What dances are available?

Dances that will be taught include: West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Hustle, Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cha-cha, Rumba, Bolero, Samba, Foxtrot, Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep, Argentine Tango, Night Club Two Step, Country Two Step.

West Coast Swing

West Coast Swing is a sophisticated style of swing that has evolved from Lindy Hop. Its other names have been Smooth Lindy and Sophisticated Swing and now West Coast Swing. This style evolved as the more mature dancers left out the aerials, drops and lifts of Lindy Hop and made the dance smoother. The further sophistication came as the dance floors became smaller and smaller the dancers had to use a smaller foot print for their Swing Dancing. West Coast Swing is now done in a slot with tight smooth movements done to slower swing music. The WCS continues to evolve and now the popular music to dance WCS to is more contemporary with slow Funky music and Hip Hop as well as the Blues, Rhythm & Blues (R&B), Jazz, Big Band, Country and Latin. West Coast Swing use slow tempo music at 80 bpm - 130 bpm and many different styles of music such as R&B, Funky, Hip Hop, Blues, Jazz, 50s & 60s, Country and even some Big Band .

In one of Arthur Murray's dance books in the mid 1940's, Murray describes a dance called "Rock and Roll dancing." It names the "Under Arm Pass, the Whip and the Sugar-Push." The ladies are told to take " Two Walk Steps forward " on counts 1-2 towards the man (and not away) and describes the "Coaster Step" and "Anchor step" very clearly. Later he would call this style of "Western Swing" "Sophisticated Swing." Today there are eight basic steps that the whole dance revolves upon. They Are: 1) Closed Starter Basic and Preparatory Basic, 2) Throw-Out, 3) Under-Arm Pass, 4) Under Arm Pass with a Hand Change, 5) Side Pass, 6) Sugar Push (es), 7) Open Two Hand Tuck Turn, 8) The Basic Whip (the Whip is also the very first pattern into intermediate as well).

East Coast Swing

A descendant of Lindy Hop -> Jitterbug -> Swing. A combination of 6 and 8 count rhythms. Can be done SSQQ like jitterbug, or triple step, 1-a-2, 3-a-4, 5, 6 (or 1, 2, 3-a-4, 5-a-6). The jitterbug style is usually done to fast music; the ballroom version uses triplestep rhythm and hip action to use up time in slower music. Eastern swing is a spot dance (more or less) with lots of turning, which can take up an arbitrary amount of space. In ballroom competitions, it is danced to music at 32-40 measures per minute. Most American swing dancers begin figures with the first triple (or "chasse") step, although some begin with the rock step -- as do dancers of Jive, the international style version of eastern swing.

East Coast Swing is kind of a subset of Lindy. East Coast is about 90% 6-count figures and Lindy is about 35% 6-count figures (the rest in both cases being 8-count figures). In ECS the rock back is more of an instantaneous weight change. The shoulders and the hips arrive together. The weight never settles towards the heel. In ECS the triple steps are equal length steps: side- together-side. Swing music gives a dancer an 'Up' feeling. Swing (and Rock freestyle) dancers dance with a 'Up and Up' step. Latin (and Disco freestyle) is more into the floor, the steps are 'Down and Down'. Taught in studios as a social dance and as a competitive American style dance. Triple swing would be one of the basic dances taught to beginners at general ballroom dances. ECS revolves around spot on the floor. Most ECS dancers also dance other ballroom dances. Virtually all patterns are 6-count and danced to 30 60 measures per minute. Double then Single swing is used as the music gets faster. The basic is typically taught *non* rotating. Yes, ECS is typically a rotating dance, but basic moves are typically taught using a non- rotating basic. Usually, even after a few classes, most beginners start to have rotation in their dancing - without it specifically being stresse d - simply because of the turns. Usually, however, their basic will not rotate - unless specifically encourage to do so by the instructor. It is perfectly acceptable to do an open position basic both rotating and non-rotating. As int/adv dancers you probably don't spend half the dance doing basics and you should be able to do them both ways and lead/follow moves either rotating or not. ECS doesn't look like Jive. Jive is very hoppy and bouncy, lots of arms and legs. ECS is smooth and flows from move to move.

Cha Cha Cha

The dance teacher Pierre Zurcher Margolie ('Monsieur Pierre‘) from London visited Cuba in 1952 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing at the time. He noted that this new dance had a split 4th beat, and to dance it one started on the second beat, not the first. He brought this dance idea to England and eventually created what is known now as ballroom cha-cha-cha. The validity of his analysis is well established for that time, and some forms of evidence exist today. First, there is in existence film of Orquesta Jorrin playing to a cha-cha-cha dance contest in Cuba; second, the rhythm of the Benny More classic Santa Isabel de las Lajas written and recorded at about the same time is quite clearly syncopated on the fourth beat. Also, note that the slower bolero-son (“Rumba”) was always danced on the second beat.

Rumba

Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance. It originates in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Spanish colonizers and of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves. It is secular, with no religious connections. The details of how it developed are not fully known. The term spread in the 1930s and 1940s to the faster popular music of Cuba (the Peanut Vendor was a classic), where it was used as a catch-all term, rather as salsa today. Also, the term is used in the international Latin-American dance syllabus, where it is a misnomer: the music used for this slower dance is the bolero-son.The term is also used today for some kinds of Spanish popular music, as part of the so-called Cantes de ida y vuelta, or music that developed between both sides of the atlantic. Flamenco Rumba in particular is more related to the Guaracha, an ancestor of Cuban Rumba

Merengue

Merengue is a style of Latin American music and dance with a two-step beat. Partners hold each other in a closed position. The leader holds the follower's waist with his right hand, while holding her right hand with his left hand at the follower's eye level. Partners bend their knees slightly left and right, thus making the hips move left and right. The hips of the leader and follower move in the same direction throughout the song. Partners may walk sideways or circle each other, in small steps. They can switch to a open position and do separate turns without letting go each other's hands or momentarily releasing one hand. During these turns they may twist and tie their handhold into intricate . Other choreography is possible. Merengue was made the official music and dance of the Dominican Republic by Rafael Trujillo. Some say Merengue derived from the "paso de la empalizada" (pole-fence step). There are also legends about a limping war hero who had to step in this way while dancing because of wounds, and polite (or clueless) public imitated him. Although the tempo of the music may be frantic, the upper body is kept majestic and turns are slow, typically four beats/steps per complete turn.

Samba

Samba was born in Brazil . Much of the music in the heavily populated coastal areas shows a remarkable combination of African, Native Indian, and Iberian influences. Modern Samba was developed from an earlier Brazilian musical style called Choro. Both Samba the dance and music can take many forms, from the vivacious call response of samba de enredo, the music of Carnaval to samba-canção or song samba, a more relaxed guitar and rhythm variant. Bossa Nova, which translates to New Wave, hit America big time in the Sixties with "The Girl From Ipanema". This song by the legendary composer Antonio Carlos Jobim became a classic in jazz and elevator music. In the 16th century, the Portuguese discovered on the east coast of South America, a place they called the January River (Rio de Janeiro). Colonists soon settled and as the colony prospered, slaves were brought from south-west Africa to work in the plantations of Bahia, in the north-east of what became Brazil. To adherents of the Afro-Brazilian religion, Candomble, Samba means to pray, to invoke your personal orixa (god/saint). The African rhythms enveloped in Latino music came from the Yoruba, Congo and other West African people, who were transported to the New World as slaves. In their homeland the rhythms were used to call forth various gods. Candomble preserves these rhythms to this day! It is these rhythms that has heavily influenced Brazilian music making Samba a unique genre of music.

Foxtrot

The Foxtrot is a ballroom dance which is often said to take its name from its inventor, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox however the exact origins are unclear. According to legend, he was unable to find single female dancers capable of performing the more difficult two-step. As a result, he added stagger steps (two trots), creating the basic Foxtrot rhythm of slow-slow-quick-quick. The dance was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the talented husband and wife duo Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature grace and style. W.C. Handy ("Father of the Blues") notes in his autobiography that Noble Sissle, told a story that Handy's Memphis Blues was the inspiration for the Fox Trot. Jim Europe,the Castle's music director, would play slowly the Memphis Blues during breaks from the fast paced Castle Walk and One-step. The Castles were intrigued by the rhythm and Jim asked why they didn't create a slow dance to go with it. The Castles introduced the "Bunny Hug" in a magazine article. They went abroad and in mid-ocean sent a wireless to the magazine to change the "Bunny Hug" to the "Foxtrot.“.It was later standardized by Arthur Murray in whose version it began to imitate the positions of Tango. At its inception, the Foxtrot was originally danced to ragtime. Today, the dance is customarily accompanied by the same big band music to which swing is also danced.

Quickstep

Quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the Foxtrot, Charleston, Shag, Peabody. The dance is English in origin, and was standardized in 1927. While it evolved from the Foxtrot, the Quickstep now is quite separate. Unlike the modern Foxtrot, the man often closes his feet, and syncopated steps are regular occurrences (as was the case in early Foxtrot). In some ways, the dance patterns are close to the Waltz, but are danced to 4/4 time rather than 3/4 time.This dance gradually evolved into a very dynamic one with a lot of movement on the dance floor, with many advanced patterns including hops, runs, quick steps with a lot of momentum, and rotation. The tempo of Quickstep dance is rather brisk as it was developed to ragtime era jazz music which is fast-paced when compared to other dance music.By the end of the 20th century the speed of Quickstep as done by advanced dancers has increased even more, due to the extensive use of syncopated steps with eighth note durations. While in older times quickstep patterns were counted with "quick" (one beat) and "slow" (two beats) steps, many advanced patterns today are cued with split beats, such as "quick-and-quick-and-quick, quick, slow", with there being further steps on the 'and's.

It should be noted that there was a 19th century Quickstep, which was a march-like dance and has no relation to the modern ballroom step.

Waltz

First mentions of a sliding or gliding dance similar in description to waltz are dated back to 16th century. There have been representations of the dance done by the printer H.S. Beheim. The French philosopher Montaigne wrote of a dance he saw in 1580 in Augsburg, where the dancers held each other so closely that their faces touched. Kunz Haas, of approximately the same period wrote that, "Now they are dancing the godless, Weller or Spinner, whatever they call it.” The vigorous peasant dancer, following an instinctive knowledge of the weight of fall, utilizes his surplus energy to press all his strength into the proper beat of the measure, thus intensifying his personal enjoyment in dancing". The wide, wild steps of the country people became shorter and more elegant when introduced to higher society. Hans Sachs wrote of the dance in his 1568 Eygentliche Beschreibung aller Stände(1568).At the Austrian Court in Vienna in the late 17th century (1698) ladies were conducted around the room to the tune of a 2 beat measure, which then became the 3/4 of the Nach Tanz (After Dance), upon which couples got into the position for the Weller and waltzed around the room with gliding steps as in an engraving of the Wirtschaft (Inn Festival) given for Peter the Great

Viennese Waltz

Viennese Waltz origins are dated back to 12th/13th centuries and found in the dance called "Nachtanz". The Viennese waltz originally comes from Bavaria and used to be called the "German". However, other people question this origin of the Viennese waltz. An article which appeared in the Paris magazine "La Patrie" ( The Fatherland) on 17 January 1882, claimed that the waltz was first danced in Paris in 1178, not under the name waltz but as the Volta from the Provence. Presumably this is a dance in 3/4 rhythm, which the French regard as the forerunner of the Viennese waltz. Probably the first waltz melody was "Das Lied vom lieben Augustin" written in 1679 in 3/4 time. It was introduced in Pairs in 1775, but it took some time before it became popular. In 1813 Mr Byron condemned the waltz as being unchaste. In 1816 the waltz was also accepted in England. But that the struggle against it was not over yet. In 1833, a "good behavior " book was published by Miss Celbart and according to it, although it was allowed for married ladies to perform this dance, she called it "a dance of too loose character for maidens to perform".

Bolero

Although the bolero was also known in Spain, there are significant differences between it and the version known throughout Latin America. One major difference is in the form of dancing associated with the music of the Spanish bolero. The Spanish version was danced by groups of couples that danced apart, in contrast to the Latin American style of couple-centric pair dancing together. Another major difference is that the Spanish version is written in 3/4 time while the Latin American version is in 2/4 time. Of course, yet another and most important differentiator is the influence of African-based rhythms at the foundation of the Latin-American bolero.

Hustle

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 "&1 2 3", became the present "New York" Hustle. 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. Modern partner hustle is sometimes referred to as New York Hustle.

Argentine Tango

The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. . The word Tango seems to have first been used in connection with the dance in the 1890s. Initially it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants. In the early years of the twentieth century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires traveled to Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York, and Finland. In the USA around 1911 the name "Tango" was often applied to dances in a 2/4 or 4/4 rhythm such as the one-step. The term was fashionable and did not indicate that tango steps would be used in the dance, although they might be. Tango music was sometimes played, but at a rather fast tempo. Instructors of the period would sometimes refer to this as a "North American Tango", versus the "Rio de la Plata Tango". By 1914 more authentic tango stylings were soon developed, along with some variations like Albert Newman's "Minuet" Tango.In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930 caused Tango to decline. Its fortunes were reversed as tango again became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the government of Juan Perón. Tango declined again in the 1950s with economic depression and as the military dictatorships banned public gatherings, followed by the popularity of Rock and Roll.

Salsa

The salsa originated in the Caribbean, although it also has a strong African influence. It is typically danced by couples and centers on a four-beat combination of two quick steps and a slow step with a pause or tap. Partners can then add turns and other flourishes to this basic footwork.

Bachata

The bachata is a dance from the Dominican Republic. Dancers move side to side in a four-beat pattern – three steps to the side and a pause. This pause forms the essence of the bachata as dancers incorporate pronounced hip movements. Overall, the dance is much more about moving the body with style than the simple back and forth steps.

Night Club 2 Step

This is the dance to do when a slow song is played and it's probably one of the easiest dances you'll ever learn! It is a romantic dance, consisting of triple-steps set to popular music. It enables couples to glide over the dance floor with simplicity and grace. Often wedding couples choose it for their first dance because it is so easy and beautiful and it goes well to the love songs of today. You will learn to put routines together with basic moves and turns building on the basics of the Nightclub 2-Step. Some of the finer dancers describe Night Club 2 as Salsa danced sidewards.

Country Two Step

The Country 2-Step is one of the most useful dance for those who love partner dancing. This class will get you dancing in no time at all. The basic step is easy and the turns are fun. Learn how to lead/follow the most popular steps of the Country 2-Step.

Line Dancing

Join other dancers and learn some fun Line Dances or just come for the great exercise. Our Line Dance workshops are not just "Country Line Dances". We just call it "Line Dancing" for a reason. We play Great Music of all the Genres like Ballroom, Country, Top 40, Hip Hop, Blues, Funky, Latin, Irish, Swing and probably more. You never need a partner but you can bring all your friends and have a lot of fun and good exercise without knowing it. A study at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y., found dancing to be the only regular physical activity associated with a significant drop in the incidence of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. Other studies have shown Line Dancing in particular to be a great help in areas of memory, balance, cardiovascular and vertigo. And at the same time you get to have lots of fun! The line dance workshop in the Village Square will introduce many of the basic moves necessary for Line Dancing . Some dances are as short as 16 counts to memorize and up to as many as 32 counts. Step Sheets

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