| Smooth | Rhythm |
| Waltz | Cha-Cha |
| Tango | Rumba |
| Foxtrot | Swing |
| Viennese Waltz | Bolero |
| Peabody | Mambo |
Waltz is the traditional Wedding Dance.
The character is graceful with a swooping rise and fall.
The timing is ONE - two - three with the "one" being the downbeat.
The basic Waltz step is the box step, a sequence of six steps which,
if you were to draw a line connecting all six, would form a box.
Waltz is one of the first styles most dancers learn.
Examples of Waltz music include You Light Up My Life(Whitney Houston),
A Time For Us(Andy Williams), Come Away With Me(Norah Jones), Suddenly(Tony Bennett).
Tango is the most easily identifiable dance to observers,
characterized by it's unique music and dramatic poses.
Its story is of a passionate love affair.
After the first world war, the Tango was standardized and simplified.
Contra body movement and the tango draw were introduced and remain with this dance today.
For newcomers attempting to perform the Tango,
the main characteristic of the Tango is dancing with slightly bent knees.
Tango is a great dance to learn if you want to impress your friends!
Foxtrot is a great social dance often played at social dances,
and easy to lead and follow.
Traditionally danced to Big Band music, it is smooth and sexy.
Its basic timing is slow-slow-quick-quick.
The Foxtrot originated in 1914 in New York City by a vaudeville choreographer named Harry Fox.
Audiences observed Mr. Fox's dancers slowly 'trotting' across the floor,
and soon referred to his dance as the "Foxtrot."
It is one of the most versatile of all the ballroom dances as it can be danced to
a wide variety of music with varying tempos.
Examples of Foxtrot music include Just In Time(Bobby Darrin), Witchcraft(Frank Sinatra),
The Best is Yet To Come(Tony Bennett).
If you only have time to learn one ballroom dance, we recommend the Foxtrot!
Viennese Waltz is about twice the speed of Waltz,
and features simple footwork with many twirls and voluminous arm expression.
Viennese Waltz is the dance most often seen in movies depicting Ballroom Dancing.
American Viennese Waltz is rarely done at social dances.
Examples of Viennese Waltz music include Que Sera Sera(Doris Day),
Thornbirds Theme(James Galway & Phil Coulter), Blue Danube(Various Artists).
Peabody feels like a cross between Foxtrot and Quickstep and
is handy to dance with Foxtrot music that is too fast or Quickstep music that is too slow.
It's primarily a dance with long, gliding steps.
Dancers use intricate quick steps set against a figure called the "open box".
The song "I Could Have Danced All Night" from
the "My Fair Lady" soundtrack is an example of Peabody music.
Cha-Cha was created by replacing the "slow" in Rumba with
a fast "side-together-side" (Cha-Cha-Cha).
It is a very fun, fast, flirtatious dance!
Originally known as Cha-Cha-Cha, its origins are in Cuban Mambo.
It came to this country in the mid-1950's.
The Cha-Cha is a spot dance characterized by dramatic body movements and a lot of energy.
Cha-Cha shares many of the same steps as Mambo or Salsa
with the Cha-Cha triple step thrown in.
Songs you can Cha-Cha to include Gettin Jiggy Wit It(Will Smith),
Smooth(Santana), Get The Party Started(Pink), Barbie Girl(Aqua).
Rumba is a modified version of the "Son":
a popular dance in middle class Cuba before World War II.
Known as the "Dance of Love", Rumba is the simplest rhythm dance
and is the dance from which most of the other Rhythm dances were derived.
It was introduced in this country in the 1920's and 30's
and is slow and rhythmical.
Sometimes called the "Latin Waltz" or the "Waltz with a Wiggle",
the Rumba is a also spot dance.
It is danced in one spot with a slow-quick-quick timing and
is characterized by sexy hip motion, turns, breaks and rolls.
Many Waltz figures can be danced in the Rumba with Rumba timing,
Cuban Motion, and Latin arm styling.
Examples of Rumba music include My Cherie Amour(Jackson 5) and The Promise(When in Rome).
Swing, sometimes referred to as "East Coast Swing," is the most common
Ballroom Swing dance.
It has a bouncy character with a basic timing of triple-step, triple-step, rock-step.
Despite its name, East Coast Swing is danced all over the country,
and is the Swing many dancers learn first.
It's a versatile dance that we encourage all newcomers to learn.
Examples of music you can Swing to include Sh'Boom(Embers) and Route 66(Big Joe Maher).
Bolero was originally a Spanish dance in 3/4 time.
It later changed in Cuba into 2/4 time, then eventually into 4/4.
It is now danced as a very slow type of Rumba rhythm.
This is a left turning dance based on a "slip pivot"
(a slip pivot is a rotation of the body on the ball of the supporting foot
creating a pivot either forward or backward).
Bolero has body rise only (no foot rise).
This coupled with the slip pivot and slow dreamy music gives Bolero a very slow,
smooth, powerful, romantic look and feeling.
The foot patterns are similar to Rumba but have a very different feeling.
An example of Bolero music is Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."
Mambo has its origins in the religious ritual dances of West Africa.
The word "Mambo" is the name of a voodoo priestess.
The dance is similar to Salsa and spread to the United States from Haiti in 1948.
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.
Basic Mambo timing is quick, quick, slow.
Make sure to break on the "2" in Mambo, not the "1" as you would in Salsa dancing.
Songs you can Mambo to include Mambo#5(Lou Bega) and Tequila(The Champs)
Want to learn more?
Call us today at (503) 473 - 8947