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IRINA'S COMMENTS
"The magic would not be complete without music. It is the music that inspires the dancers to respond spontaneously individually and as a couple.
It is the music that helps the dancers go beyond a technical formula of movement and truly experience the harmony of music and dance." |
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CHA CHA
Originally derived from the Mambo and Rumba, the Cha Cha Cha was the rage in the 1950's and is probably the most popular social Latin dance.
The term cha-cha comes from Haiti, referring to a part of a bell which made a "cha cha" noise while it was rubbed. It was kept and used as an instrument. Some people
also say that the name comes from the scraping and shuffling sounds made on the floor whilst dancing the triple mambo.
The dance consists of three quick steps
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| (triple step) and two slower steps on the one and two beat.
In the 1940s mambo was huge in the US, but was fast and quite difficult to dance to. Musicians slowed down the mambo, and Cha Cha Cha was born.
In 1951 Cuban violinist and composer Enrique Jorrin brought the cha cha cha rhythms to Cuban dance floors - possibly
Developed as a result of the peculiar scraping and shuffling sounds made on the floor whilst dancing the triple mambo, the Cha Cha Cha was formed and is now danced
to a wide variety of music from authentic Latin sounds to today's pop music.
The infectious rhythms and steps are a wonderful base to get down and groove to. |
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SAMBA
Say "Samba" and who doesn't think of the Rio carnival parade?
Samba is the most famous of all the music born from African and Portuguese music in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has many types of Samba; more elegant salon dancing, and
the wild, uninhibited popular dancing associated with Carnival.
Carmen Miranda popularized Samba outside of Brazil through her movies and introduced Brazilian rhythms to the United States and Europe. Since then the Samba has |
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| undergone a metamorphosis, the steps becoming more stylized and standardized.
In time samba metamorphosis in different directions, from the gentle samba-cancao to the drum orchestras so popular in the carnival parade.
Highly urbanized areas led to the creation of the first popular nightclubs (gafieiras), which produced their own syncopated style.
Samba has very distinctive and varied rhythms occurring within every song, which builds 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 . |
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RUMBA
The Rumba is an entire family of rhythms, as well as the dance style.
The dance is a pre-requisite for good Latin dancing, and helps sharpen your sense of rhythm, timing and muscle control.
Rumba mainly developed in Cuba, although similar movements started in a few other Caribbean islands. The exact meaning or style is slightly different on each
island. Cuban Rumba is the basis for the Mambo and Cha Cha.
The native rumba folk dance is a sex pantomime between a manand woman. It uses a staccatobeat |
| which represent the vigorous movements of the dancers.
True rumba is a sexually charged dance, performed very fast with exaggerated hip movements. The man pursues his woman aggressively and the
woman's role is sexually defensive.
Rumba first came to the the United States in 1913.
As recently as 1940, the "Son" was the popular dance of middle class Cuba - a slower and more refined version of the native Rumba. Slower still is the "Danzon",
the dance of wealthy Cuban society, where very small steps are taken. The woman produces a very subtle tilting of her hips by alternately bending and straightening her
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PASO DOBLE
Paso Doble is a lively, theatrical Spanish dance, developed in France.
The dance is based around the concept of the bullfight – it acts out scenes from a bullfight and uses music played at ullfights during the matador’s entrance
just before the kill. The man plays the matador, the woman is sometimes his cape and sometimes the bull itself.
The dance culminates in the man killing the bull – it is one of the most dramatic dances you will see. This really is a man’s showpiece |
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| dance - the man is the focus for most of the dance. He dances proud, back arched, shoulders back and head up. His movements are
deliberate and run heel-flat like a march. Unlike most Latin dances there is little or no hip movement.
The woman plays a lesser role – usually as his cape. She will sway her body and flow lightly about the floor.
It is most like the Standard International style – forward steps are taking with a heel lead, the frame is wider and more strictly kept up, and there is very little
hip movement.
Paso doble is a very choreographed routine, mostly danced competitively rather than socially. You would only learn the Paso doble after quite some time with simpler
dances. |
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JIVE
The Jive is an accumulation of, Lindy Hop, Swing and Rock n Roll and was brought to England from the United States during the Second World War.
It significantly changed the image of dancing, making it more exciting and carefree. |
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