UNIT III:

SOCIAL
DANCES
 HISTORY
Social dances are usually done to
introduce people with one another
during a formal social gathering or to
welcome guests to a social gathering.
Many of the social dances like polka and
mazurka started as folk dances while
some were deliberately designed for its
social purpose, such as the waltz,
regoudon and polonaise (Nimor,2006)
 Social dancing is believed to had
existed since the beginning of human
society in some forms. Its original
forms may have been simply a group
dance for pleasure or recreation. Most
group dances were originally
ceremonial rites grouped around three
basic aspects of human existence:
food supply, sexual impulse, and
relationship with the spirit world.
 While the origin of social dances
may be traced back to the primitive
times, couples dancing a dance form
emerged in the 15th century in Europe.
Varied vigorous styles in innovative
adaptations and refinement of folk
dances were developed by the dancing
masters of that time. These new dances,
gay and lively in character, developed
first as a social diversion among the
aristocracy of France and Italy.
 During the 14th century, when social
dance and folk dance were virtually
indistinguishable, popular ring dances were
performed in English upper-class homes as
part of the evening entertainment.
Throughout the Renaissance and the 16th
century, social dances became more firmly
ensconced in the courts with partners
constantly changing, filling the ballroom
with emerged square formulations like the
cotillion and quadrille, the
members/couples
of which systematically dressed up
and formulized the lusty dances to
suit their elaborate codes of
manners. The waltz with its
dizzying speed was derived from
the newer, more polished surface
of the abandonment of hop-nailed
shoes. Enthusiasm for social
dances also grew during the
period.
 DANCES
In common usage, ballroom
dance refers to the ten dances
of International Standard and
International Latin, though the
term is also often used
interchangeably with the five
International Standard dances.
INTERNATIONAL STYLE
International Standard
dances are normally performed
with Western music. A couple
dances counter clockwise
around a rectangular floor
following the line of dance.
 COSTUME
Women- full gown
Men- bow tie and tail
coats or tuxedos, vests
 DANCE
1. Slow Waltz
2. Tango
3. Viennese Waltz
4. Slow Foxtrot
5. Quickstep
RUMBA
 The name Rumba was originally
applied specifically to the dancing style
with lascivious movement of the hip,
bosom and other flexible parts. The
rumba influence came in the 16th century
from the black slaves from Africa. The
native Rumba folk dance is essentially a
sex pantomime danced extremely fast
with exaggerated hip movements and
with a sensually aggressive attitude of
men and a defensive attitude on the part
of the women.
The music is played with a staccato
beat in keeping with the vigorous
expressive movements of the dancers.
Accompanying instruments included
the maracas, the claves, the
marimbola, and the drums.
The American Rumba is a
modified version of the Son. The first
serious attempt to introduce the
Rumba to the United States was by Lew
Quinn and Joan Sawyer in 1913.
Rumba is the spirit and soul of Latin
American music and dance. The
fascinating rhythms and bodily
expressions make the Rumba one of
the most popular ballroom dances.
The music is written in 4/4 time,
which gives 4 counts to each bar of
music, 1,2,3,4. The beat values are
2,3,4-1 or quick, quick, slow.
The dancers normally make the actual foot
movements only on beat 2,3,4, with a
controlled and very slight lateral hip action
on beat 1. The best method of starting the
dance is to stand with the feet very slightly
apart and the weight on the LF ( for men);
very narrow side step on RF on count 1,
then move forward with LF into Basic
Movement on count 2 (lady normal
opposite). 2/4 rhythm is strongly African in
character, featuring powerful percussion,
and its words, when presented, are of a
rhythmic nature.
CHA-CHA
 There are various theories as
to the etymological origin of cha-
cha. It could have been derived
from the Spanish chacha means
nursemaid, or chachar meaning to
chew coca leaves (Smith, 1971), or
from char meaning tea (Taylor
1958, or most likely from the fast
and cheerful Cuban dance, the
Guaracha (Ellfeldt,1974).
It has also been suggested that the
name Cha-Cha is derived
onomatopoeically from the sound of the
feet in the chasse, which is included in
many of the steps (Sadie, 1980).
This dance has been popular in Europe
from before the turn of the century. In
fact, it is listed in the program of the
finishing Assembly in 1898 of Dancie
Neill at Coupar Angus in Scotland (Hood,
1980.
The Mambo originated in Haiti, and
was introduced to the West in 1948 by
Prado. The word Mambo is the name
of a Voodoo priestess in the religion
brought by the Negroes from Africa.
Thus, 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 in a bar, and this is the
version that evolved into Cha Cha.
Originally known as the Cha-Cha-
Cha, Cha-Cha is an offshoot of the
Mambo. In the slow Mambo tempo,
there was a distinct sound in the
music that people began dancing to,
calling the step the Triple Mambo.
Eventually, it evolved into a separate
dance, known today as the Cha-Cha.
The Cha-Cha-Cha is still the most
popular of all the Latin-American
dances.
The music is usually in 4/4 time,
sometimes 2/4, and ideal tempo is 32
bars per minute, although the Cha-Cha-
Cha is often played quicker than this.
The Cha-Cha-Cha is a Cuban dance,
based on the rumba, and the Cuban
dancers take the forward or leading step
off the second beat of the bar of music.
The Hold is the same as for the Samba
for description of Open Hold and Fan
Position.
JIVE
The origins of the word jive are
unknown. It may refer to jive talk, or
badmouthing. This word reflects the
character of the dance for 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 been divided into
two parts, one based on this
original African beat and the other
based upon its evolved style. Jive is
known by many 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.
American soldiers brought these
dances to Europe around 1940,
where they swiftly found a following
among the young. After the war,
the boogie became the dominant
form for popular music. The
famous ballroom dancing guru,
Alex Moore, said that he had never
seen anything uglier. In 1968, it
was adopted as the fifth Latin
American dance in competitions.
The music for jive is in 4/4 time,
which means four beats in a
measure, the quarter note being the
dominant note of the measure. It is
done with a series of single and
triple steps.
Jive is danced in what is called
Triple Rhythm as against the Single
Rhythm of Rock n Roll, that is, Q a
Q in a place of the Slow used in
Rock ‘n Roll.
TANGO
 Believed to have originated from Spain
or Morocco, the Tango was introduced
to the New World by the Spanish
settlers, eventually coming back with
Black and Creole influences. In the
early 19th Century, the Tango was a
solo dance performed by the woman.
The Adualisian Tango was later one by
one or two couples walking together
using castanets. The dance was sson
considered immoral with its flirting
music.
Ballroom tango originated in the lower
class of Buenos Aires, especially in the
Bario de las Ranas. The most disreputable
quarter of the city, it was first known as
baile con corte – the dance with a stop.
The gallant of the town saw this dance
and introduced it into their own favorite
cafes, also of doubtful respectability,
making two changes, to produce a more
dreamy effect they substituted the
habanera rhythm, and to show that their
dance was no longer the common baile
con corte, they called it the Tango.
It was probably towards the nineteenth
century that the Tango was first heard of in
Europe, and after 1900, several sporadic
attempts were made by amateurs from the
Argentina to show it in Paris. Later on,
Rudolph Valentino who made the Tango a hit
in 1921, popularized Tango in New York in
the winter of 1910-1911.
The music is easy to follow as the beats are
very well marked. It is in 2/4 time.
The lady is held slightly more
towards the right side of the man; his
right hand is placed a little farther
round her, so that his right side,
from head to foot, is slightly in
advance of his left side. The lady
places her left hand a little higher on
the man’s right upper arm; the man’s
left forearm and the lady’ right
forearm should be curved inwards a
little more towards their bodies.
The Walk Forward is almost the same
as that used in everyday life, and each
step is of natural length. The foot is
placed on the floor on the heel first,
and then on to the whole foot.
The Backward Walk should also be as
natural as possible. When the step is
taken back, the toes should meet the
floor first, then ball of the foot. Each
step takes up one beat of music and
is counted slow. A step in the Tango
time quick takes up half a beat only.
OTHER FORMS
OF BALLROOM
DANCING
BOOGIE
It is a jazz piano style characterized by
sustained rolling eight beat to the bar off in
the hand, a fast rhythmically intense
version of blues guitar played as dance
music in honky-tonks or as entertainment
given by apartment tenants. The style did
not reach wide popularity until the mid-
1930’s when it was promoted by the jazz
record producer, John Hammond, after
hearing a recording of Honky Tonk Train
Blues.
He sought out its composer,
Mead Lux Lewis, who was
working in Chicago car wash.
Lewis made many records for
Hammond as pine Smith and
Ammonds did. They formed a
boogie-woogie trio and played
in Carnegie Hall at the height of
the boogie-woogie craze of the
late 1930’s.
SWING
It is a social dance for couples, popular in the
United States in the 1940’s and 1950’s. An
outgrowth of the swing, the jitterbug is marked by
quick, strenuous movements, sometimes
accompanied by acrobatics in its present form; it
may be lively, a smooth dance, or it may be slow
sophisticated style. More currently, its informal
positions and demand for the man to be a good
leader have all made swing appealing. Steps and
variations vary in routine and style; in every section
is rhythm, which makes it possible to find a
common step to many variations.
 
LA CUMBIA
It originally came from Cuba.
It uses quick steps that
everyone can dance. La
Cumbia attained its popularity
along with other ballroom
dances like salsa, samba,
rumba, jive and quick step.
L.A. WALK
It originally came from Texas,
U.S.A. It uses country dance
steps with its style using
forward, backward, sideward
right and left. L.A. Walk
attained its popularity among
ballroom enthusiasts because
a partner is not needed.