Our range of dances are
devided up into the following categories:
Standard Ballroom
Latin American
New Vogue
Cuban Salsa
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Standard Ballroom
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The term "ballroom" is derived from the word
ball, which in turn originates from the Latin
word ballare which means "to dance".
In times past, ballroom dancing was social
dancing for the privileged, leaving folk dancing
for the lower classes. These boundaries have
since become blurred, and it should be noted
even in times long gone, many ballroom dances
were really elevated folk dances.
Standard ballroom dances has its roots early in
the 20th century, when several different things
happened more or less at the same time. The
first was a movement away from the sequence
dances towards dances where the couples moved
independently. This had been pre-figured by the
waltz, which had already made this transition.
The second was a wave of popular music, such as
jazz, much of which was based on the ideas of
musicians in the USA. Since dance is to a large
extent tied to music, this led to a burst of
newly invented dances. There were many dances
crazes in the period 1910–1930.
The third event was a concerted effort to
transform some of the dance crazes into dances
which could be taught to a wider dance public in
the USA and Europe.
Here, Vernon and Irene Castle were important,
and so was a generation of English dancers in
the 1920s, such as Josephine Bradley and Victor
Silvester. Later, in the 1930s, the on-screen
dance pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
influenced all forms of dance throughout the
world.
These professionals analysed, codified,
published and taught a number of standard
dances. It was essential, if popular dance was
to flourish, for dancers to have some basic
movements they could confidently perform with
any partner they might meet.
Today, standard ballroom consists of 5 dances
and are performed completely in closed hold
position. These 5 dances are:
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- Waltz
- Foxtrot
- Tango
- Viennese Waltz
- Quickstep
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Standard ballroom dances are normally danced to
western music (often from the mid-twentieth
century), and couples dance counter-clockwise
around a rectangular floor following the line of
dance. In competitions, competitors are costumed
as would be appropriate for a white tie affair,
with full gowns for the ladies and bow tie and
tail coats for the men.
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Latin American
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Latin dance includes a wide range of
dances originating in Latin America and Cuba.
Latin american dances are often easily confused
with street latin, which consists of dances like
salsa, mambo, merengue, etc.
Latin american dances or
international latin consists of the following five
dances:
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- Cha Cha Cha
- Samba
- Rumba
- Paso Doble
- Jive
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The last dance is not of Latin origin, and dance
teaching organisations have used various terms.
The ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing)
uses the phrase Latin American Dance; the IDTA
(International Dance Teachers' Association) uses
the term Latin; a good compromise is Latin and
American.
Latin dances are commonly danced to
contemporary Latin American music, and with the
exception of a few traveling dances (e.g. Samba
and Paso Doble) couples do not follow the line of
dance and perform their routines more or less in
one spot.
All other dances progress round the ballroom floor
in an anti-clockwise motion.
Music for latin dance teaching is
usually in 4/4 time, though most Cuban music is
written in 2/4 time. This difficulty can be
overcome by teaching steps in groups of four
beats. Thus a typical Cuban dance of three steps
to four beats covers two bars of 2/4 music or one
bar of 4/4 music. Music may be Latin American or
contemporary popular music; it is generally
strict-tempo: a consistent and (for medals or
competitions) a preset number of beats per minute.
Couples in the basic position stand
face-to-face, and the basic hold is closed, with
both hands holding partner, but with space between
the partners. This differs from standard ballroom
dance, where the couples' bodies touch, and the
hold is described as closed.
In competitions, the women are often
dressed in short-skirted latin outfits while the
men outfitted in tight-fitting shirts and pants;
the goal being to bring emphasis to the dancers'
leg action and body movements.
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New Vogue
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The New Vogue dance style is an
Australian form of sequence dancing that
originated in the 1930s. Since then it has become
an important part in the Australian ballroom
scene, holding as much importance in social and
competition dancing as latin american and standard
ballroom dancing.
There are a large number of New
Vogue dances, although only a handful are common.
All New Vogue dances are based on a sequence of
dance steps which are continually repeated,
usually until the music ends. Due to the nature of
the dances they are much easier to pick up by
beginners than, say, Latin dances (which have
numerous types of steps that are combined into
custom routines) and as such, beginner dancers are
less likely to feel overwhelmed when learning them
and can perform the dances to a respectable level
within a short time of learning.
New Vogue dances can be danced at
different levels, with higher levels requiring
more precise steps and the addition of arm and
torso movements, in a nutshell making the dances
easy to pick up but hard to master. New Vogue
dances are based on one of several sub categories,
including viennese waltz rhythm, foxtrot rhythm,
march rhythm and tango rhythm.
Out of the many New Vogue dances, 23
are recognised by Dancesport Australia for use in
DanceSport competitions, where 15 of these can be
performed at Dancesport Championship Competitions.
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Dancesport Competition Dances:
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- Barn Dance - Slow Foxtrot Rhythm
- B.G. Blues - Slow Foxtrot Rhythm
- Canadian Three Step - March Rhythm
- Militaire - March Rhythm
- Cassius Quickstep - Quickstep Rhythm
- Dorothea Waltz - Viennese Waltz Rhythm
- Empress Waltz - Viennese Waltz Rhythm
- Pride of Erin Waltz - Viennese Waltz
Rhythm
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Dancesport Championship Competition Dances:
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- Merrilyn - Slow Foxtrot Rhythm
- Charmaine - Slow Foxtrot Rhythm
- Carousel - Slow Foxtrot Rhythm
- Barclay Blues - Slow Foxtrot Rhythm
- Excelsior Schottische - Slow Foxtrot
Rhythm
- Evening Three Step - March Rhythm
- Gypsy Tap - March Rhythm
- Tangoette - Tango Rhythm
- La Bomba - Tango Rhythm
- Tango Terrific - Tango Rhythm
- Parma Waltz - Viennese Waltz Rhythm
- Swing Waltz - Viennese Waltz Rhythm
- Tracie Leigh Waltz - Viennese Waltz
Rhythm
- Lucille Waltz - Viennese Waltz Rhythm
- Twilight Waltz - Viennese Waltz Rhythm
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These dances vary in length and difficulty and
as such the harder dances are performed at
higher levels.
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Cuban Salsa
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Modern Cuban salsa, commonly known as Rueda de Casino is a dancing style thatoriginated in Cuba in the 1950's. While not associated with the other salsa styles developed in the studios of Los Angeles and New York, it has recently experienced a surge of popularity around the world, known as a fun and easy dance style to learn.
Modern Rueda de Casino finds its origins in the ballroom dances from Cuba such as the Contradanza, from which the basic step of the Rueda de Casino are derived. The basic step consists of an alternating ‘one foot back and the other foot forward' pattern repeated over four musical times. This basic step of the Rueda de Casino, has also translated into a more modern expression of Cuban salsa and to other dances such as danzón and son cubano.
The main features that distinguish Cuban salsa from the LA and New York styles is that in Rueda de Casino and its more modern expressions, the dancing position is open, the ladies' right hand is held in the mans' left hand, leaving the other hand free for more independence and freedom for execution of movement.
Another unique feature of Rueda de Casino is that couples can dance in a circle formation known as a ‘Rueda'. This is where the dance gets its original name. In a ‘Rueda', one of the dancers or an external individual plays the role of the‘singer', who calls a number of core steps to other members of the Rueda, which they are expected to follow. These core steps are ones which all followers of Cuban salsa around the world are familiar with.
While this forms the basis of the Rueda, additional steps are commonly introduced and performed, if communicated to the other members and allows much room for creativity and complexity. Rueda de Casino is also a progressive dance, where the ‘singer' frequently asks the women to move from one partner to the next, giving the Rueda movement.
Rueda de Casino is a dance that has been around for more than 50 years. The parallel evolution and mutual influence of Cuban salsa with the other salsa styles, latin dances and hip hop, makes Cuban Salsa a modern and vibrant dancing style that lends itself to dancing in a Rueda and couples by people of all ages.
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References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballroom_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_dance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_vogue
http://ilivesalsa.com/blog/salsa-blog-2/style/the-styles-of-salsa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Hop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston
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you prefer a one-on-one private lesson, or even
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Happy Dancing!
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