History of Ballroom Dancing

The term "ballroom dancing" 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. The definition of ballroom dance also depends on the era: Balls have
featured Minuet, Quadrille, Polonaise, Pas de Gras, Mazurka, and other popular dances of the
day, which are now considered to be historical dances.
Renaissance Period
The first authoritative knowledge of the earliest ballroom dances were recorded toward the end
of the sixteenth century, when Jehan Tabourot, under the pen name "Thoinot-Arbeau", published
in 1588 his Orchésographie, a study of late sixteenth-century French Renaissance social dance.
Among the dances described were the solemn basse danse, the livelier branle, pavane, and the
galliarde which Shakespeare called the "cinq pace" as it was made of five steps.[3]

Galliard in Siena, Italy, 15th century

In 1650 the Minuet, originally a peasant dance of Poitou, was introduced into Paris and set to
music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and danced by the king Louis XIV in public, and would continue to
dominate ballroom from that time until the close of the eighteenth century.
Toward the latter half of the seventeenth century, Louis XIV founded his 'Académie Royale de
Musique et de Danse', where specific rules for the execution of every dance and the "five
positions" of the feet were formulated for the first time by members of the Académie.
Eventually, the first definite cleavage between ballet and ballroom came when professional
dancers appeared in the ballets, and the ballets left the Court and went to the stage. Ballet
technique such as the turned out positions of the feet, however, lingered for over two centuries
and past the end of the Victoria era.[3]
Victorian Era
An RKO publicity still of Astaire and Rogers dancing to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" in Roberta
(1935)
The waltz with its modern hold took root in England about 1812, when Carl Maria von Weber
wrote Invitation à la valse which marked the adoption of the Waltz form into the sphere of
absolute music. The dance was initially met with tremendous opposition due to the semblance of
impropriety associated with the closed hold, though the stance gradually softened.[3] In the 1840s
several new dances made their appearance in the ballroom, including the Polka, Mazurka, and
the Schottische, in the meantime a strong tendeny emerged to drop all 'decorative' steps such as
entrechats and ronds de jambes that had found a place in the Quadrilles and other dances.
[edit] Early 20th century
Modern 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 black 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.

Vernon and Irene Castle, early ballroom dance pioneers, c. 1910-1918.

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. 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. Here
the huge Arthur Murray organisation in America, and the dance societies in England, such as the
Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, were highly influential. Finally, much of this happened
during and after a period of World War, and the effect of such a conflict in dissolving older
social customs was considerable.[4][5]
Later, in the 1930s, the on-screen dance pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers influenced all
forms of dance in the USA and elsewhere. Although both actors had separate careers, their
filmed dance sequences together, which included portrayals of the Castles, have reached iconic
status.[6] Much of Astaire and Rogers' work portrayed social dancing, although the performances
were highly choreographed (often by Astaire or Hermes Pan), and meticulously staged and
rehearsed.[7]
History of jive dance
Jive can be done in a ballroom setting or with a swing band, making it a very versatile dance.
The most noticeable aspect of jive it its speed. In the tradition of similar dances such as swing
and the Lindy hop, it used broad amounts of space and is danced with vigor.
The origins of the word "jive" are unknown. It may refers to "jive talk," or badmouthing. This
word reflects the character of the dance. It is sassy and loud. The first hints of jive came from
African American slaves. These slaves danced several native dances that had triple and single
steps. Their music had a continuous drum bass, and several hints of jive rhythms. Jive itself has
now split into two parts, one based on this original African beat and the other based upon its
evolved style.

Jive can be known by many different names. It is sometimes called Swing, the Jitterbug,
Lindy hop or the Charleston, although it is a completely different dance. These dances are all
similar, and their steps are interconnected. The music for jive is in 4/4 time, which means four
beats to a measure, the quarter note being the dominant note of the measure. It is done with a
series of single and triple steps. It is possible for dancers to move into a two-beat jive, where the
third and fourth steps are replaced, but this is used only occasionally.
Jive is usually the last dance in a competition, and is also one of the hardest dances to perform.
For this reason, many dancers save their energy for one last burst at the end of a night of
competing. It contains chasse steps, kicks and turns with the feet. Often these can get quite
complicated, and partners must stay focused on the rhythm so as not to slip off-track.
Jive is most directly related to Swing. This is because it evolved from many of the competitions
that were held in American and several parts of Europe during the early 1900's. Jive's music
eventually developed its own flavor in the 1950's and 60's. It contains bouncy rhythms and easy
melodies. In competitions, partners are often judged on the energy that they give to its
performance, in addition to the steps. They are also judged on their interpretation of rhythm and
overall performance. Flicks of the foot and kicks should not be mere decoration. They are to be
important in the rhythm and timing, and even gestures when used in a certain context. The
"moving center" of the dance, in jive's case the handhold, should remain firm. Good coordination
is a must, especially when executing sharp turns and difficult hand movements.
Jive is not evolving into other dances. Its steps are sometimes used in Rock and Roll, and Europe
has created a dance called "Ceroc" that is somewhat similar in terms of steps and execution.
There are also two forms of jive itself. There is the International style, or the style just described,
and the Authentic style, or Swing dancing.

History of Swing Dancing

The history of swing dates back to the 1920's, where the black community, while dancing to
contemporary Jazz music, discovered the Charleston and the Lindy Hop.
On March 26, 1926, the Savoy Ballroom opened its doors in New York. The Savoy was an
immediate success with its block-long dance floor and a raised double bandstand. Nightly
dancing attracted most of the best dancers in the New York area. Stimulated by the presence of
great dancers and the best black bands, music at the Savoy was largely Swinging Jazz.
One evening in 1927, following Lindbergh's flight to Paris, a local dance enthusiast named
"Shorty George" Snowden was watching some of the dancing couples. A newspaper reporter
asked him what dance they were doing, and it just so happened that there was a newspaper with
an article about Lindbergh's flight sitting on the bench next to them. The title of the article read,
"Lindy Hops The Atlantic," and George just sort of read that and said, "Lindy Hop" and the
name stuck.
In the mid 1930's, a bouncy six beat variant was named the Jitterbug by the band leader Cab
Calloway when he introduced a tune in 1934 entitled "Jitterbug".
With the discovery of the Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug, the communities began dancing to the
contemporary Jazz and Swing music as it was evolving at the time, with Benny Goodman
leading the action. Dancers soon incorporated tap and jazz steps into their dancing.
In the mid 1930's, Herbert White, head bouncer in the New York City Savoy Ballroom, formed a
Lindy Hop dance troupe called Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. One of the most important members of
Whitey's Lindy Hoppers was Frankie Manning. The "Hoppers" were showcased in the following
films: "A Day at the Races" (1937), "Hellzapoppin" (1941), "Sugar Hill Masquerade" (1942),
and "Killer Diller" (1948).
In 1938, the Harvest Moon Ball included Lindy Hop and Jitterbug competition for the first time.
It was captured on film and presented for everyone to see in the Paramount, Pathe, and Universal
movie newsreels between 1938 and 1951.
In early 1938, Dean Collins arrived in Hollywood. He learned to dance the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug,
Lindy and Swing in New York City and spent a lot of time in Harlem and the Savoy Ballroom.
Between 1941 and 1960, Collins danced in, or helped choreograph over 100 movies which
provided at least a 30 second clip of some of the best California white dancers performing Lindy
Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy and Swing.
In the late 1930's and through the 1940's, the terms Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing were
used interchangeably by the news media to describe the same style of dancing taking place on
the streets, in the night clubs, in contests, and in the movies.
By the end of 1936, the Lindy was sweeping the United States. As might be expected, the first
reaction of most dancing teachers to the Lindy was a chilly negative. In 1936 Philip Nutl,
president of the American Society of Teachers of Dancing, expressed the opinion that swing
would not last beyond the winter. In 1938 Donald Grant, president of the Dance Teachers'
Business Association, said that swing music "is a degenerated form of jazz, whose devotees are
the unfortunate victims of economic instability." In 1942 members of the New York Society of
Teachers of Dancing were told that the jitterbug (a direct descendent of the Lindy Hop), could no
longer be ignored. Its "cavortings" could be refined to suit a crowded dance floor.
The dance schools such as The New York Society of Teachers and Arthur Murray, did not
formally begin documenting or teaching the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing until the
early 1940's. The ballroom dance community was more interested in teaching the foreign dances
such as the Argentine Tango, Spanish Paso Doblé, Brazilian Samba, Puerto Rican Merengue,
Cuban Mambo and Cha Cha, English Quickstep, Austrian Waltz, with an occasional American
Fox-trot and Peabody.
In the early 1940's the Arthur Murray studios looked at what was being done on the dance floors
in each city and directed their teachers to teach what was being danced in their respective cities.
As a result, the Arthur Murray Studios taught different styles of undocumented Swing in each
city.
In the early 1940's, Lauré Haile, as a swing dancer and competitor, documented what she saw
being danced by the white community. At that time, Dean Collins was leading the action with
Lenny Smith and Lou Southern in the night clubs and competitions in Southern California. Lauré
Haile gave it the name of "Western Swing". She began teaching for Arthur Murray in 1945. Dean
Collins taught Arthur Murray teachers in Hollywood and San Francisco in the late 1940's and
early 1950's.
After the late 1940's, the soldiers and sailors returned from overseas and continued to dance in
and around their military bases. Jitterbug was danced to Country-Western music in Country
Western bars, and popularized in the 1980's.
As the music changed between the 1920's and 1990's, (Jazz, Swing, Bop, Rock 'n' Roll, Rhythm
& Blues, Disco, Country), the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing evolved across the U.S.
with many regional styles. The late 1940's brought forth many dances that evolved from Rhythm
& Blues music: the Houston Push and Dallas whip (Texas), the Imperial Swing (St. Louis), the
D.C. Hand Dancing (Washington), and the Carolina Shag (Carolinas and Norfolk) were just a
few.
In 1951 Lauré Haile first published her dance notes as a syllabus, which included Western Swing
for the Santa Monica Arthur Murray Dance Studio. In the 50's she presented her syllabus in
workshops across the U.S. for the Arthur Murray Studios. The original Lauré Haile Arthur
Murray Western Swing Syllabus has been taught by Arthur Murray studios with only minor
revisions for the past 44 years.
From the mid 1940's to today, the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing, were stripped down
and distilled by the ballroom dance studio teachers in order to adapt what they were teaching to
the less nimble-footed general public who paid for dance lessons. As a result, the ballroom dance
studios bred and developed a ballroom East Coast Swing and ballroom West Coast Swing.
In the late 1950's, television brought "American Bandstand", "The Buddy Dean Show" and other
programs to the teenage audiences. The teenagers were rocking with Elvis Presley, Little
Richard, and Chuck Berry leading the fray. In 1959, some of the California dance organizations,
with Skippy Blair setting the pace, changed the name of Western Swing to West Coast Swing so
it would not be confused with country and western dancing.
In the 1990's, dancers over 60 years of age still moving their Lindy Hoppin', Jitterbuggin',
Swingin', and Shaggin' feet.
Tango History

by Lori Heikkila
Tango (the dance with the stop "Baille Con Carte") is one of the most fascinating of all dances.
Originating in Spain or Morocco, the Tango was introduced to the New World by the Spanish
settlers, eventually coming back to Spain with Black and Creole influences.
In the early 19th Century, the Tango was a solo dance performed by the woman. The Andalusian
Tango was later done by one or two couples walking together using castanets. The dance was
soon considered immoral with its flirting music!
Ballroom Tango originated in the lower class of Buenos Aires, especially in the "Bario de las
Ranas". Clothing was dictated by full skirts for the woman and gauchos with high boots and
spurs for the man.
The story of Tango as told is that it started with the gauchos of Argentina. They wore chaps that
had hardened from the foam and sweat of the horses body. Hence to gauchos walked with knees
flexed. They would go to the crowded night clubs and ask the local girls to dance. Since the
gaucho hadn't showered, the lady would dance in the crook of the man's right arm, holding her
head back. Her right hand was held low on his left hip, close to his pocket, looking for a payment
for dancing with him. The man danced in a curving fashion because the floor was small with
round tables, so he danced around and between them.
The dance spread throughout Europe in the 1900's. Originally popularized in New York in the
winter of 1910 - 1911, Rudolph Valentino then made the Tango a hit in 1921.
As time elapsed and the music became more subdued, the dance was finally considered
respectable even in Argentina.
Styles vary in Tango: Argentine, French, Gaucho and International. Still, Tango has become one
of our American 'Standards' regardless of its origin. The Americanized version is a combination
of the best parts of each. The principals involved are the same for any good dancing. First, the
dance must fit the music. Second, it must contain the basic characteristic that sets it apart from
other dances. Third, it must be comfortable and pleasing to do.
Phrasing is an important part of Tango. Most Tango music phrased to 16 or 32 beats of music.
Tango music is like a story. It contains paragraphs (Major phrases); sentences (Minor phrases);
and the period at the end of the sentence is the Tango close.
For exhibition dancing, a Tango dancer must develop a strong connection with the music, the
dance and the audience. The audience can only feel this connection if the performer feels and
projects this feeling. So it is when dancing for your own pleasure -- and your partner's!
"The Tango is the easiest dance. If you make a mistake and get tangled up, you just Tango on."
(Al Pacino in "The Scent of a Woman.") Movies that featured Tango dancing include "The Scent
of a Woman", Madonna's "Evita" and "True Lies" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie
Lee Curtis.
In the late 1940s, Havana, Cuba, was one of the most popular resorts for North Americans,
especially those residing along the east coast. The most famous American dance bands as well as
the many outstanding Latin bands native to Cuba played at the city's casinos. Some of these
orchestras tried combining the American JAZZ beat with the Cuban RUMBA rhythm; The result
was a new rhythm called the MAMBO.
A dance was developed to the new mambo rhythm, danced to the off beat rather than the
traditional downbeat. For this reason, the dance was popular mainly with dancers thoroughly
familiar with complex Afro-Cuban music. However, among the many figures of the mambo was
one called the "chatch", which involved three quick changes of weight preceded by two slow
steps. By the early 1950s, this figure had developed into a new dance comprised of many simple
variations on the basic footwork. The dance acquired the name CHA-CHA ; its characteristic
three-step change of weight carried the identifying verbal definition, "cha-cha-cha".
The cha-cha inherited much of its styling from its parent dances, the rumba and the mambo. Like
most Latin dances, it is done with the feet remaining close to the floor. The dancers' hips are
relaxed to allow free movement in the pelvic section. The upper body shifts over the supporting
foot, as steps are taken.

History of Cha Cha

When the English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba in 1952, he realized that sometimes
the Rumba was danced with extra beats. When he returned to Britain, he started teaching these
steps as a separate dance (Lavelle, 1975, 2). The name could have been derived from the Spanish
'Chacha' meaning 'nursemaid', or 'chachar' meaning 'to chew coca leaves' (Smith, 1971, 161), or
from 'char' meaning "tea' (Taylor, 1958, 150), or most likely from the fast and cheerful'Cuban
dance: the Guaracha (Ellfeldt, 1974,59). This dance has been popular in Europe from before the
turn of the century. For example it is listed on the program of the Finishing Assembly in 1898 of
Dancie Neill at Coupar Angus in Scotland (Hood, 1980, 102).
It has also been suggested that the name Cha Cha is derived onomatipeically from the sound of
the feet in the chasse which is included in many of the steps (Sadie, 1980, 5/86).
In 1954, the dance was described as a "Mambo with a guiro rhythm" (Burchfield, 1976, I/473). A
guiro is a musical instrument consisting of a dried gourd rubbed by a serrated stick (Burchfield,
1976, I/1318).
The Mambo originated in Haiti, and was introduced to the West in 1948 by Prado (Burchfield,
1976, II/809). The word "Mambo" is the name of a Voodoo priestess in the religion brought by
the Negroes from Africa (Ellfeldt, 1974, 86). Thus the Cha Cha had its origins in the religious
ritual dances of West Africa. 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 (Rust, 1969,
105) (Sadie, 1980, 100).
The "Cha Cha" is danced currently at about 120 beats per minute. The steps are taken on the
beats, with a strong hip movement as the knee straightens on the half beats in between. The
weight is kept well forward, with forward steps taken toe-flat, and with minimal torso
movement. The chasse on 4&1 is used to emphasize the step on beat 1, which may be held a
moment longer than the other steps to match the emphasis of the beat in the music.