Latin
This category includes dances that originate from Latin American countries. Rumba, Cha Cha Cha, Mambo, Paso Doble, Samba, Rock n’ Roll, Salsa and Merengue are dances that reflect the passion and the energy that comes out of each dancer.
Rhythmic, passionate, erotic and at the same time dynamic, the Latin dances
give us the opportunity to express, release and enjoy ourselves.
Cha Cha Cha
It was created in the 50’s as a slower version of Mambo. In the slow rhythm of Mambo, the dancers could move their hips more intensely and the new step that was developed was named “triple mambo”.
Finally, this form developed in a different dance, well known Cha Cha Cha. It has steadily in popularity all over the world the last years. The dance is made up of three quick steps (the triple step or cha cha cha) and two slower steps to the beats one and two.
Rumba
Rumba is the A to Z of the Cuban music, the peak of an art which lives and develop year by year. It is a dance with widespread eroticism and intense movements of the hips (Cuban movement). Rumba appeared in the 16th century with the arrival of the first slaves from Africa. It started as a very sexual dance with fast movement of the hips.
During World War II, the Son, which is a modified and more dignified version of the natives’ Rumba, became the most popular dance in the Cuban middle class. An even slower version, the Danzon which was the dance of the high society in Cuba.
Rumba is the soul of the Latin-American dance and of the Latin music and due to its sensuous rhythm and its expressive movement of the body it is already one of the most popular Latin dances.
Samba During the colonial occupation of Brazil by the Portuguese, a large section of the population which was working in the farming of the plantations were dying from newly arrived European deseases and as a consequence the Portuguese brought black slaves from Africa. The integration of Africans into Portuguese culture, gave rise to Samba. The movements of this dance are mainly progressive, fast and light. This dance belongs also to the five Latin American dances which are danced in athletic dance championships.
Mambo
Mambo is based on jazz and Afro Cuban rhythms and the country of origin is considered to be Cuba. Tahiti settlers intro the dance, thus making it popular. The amalgamation of Swing and the Cuban music created this fascinating rhythm and the result was the creation of this sensuous dance which has many common elements with Salsa. The big contribution of Mambo is that it led to the development of Cha Cha Cha. In general, Mambo is a dance largely influenced by the music of African – Cuban – Jazz – Hip Hop but and even ballet.
Paso Doble
It’s a dance with its roots at the Roman period, when the Spanish dancers were in particular demand for shows. It adopted a lot of kinesiological elements from the traditional Spanish dance Flamenco. Through its movements and steps, this dance portrays the fight between the “toreador” and the bull. Many times the lady partner, with her movements looks as if she is the red cape and other times the bull which at the end loses the battle. It is considered the dance of the “cavaliery” since it is the only one from the rest of the Latin dances where his role is more visible. The Paso Doble is the only Latin dance with the “highest” hold with no movement of the hips.
Rock n’ Roll
The well known Rock n’ Roll is a development of the dance belonging to Indian and negroes of Florida. It spread from 1900 to all social classes of America and Europe but in order to avoid body contact the female partner wore unusually large and wide cloths especially skirts which eventually became fashion. Twenty years went by for the dance to gain social recognition. At the meantime I flourished through great singers, such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis and Bill Halley.
Swing - Jive
It originated from America. A pleasant and amusing dance with very fast rhythm and impressive figures. It is based on Jazz and negro music. When it first appeared in 1930 it was a revolutionary dance at the time.
As the time went by, various names were given to this dance, such as Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Swing, Jive, depending on the beats of the music. Difficult figures and the lifting of the female partner were also added. All the names and trends started to merge in the late thirties while this dance continued to develop in music and movement up to the 90’s.
Salsa
This very popular and lovable dance is the mixture of many Latin and afro-Caribbean dances. It is a fast dance with freedom of movements and many different turns and a lot of mixing. It is a dance that got influenced from various areas and as a result it appears with a variety of shapes and dancing style. Although it looks like Mambo, the general image and sense that Salsa gives is quite different since due to its many and continuous turns, Salsa gives the impression of side movement while Mambo is forward-backwards movement.
Merengue
Popular and amusing dance originating from the Dominican Republic and is directly linked with the Meringue dance of Tahiti. Until the 19th century it was danced in every case and feast in the Dominican Republic but it was also widely spread in all the Caribbean and Latin America. It is a light dance with simple side double steps and many revolving movements while it is distinguished by intense movement of the hips.
|
