quickstep 2. INTERNATIONAL LATIN -Cha-cha-cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive

9. Because of modernization, there are many further variations of these forms of ballroom dances that were created based on regional and style differences.  • Here are some of the dances: • Salsa, Hustle, Modern Jive, Mambo, Latin Swing and many more. 

10. History of Line Dancing

11. Line dance • is a country western formation dance in which a group of people dance in one or more lines executing the same movements • It originated in the Wild West

12. The distinguishing feature of country western line dance is:The absence of a physical connection between dancers • This dance avoids the problem of imbalance of male/female partners that plagued other ballroom dances.

13. Step descriptions • Descriptions of some dance steps in their typical form are below. They are subject to variations in particular dances, where a stomp or a point may occur instead of a touch, for example, in the grapevine. • Chasse: One foot moves to the side, the other foot is placed next to it, and the first foot moves again to the side. • Grapevine: One foot moves to the side, the other moves behind it, the first foot moves again to the side, and the second touches next to the first. There are variations: the final step can consist of a hitch, a scuff, placement of weight on the second foot, and so forth. The name of the step is sometimes abbreviated to vine.

14. Shuffle step: A triple step to the front or the back, left or right side, starting on either foot. The feet slide rather than being given the staccato (short and sharp) movement of the cha-cha. There is a slight difference in the interpretation of the timing to give the element its distinctive look. It is counted as 1 & 2, 3 & 4, etc. However, the actual amount of time devoted to each of the 3 steps in the shuffle is 3/4 of a beat, 1/4 of a beat, then one full beat of music.

15. Weave: To the left or the right. This is a grapevine with a cross in front as well as a cross behind. Creates a slight zig zag pattern on the floor. • Triple step: This is 3 steps being taken in only 2 beats of music. Can move forward, backward, left, right or on the spot.

16. Lock step: A triple step backwards or forwards, starting on either foot, with the second foot slid up to and tightly locked in front of or behind the first foot before the first foot is moved a second time in the same direction as for the first step. • Other steps include applejack, botafogo, butterfly, coaster step, heel grind, hitch, jazz box, kick ball change, kick ball step, lunge, mambo step, military turn, Monterey turn, paddle, pivot turn, rock step, sailor step, scissor step, scuff, spiral turn, stamp, stomp, sugarfoot, swivet and vaudeville.

17. History of Swing

18. Started in the 1920's • African-American people discovered the dance

19. On March 26, 1926 Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in New York and it is here where the swing (a.k.a. Lindy Hop, Lindy, and Jitterbug ) originated.

20. 1927 - "Shorty George" Snowden gave the name Lindy Hop (he got this from an article entitled Lindy Hops The Atlantic) • 1930s - "Jitterbug” was discovered by the band leader Cab Calloway

21. 1940 – the year when the swing dance and the other forms of swing dance were documented and taught as a Ballroom dance

22. Ballroom Dances • Argentine TANGO • Spanish PASO DOBLE • Cuban CHA-CHA & RUMBA • Brazilian SAMBA • English QUICKSTEP • Austrian WALTZ • American FOXTROT • JIVE –derive from Swing dance • Merengue (from Puerto Rico) • Boogie • Swing • Mambo (from Cuba) • Hustle –(a.k.a. Manhattan Hustle) • Salsa ( from Cuba)

23. The dance schools such as The New York Society of Teachers and Arthur Murray, did not formally begin documenting or teaching the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing until the early 1940's. The ballroom dance community was more interested in teaching the foreign dances such as the Argentine Tango, Spanish Paso Doblé, Brazilian Samba, Puerto Rican Merengue, Cuban Mambo and Cha Cha, English Quickstep, Austrian Waltz, with an occasional American Fox-trot and Peabody.

24. In the early 1940's the Arthur Murray studios looked at what was being done on the dance floors in each city and directed their teachers to teach what was being danced in their respective cities. As a result, the Arthur Murray Studios taught different styles of undocumented Swing in each city.

25. History of Cha Cha

27. One evening in 1927, following Lindbergh's flight to Paris, a local dance enthusiast named "Shorty George" Snowden was watching some of the dancing couples. A newspaper reporter asked him what dance they were doing, and it just so happened that there was a newspaper with an article about Lindbergh's flight sitting on the bench next to them. The title of the article read, "Lindy Hops The Atlantic," and George just sort of read that and said, "Lindy Hop" and the name stuck. • In the mid 1930's, a bouncy six beat variant was named the Jitterbug by the band leader Cab Calloway when he introduced a tune in 1934 entitled "Jitterbug".

28. With the discovery of the Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug, the communities began dancing to the contemporary Jazz and Swing music as it was evolving at the time, with Benny Goodman leading the action. Dancers soon incorporated tap and jazz steps into their dancing. • In the mid 1930's, Herbert White, head bouncer in the New York City Savoy Ballroom, formed a Lindy Hop dance troupe called Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. One of the most important members of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers was Frankie Manning. The "Hoppers" were showcased in the following films: "A Day at the Races" (1937), "Hellzapoppin" (1941), "Sugar Hill Masquerade" (1942), and "Killer Diller" (1948).

29. In 1938, the Harvest Moon Ball included Lindy Hop and Jitterbug competition for the first time. It was captured on film and presented for everyone to see in the Paramount, Pathe, and Universal movie newsreels between 1938 and 1951. • In early 1938, Dean Collins arrived in Hollywood. He learned to dance the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy and Swing in New York City and spent a lot of time in Harlem and the Savoy Ballroom. Between 1941 and 1960, Collins danced in, or helped choreograph over 100 movies which provided at least a 30 second clip of some of the best California white dancers performing Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy and Swing.

30. In the late 1930's and through the 1940's, the terms Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing were used interchangeably by the news media to describe the same style of dancing taking place on the streets, in the night clubs, in contests, and in the movies. • By the end of 1936, the Lindy was sweeping the United States. As might be expected, the first reaction of most dancing teachers to the Lindy was a chilly negative. In 1936 Philip Nutl, president of the American Society of Teachers of Dancing, expressed the opinion that swing would not last beyond the winter. In 1938 Donald Grant, president of the Dance Teachers' Business Association, said that swing music "is a degenerated form of jazz, whose devotees are the unfortunate victims of economic instability." In 1942 members of the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing were told that the jitterbug (a direct descendent of the Lindy Hop), could no longer be ignored. Its "cavortings" could be refined to suit a crowded dance floor.

31. The dance schools such as The New York Society of Teachers and Arthur Murray, did not formally begin documenting or teaching the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing until the early 1940's. The ballroom dance community was more interested in teaching the foreign dances such as the Argentine Tango, Spanish Paso Doblé, Brazilian Samba, Puerto Rican Merengue, Cuban Mambo and Cha Cha, English Quickstep, Austrian Waltz, with an occasional American Fox-trot and Peabody. • In the early 1940's the Arthur Murray studios looked at what was being done on the dance floors in each city and directed their teachers to teach what was being danced in their respective cities. As a result, the Arthur Murray Studios taught different styles of undocumented Swing in each city.

32. In the early 1940's, LauréHaile, as a swing dancer and competitor, documented what she saw being danced by the white community. At that time, Dean Collins was leading the action with Lenny Smith and Lou Southern in the night clubs and competitions in Southern California. LauréHaile gave it the name of "Western Swing". She began teaching for Arthur Murray in 1945. Dean Collins taught Arthur Murray teachers in Hollywood and San Francisco in the late 1940's and early 1950's. • After the late 1940's, the soldiers and sailors returned from overseas and continued to dance in and around their military bases. Jitterbug was danced to Country-Western music in Country Western bars, and popularized in the 1980's.

33. As the music changed between the 1920's and 1990's, (Jazz, Swing, Bop, Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Disco, Country), the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing evolved across the U.S. with many regional styles. The late 1940's brought forth many dances that evolved from Rhythm & Blues music: the Houston Push and Dallas whip (Texas), the Imperial Swing (St. Louis), the D.C. Hand Dancing (Washington), and the Carolina Shag (Carolinas and Norfolk) were just a few. • In 1951 LauréHaile first published her dance notes as a syllabus, which included Western Swing for the Santa Monica Arthur Murray Dance Studio. In the 50's she presented her syllabus in workshops across the U.S. for the Arthur Murray Studios. The original LauréHaile Arthur Murray Western Swing Syllabus has been taught by Arthur Murray studios with only minor revisions for the past 44 years.

34. From the mid 1940's to today, the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing, were stripped down and distilled by the ballroom dance studio teachers in order to adapt what they were teaching to the less nimble-footed general public who paid for dance lessons. As a result, the ballroom dance studios bred and developed a ballroom East Coast Swing and ballroom West Coast Swing. • In the late 1950's, television brought "American Bandstand", "The Buddy Dean Show" and other programs to the teenage audiences. The teenagers were rocking with Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry leading the fray. In 1959, some of the California dance organizations, with Skippy Blair setting the pace, changed the name of Western Swing to West Coast Swing so it would not be confused with country and western dancing. • In the 1990's, dancers over 60 years of age still moving their Lindy Hoppin', Jitterbuggin', Swingin', and Shaggin' feet.

35. Swing Styles • Savoy Swing: a style of Swing popular in the New York Savoy Ballroom in the 30's and 40's originally danced to Swing music. The Savoy style of swing is a very fast, jumpy, casual-looking style of dancing • Lindy style is a smoother-looking dance. • West Coast Swing: a style of Swing emphasizing nimble feet popular in California night clubs in the 30's and 40's and voted the California State Dance in 1989.

36. Whip: a style of Swing popular in Houston, Texas, emphasizing moves spinning the follower between dance positions with a wave rhythm break. • Push: a style of swing popular in Dallas, Texas, emphasizing moves spinning the follower between dance positions with a rock rhythm break. • Supreme Swing: a style of Swing popular in Tulsa, Oklahoma. • Imperial Swing: a style of Swing popular in St. Louis, Missouri.

37. DC Hand Dancing: a Washington, DC synthesis of Lindy and Swing. • East Coast Swing: a 6 count style of Lindy popular in the ballroom dance school organizations. • Carolina Shag: a style of Swing popular in the Carolinas emphasizing the leader's nimble feet. • Ballroom West Coast Swing: a style of swing popular in the ballroom dance school organizations and different from the style performed in the California night clubs and Swing dance clubs.

38. Country-Western Swing: a style of Jitterbug popularized during the 1980's and danced to Country and Western music. • Cajun Swing: a Louisiana Bayou style of Lindy danced to Cajun music. • Pony Swing: a Country Western style of Cajun Swing. • Jive: the International Style version of the dance is called Jive, and it is danced competitively in the US and all over the world.

39. Swing Basic Dance Steps FOR MEN FOR WOMEN

40. In the late 1940s, Havana, Cuba, was one of the most popular resorts for North Americans, especially those residing along the east coast. The most famous American dance bands as well as the many outstanding Latin bands native to Cuba played at the city's casinos. Some of these orchestras tried combining the American JAZZ beat with the Cuban RUMBA rhythm; The result was a new rhythm called the MAMBO.

41. A dance was developed to the new mambo rhythm, danced to the off beat rather than the traditional downbeat. For this reason, the dance was popular mainly with dancers thoroughly familiar with complex Afro-Cuban music. However, among the many figures of the mambo was one called the "chatch", which involved three quick changes of weight preceded by two slow steps. By the early 1950s, this figure had developed into a new dance comprised of many simple variations on the basic footwork. The dance acquired the name CHA-CHA ; its characteristic three-step change of weight carried the identifying verbal definition, "cha-cha-cha".

42. The cha-cha inherited much of its styling from its parent dances, the rumba and the mambo. Like most Latin dances, it is done with the feet remaining close to the floor. The dancers' hips are relaxed to allow free movement in the pelvic section. The upper body shifts over the supporting foot, as steps are taken.

43. When the English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba in 1952, he realized that sometimes the Rumba was danced with extra beats. When he returned to Britain, he started teaching these steps as a separate dance (Lavelle, 1975, 2). The name could have been derived from the Spanish 'Chacha' meaning 'nursemaid', or 'chachar' meaning 'to chew coca leaves' (Smith, 1971, 161), or from 'char' meaning "tea' (Taylor, 1958, 150), or most likely from the fast and cheerful'Cuban dance: the Guaracha (Ellfeldt, 1974,59). This dance has been popular in Europe from before the turn of the century. For example it is listed on the program of the Finishing Assembly in 1898 of Dancie Neill at Coupar Angus in Scotland (Hood, 1980, 102).

44. It has also been suggested that the name Cha Cha is derived onomatipeically from the sound of the feet in the chasse which is included in many of the steps (Sadie, 1980, 5/86). • In 1954, the dance was described as a "Mambo with a guiro rhythm" (Burchfield, 1976, I/473). A guiro is a musical instrument consisting of a dried gourd rubbed by a serrated stick (Burchfield, 1976, I/1318).

45. The Mambo originated in Haiti, and was introduced to the West in 1948 by Prado (Burchfield, 1976, II/809). The word "Mambo" is the name of a Voodoo priestess in the religion brought by the Negroes from Africa (Ellfeldt, 1974, 86). Thus the Cha Cha had its origins in the religious ritual dances of West Africa. There are three forms of Mambo: single, double, and triple. The triple has five (!) steps to a bar, and this is the version that evolved into the Cha Cha (Rust, 1969, 105) (Sadie, 1980, 100).

46. The "Cha Cha" is danced currently at about 120 beats per minute. The steps are taken on the beats, with a strong hip movement as the knee straightens on the half beats in between. The weight is kept well forward, with forward steps taken toe-flat, and with minimal torso movement. The chasse on 4&1 is used to emphasize the step on beat 1, which may be held a moment longer than the other steps to match the emphasis of the beat in the music.

47. Cha Cha Basic Steps