Homework ko naman to sa PE na ngayon lang natapos… Ewan ko kung tama rin to..haha! trip ko lang siya ilagay for future references… Oh well…
Ballroom Dancing
May refer to any form of formal social dancing as recreation, with the eminence of dance sport in modern times the term has become much narrower in scope, usually referring specifically to the International Standard and International Latin style dances.
Latin Dances
First, dances originating in Latin America. Typically these are Cha cha cha, Rumba, Samba, Salsa, Mambo, Merengue, Bachata, Cumbia, Bolero. Some dance instructors also include Tango and Argentine Tango in this list, although these differ from the rest in their style. In Argentina Tango is not considered folk dance as is the case with dances like Chacarera, Gato, Escondido and Zamba. Typical Bolivian folk dances are Morenada, Kullawada, Llamerada, Caporales and the recently created Tinku. In Colombia one of the typical dances is the Cumbia, not to be mistaken with Argentine Cumbia, a popular music genre influenced by Caribbean reggae and ska.
CHA CHA When the English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba in 1952, he realised 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,
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 emphasise 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.
www.latindanceforever.com/English/chachahstry.htm
RUMBA The word Rumba is a generic term, covering a variety of names (i.e., Son, Danzon, Guagira, Guaracha, Naningo), for a type of West Indian music or dancing. The exact meaning varies from island to island.
There are two sources of the dances: one Spanish and the other African. Although the main growth was in Cuba, there were similar dance developments which took place in other Caribbean islands and in Latin America generally.
The “rumba influence” came in the 16th century with the black slaves imported 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 on the part of the man and a defensive attitude on the part of the woman. The music is played with a staccato beat in keeping with the vigorous expressive movements of the dancers. Accompanying instruments include the maracas, the claves, the marimbola, and the drums.
As recently as the second world war, the “Son” was the popular dance of middle class Cuba. It is a modified slower and more refined version of the native Rumba. Still slower is the “Danzon”, the dance of wealthy Cuban society. Very small steps are taken, with the women producing a very subtle tilting of the hips by alternately bending and straightening the knees.
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. Ten years later band leader Emil Coleman imported some rumba musicians and a pair of rumba dancers to New York. In 1925 Benito Collada opened the Club El Chico in Greenwich Village and found that New Yorkers did not know what Rumba was all about.
Real interest in Latin music began about 1929. In the late 1920’s, Xavier Cugat formed an orchestra that specialized in Latin American music. He opened at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles and appeared in early sound movies such as “In Gay Madrid”. Later in the 1930’s, Cugat played at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. By the end of the decade he was recognized as having the outstanding Latin orchestra of the day.
In 1935, George Raft played the part of a suave dancer in the movie “Rumba”, a rather superficial musical in which the hero finally won the heiress (Carol Lombard) through the mutual love of dancing.
In Europe, the introduction of Latin American dancing (Rumba in particular) owed much to the enthusiasm and interpretive ability of Monsieur Pierre (London’s leading teacher in this dance form). In the 1930’s with his partner, Doris Lavelle, he demonstrated and popularized Latin American dancing in London.
Pierre and Lavelle introduced the true “Cuban Rumba” which was finally established after much argument, as the official recognized version in 1955.
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.
http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/rumba.htm
SALSA is a distillation of many Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances. Each played a large part in its evolution.
Salsa is similar to Mambo in that both have a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. The dances share many of the same moves. In Salsa, turns have become an important feature, so the overall look and feel are quite different form those of Mambo. Mambo moves generally forward and backward, whereas, Salsa has more of a side to side feel.
It is not only Cuban; nevertheless we must give credit to Cuba for the origin and ancestry of creation. It is here where Contra-Danze (Country Dance) of England/France, later called Danzón, which was brought by the French who fled from Haiti, begins to mix itself with Rhumbas of African origin (Guaguanco, Colombia, Yambú). Add Són of the Cuban people, which was a mixture of the Spanish troubadour (sonero) and the African drumbeats and flavora and a partner dance flowered to the beat of the clave.
This syncretism also occurred in smaller degrees and with variations in other countries like the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Puerto Rico, among others. Bands of these countries took their music to Mexico City in the era of the famous films of that country (Perez Prado, most famous …). Shortly after, a similar movement to New York occurred. In these two cities, more promotion and syncretism occurred and more commercial music was generated because there was more investment. New York created the term “Salsa”, but it did not create the dance. The term became popular as nickname to refer to a variety of different music, from several countries of Hispanic influence: Rhumba, Són Montuno, Guaracha, Mambo, Cha cha cha, Danzón, Són, Guguanco, Cubop, Guajira, Charanga, Cumbia, Plena, Bomba, Festejo, Merengue, among others. Many of these have maintained their individuality and many were mixed creating “Salsa”.
http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/salsa.htm
MAMBO dance originated in Cuba where there were substantial settlements of Haitians. In the back country of Haiti, the “Mambo” is a voodoo priestess, who serves the villagers as counselor, healer, exorcist, soothsayer, spiritual advisor, and organizer of public entertainment. However, there is not a folk dance in Haiti called the “Mambo.”
The fusion of Swing and Cuban music produced this fascinating rhythm and in turn created a new sensational dance. The Mambo could not have been conceived earlier since up to that time, the Cuban and American Jazz were still not wedded. The “Mambo” dance is attributed to Perez Prado who introduced it at La Tropicana night-club in Havana in 1943. Since then other Latin American band leaders such as Tito Rodriquez, Pupi Campo, Tito Puente, Machito and Xavier Cugat have achieved styles of their own and furthered the Mambo craze.
The Mambo was originally played as any Rumba with a riff ending. It may be described as a riff or a Rumba with a break or emphasis on 2 and 4 in 4/4 time. Native Cubans or musicians without any training would break on any beat.
It first appeared in the United States in New York’s Park Plaza Ballroom – a favorite hangout of enthusiastic dancers from Harlem. The Mambo gained its excitement in 1947 at the Palladium and other renowned places such as The China Doll, Havana Madrid and Birdland.
Most people treat Mambo as a very fast dance. In essence, it is a slow and precise dance that doesn’t move very much.
http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/mambo.htm
MERENGUE is the national dance of the Dominican Republic, and also to some extent, of Haiti, the neighbor sharing the island.
There are two popular versions of the of the origin of the Dominican national dance, the Merengue. One story alleges the dance originated with slaves who were chained together and, of necessity, were forced to drag one leg as they cut sugar to the beat of drums. The second story alleges that a great hero was wounded in the leg during one of the many revolutions in the Dominican Republic. A party of villagers welcomed him home with a victory celebration and, out of sympathy, everyone dancing felt obliged to limp and drag one foot.
Merengue has existed since the early years of the Dominican Republic (in Haiti, a similar dance is called the Meringue). It is possible the dance took its name from the confection made of sugar and egg whites because of the light and frothy character of the dance or because of its short, precise rhythms.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Merengue was very popular in the Dominican Republic. Not only is it used on every dancing occasion in the Republic, but it is very popular throughout the Caribbean and South America, and is one of the standard Latin American dances.
http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/merengue.htm
BACHATA The music that today is called bachata emerged from and belongs to a long-standin Pan-Latin American tradition of guitar music, música de guitarra, which was typically played by trios or quartets comprised of one or two guitars (or other related stringed instrument such as the smaller requito), with percussion provided by maracas and/or other instruments such as claves (hardwood sticks used for percussion), bongo drums, or a gourd güiro scraper. Sometimes a large thumb bass called marimba or marimbula was included as well. When bachata emerged in the early 1960s, it was part of an important subcategory of guitar music, romantic guitar music -as distinguished from guitar music intended primarily for dancing such as th Cuban son or guaracha- although in later decades, as musicians began speeding up the rhythm and dancers developed a new dance step, bachata began to be considered dance music as well. The most popular and widespread genre of romantic guitar music in this century, and the most influential for the development of bachata, was the Cuban bolero (not to be confused with the unrelated Spanish bolero). Bachata musicians, however, also drew upon other genres of música de guitarra that accomplished guitarists would be familiar with, including Mexican rancheros and corridos, Cuban son, guaracha and guajira, Puerto Rican plena and jibarovals campesino and pasillo- as well as the Dominican merengue, which was originally guitar-based.
Before the development of a Dominican redording industry and the spread of the mass media, guitar-based trios and quartets were almost indispensable for a variety of informal recreational events such as Sunday afternoon parties known as pasadías and spontaneous gatherings that took place in back yards, living rooms, or in the street that were known as bachatas. Dictionaries of Latin American Spanish define the term bachata as juerga, jolgorio, or parranda, all of which denote fun, merriment, a good time, or a spree, but in the Dominican Republic, in addition to the emotional quality of fun and enjoyment suggested by the dictionary definition, it referred specifically to get-togethers that included music, drink, and food. The musicians who played at bachatas were usually local, friends an neighbors of the host, although sometimes reputed musicians from farther away might be brought in for a special occacion. Musicians were normally recompensed only with food and drink, but a little money might be given as well. Parties were usually held on Saturday night and would go on until dawn, at which time a traditional soup, the sancocho, was served to the remaining guests. Because the music played at htese gatherings was so often played on guitars (although accordio-based ensembles were also common), the guitar-based music recorded in the 1960s and 1970s by musicians of rural origins came to be known as bachata.
The word bachata also had certain associations, upper-class parties would never be called bachatas. In his book Al amor del bohío (1927), Ramón Emilio Jiménez, a distinguished Dominican “man of leters” and “writer of manners,” described a bachata in terms that reflect how such gatherings were associated by the elite with low-class debauchery and dissipation. music, and the Colombian-Ecuadorian
http://home-3.tiscali.nl/~pjetax/historias/history_bachata.html
CUMBIA is originally a Colombian folk dance and dance music and is Colombia’s representative national dance and music along with vallenato. Cumbia is very popular, widely known in the Latin music mainstream throughout South America, Central AmericaMexico, with lots of regional variations and tendencies. The traditional instruments of cumbia were mainly percussion; different types of drums, claves and a güiro, and woodwinds; flutes. and
Cumbia is a variant of the African Guinean cumbe music. Cumbia started in the northern region of Colombia, mainly in or around Cartagena during the period of Spanish colonization. Spain used its ports to import African slaves, who tried to preserve their musical traditions and also turned the drums and dances into a courtship ritual. Cumbia was mainly interpreted with just drums and claves.
The slaves were later influenced by the sounds of Amerindian instruments from the Koguis and Kuna tribes settled between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Montes de María; like the millo flutes, gaita flutes and güiros. Africans and Amerindians working together as slaves created a mixture from which the gaitero (cumbia interpreter) appeared, with a defined identity by the 1800s. (These gaiteros are not to be associated with the Venezuelan Zulian gaiteros.) The European guitars and accordions were added later, through Spanish influence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbia
BOLERO is an “American Style” Dance, which was introduced to United States in the mid-1930’s. At that time, it was danced in its classical form, which was performed, to a constant beat of drums.
Originally a Spanish dance in 3/4 time, it was changed in Cuba initially into 2/4 time then eventually into 4/4. It is now danced as a very slow type of Rumba rhythm. The music is frequently arranged with Spanish vocals and a subtle percussion effect, played at a tempo of 20 to 25 mpm (measures per minute).
The Bolero is a modification of the Fandango, in which all the objectionable parts are omitted; but all the gracefulness is retained. It is has been said, that should the Bolero be played in the judicial halls or churches, the very judges and clergy could not refrain from joining in the general excitement of the dance.
This is a left turning dance based on a “slip pivot” (a slip pivot is a rotation of the body on the ball of the supporting foot creating a pivot either forward or backward). Bolero has body rise only (no foot rise). This coupled with the slip pivot and slow dreamy music gives Bolero a very slow, smooth, powerful, romantic look and feeling. The foot patterns are similar to Rumba but have a very different feeling.
The Bolero is often called the Cuban “Dance of Love”, because of its slow and dreamy tempo, and it’s beautiful melodies.
Although you may hear Rumba music which may seem slow enough to be a Bolero, the music is actually very different in tempo.
http://www.dancelovers.com/bolero_history.html
Standard dances
International Standard is danced in closed position only where the Lady’s right hand is in the gentleman’s left, her left hand is on his right shoulder, and his right hand is on her shoulder blade. The couple never separates nor dance side-by-side which is common in the American Smooth style. The dances are pretty much the same as the American Smooth with one more dance added, the Quickstep. Strict technique and keeping the frame is key in competitions.
WALTZ Considered the mother of present day dances, the Waltz began in southern Germany in the 17th century. The popularity of the Waltz dance grew with the music of Johann Strauss and eventually blossomed in the 20th century. It is the basis for many dances and is popular today all over the world. The basic components of Waltz are walking steps and side steps. “Rise and Fall” and “Body Sway” are some of the styling characteristics which make the simplest Waltz steps and patterns elegant and beautiful. A sentimental and romantic dance, it is characterized by soft and round movements and its swing and flow.
Waltz comes from the German word “waltzen,” which means “to turn.” The turn is the essence of the waltz step. The waltz is done in 3/4 time with an accent on the first beat of every measure. Each series of movements is a turning step and a close. Today, it is often danced on a light foot, although this was not always the case.
Precursors to the waltz were the allemande and the minuet. The allemande was a tately dance done in two lines. Partners faced each other and moved back and forth, sometimes going under the arms of the other line, or processing down the middle. The minuet was a square-step dance performed in a rigid and stately manner. The waltz itself is Viennese, and it evolved in Austria and Bavaria under such names as the Dreher, the laendler and the Deutscher. It was created as a peasant dance in early Austria, and involved robust moves and lots of space. Often, partners were hurled into the air in moves that occasionally led to injury and miscarriage. Because peasants wore loud, thick shoes, it was also very noisy. When it first became popular in Viennese dance halls in late eighteenth century, these aspects began to change.
The waltz was termed the “forbidden dance” for one reason. When it moved into Viennese dance halls, partners were allowed to touch! This was unheard of, and led to the dance being slandered by many officials of the church and leaders of the Austrian community. Because it was a favored dance of the young, however, it continued to be danced. Because of its transition to dance halls and city gathering, it evolved into a light dance for polished floors and parties. Its music also changed, becoming more refined and orchestrated. Notable instruments used to play it were the piano, the violin and the bass. In 1787, it was brought to the operatic stage, inviting huge debate. Mozart was a huge fan of the waltz, and in one of his operas, Don Giovanni, three waltzes are played at once in one scene! Clearly, the dance could not be stopped.
By the 1800’s, Paris had fallen in love with the waltz. It did not arrive in England until later, where it was first denounced, and then accepted. A final public acceptance of it in 1819 allowed the waltz to reach the popularity that it still has today.
Today, the waltz is danced in all corners of the world. Its predecessors have mostly died away, but in their place the waltz is acclaimed in Asia, Australia, America, Canada and South America as a favorite dance. Its label as the “forbidden dance” has been taken instead by the tango, a dance that arose from the slums of Argentina.
ia.essortment.com/historyofthew_rklu.htm
TANGO The gauchos (cowboys) of Argentina wore chaps that hardened from the foam and sweat of the horse’s body, causing them to walk with flexed knees. Of a night they would go to crowded night clubs and ask ladies of the night to dance but 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. No rise and fall in the steps. This should be a very level, flat dance. The legs are therefore always slightly flexed (i.e. the knees should be slightly bent at all times).
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!
http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/tango.htm
FOXTROT During the summer of 1914, actor Harry Fox was appearing in shows in New York with Yansci Dolly, in an act of Hammerstein’s. Soon people at the Jardin de Danse on the roof of the New York Theater began copying the act that Harry was putting on downstairs, leading them to refer to the dance as “Fox’s Trot.” The foxtrot is a very smooth dance and there should be no jerkiness. It is a dance with many continuously forward or backward moving patterns which are straight and well aligned on the competition floor. It is called the Rolls Royce of the standard dancing styles because the smoothness that is required. The timing is very important. It should be: slow, quick, quick, slow. The dancers should drive off on the slow and let the quicks take care of themselves. This makes it a very difficult dance.
The Foxtrot originated in the summer of 1914 by Vaudeville actor Harry Fox. Born Arthur Carringford in Pomona, California, in 1882, he adopted the stage name of “Fox” after his grandfather.
Harry was thrown on his own resources at the age of fifteen. He joined a circus for a brief tour and he also played professional baseball for a short while. A music publisher liked his voice and hired him to sing songs from the boxes of vaudeville theaters in San Francisco. In 1904 he appeared in a Belvedere Theatre in a comedy entitled “Mr. Frisky of Frisco.” After the San Francisco earthquake and the fire of 1906, Harry Fox migrated East and finally stopped in New York.
In early 1914, Fox was appearing in various vaudeville shows in the New York area. In April he teamed up with Yansci Dolly of the famous Dolly Sisters in an act of Hammerstein’s. At the same time, the New York Theatre, one of the largest in the World, was being converted into a movie house. As an extra attraction, the theater’s management decided to try vaudeville acts between the shows. They selected Harry Fox and his company of “American Beauties” to put on a dancing act. An article in Variety Magazine stated “Harry Fox will appear for a month or longer at a large salary with billing that will occupy the front of the theatre in electrics”.
At the same time, the roof of the theatre was converted to a Jardin de Danse, and the Dolly sisters were featured in a nightly revue.
The May 29, 1914 issue of Variety Magazine reported “The debut of Harry Fox as a lone star and act amidst the films of the daily change at the New York Theatre started off with every mark of success. The Dolly Sisters are dancing nightly on the New York Roof. Gold cups will be given away next week to the winners of dance contests on the New York Roof.”
The Fox-trot originated in the Jardin de Danse on the roof of the New York Theatre. As part of his act downstairs, Harry Fox was doing trotting steps to ragtime music, and people referred to his dance as “Fox’s Trot.”
In the rise to fame of the Vernon Castles, exhibition dancers of outstanding talent and charm, there was no doubt that the fox-trot was the most original and exciting of their various dances.
The elite of the dancing world were soon trying to capture the unusual style of movement and when a very talented American, G.K. Anderson came over to London, and with Josephine Bradley won many competitions, he set the seal – so to speak – on the style of the foxtrot.
As a result of the great popularity which ballroom dancing was enjoying, it was necessary to evolve a form of dance that could express the slow syncopated 4/4 rhythm and yet could remain “on the spot.” This did not mean that the “traveling” fox-trot was dropped, but the “on the spot” dance did provide a means of enjoying the music in a background which large numbers of people could afford and enjoy, and where various bands were all producing excellent and individual musicians and experimenting with and perfect all of the new sounds and beats from America. The “on the spot” dancing was known appropriately as crush, then rhythm dancing. It is now called “social” dancing and possibly this conveys its purpose and limitations. It would be anti-social to attempt to stride around a ballroom crowded with dancers, to dance with only one partner when out with a party, or to be so engrossed with the performance of figures that any conversation is taboo. It can also create a very good base – should it be desired – for the foxtrot.
The Foxtrot was the most significant development in all of ballroom dancing. The combination of quick and slow steps permits more flexibility and gives much greater dancing pleasure than the one-step and two-step which it has replaced. There is more variety in the fox-trot than in any other dance, and in some ways it is the hardest dance to learn!
Variations of the foxtrot include the Peabody, the Quickstep and Roseland foxtrot. Even dances such as the lindy and the hustle are derived to some extent from the foxtrot.
http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/foxtrot.htm
VIENNESE WALTZ The Waltz developed in Central Europe from the Austrian dance known as the Landler. The fast whirling of partners held as if in an embrace shocked polite society. The music of Johann Strauss and the famous ballrooms of Vienna popularized the faster version known as the Viennese Waltz.
The Viennese Waltz is a dance performed to music with three beats to the bar. This means that the dance steps can be very difficult for starters because when a step is taken on each beat, then the next bar will have to start on the opposite foot. However, when this technique is mastered, the dancer acquires an enchanting and romantic rhythm.
The first dance of a three-fourth beat on record was danced to folk music called the Volta. The dance was a peasant folk dance from a provincial area in France in 1559. The Volta, however, is also claimed to be a folk dance from Italy during this time. The word “Volta” is an Italian word that means “the turn”. This shows that even in its earliest form, the waltz involves a couple turning while dancing. The Volta became well-known in the royal courts of Western Europe during the 16th century. It was described as similar to the Galliard, which is a dance performed to music with a 3/2 beat, but instead danced to a slower 6/4 beat. They are similar because both dances make five steps to six beats, therefore the dancers need to alternate feet in alternate measures.
The partners in the Volta are in a closed position but the lady is positioned at the left of the man and is held by the waist. The lady places her right arm on her partner’s shoulder and holds her skirt with her left hand. Holding the skirt is an important part of the dance because the frequent turning and lifting may cause the skirt to fly up. The lifting was done by the man using his left thigh which is positioned under the lady’s right thigh. This lift is demonstrated in the famous painting where Elizabeth I of England is dancing the Volta and is lifted by the Earl of Lancaster.
There is also a contemporary Norwegian Waltz which is a folk dance similar to the VoltaVolta, the couple was required to hold each other in a very tight embrace. The level of intimacy produced was deemed immoral by Louis XIII and banned the action from court on this account. because it is also a turning dance. Although, in this dance, the couple is required to do a step around their partner and doing this would mean that each would have to take large steps to be able to get around from one side of their partner to the other. In this waltz, the man assists his partner in the big step by lifting her as she takes the step therefore accommodating gracefully the difference in leg length between partners. When this lift is incorporated in the
The Volta evolved from a three-time and became a five-time. One of the first dances in three-time that were published was the “Hole in the Wall” in 1695. The first music played for the actual “Waltzen” was in Germany in 1754. However, any link between the Volta ad the Waltzen is unclear, although the word “Waltzen” also means “to revolve” in German.
The Waltzen, as written by Arndt in 1799, is performed by dancers who held on to their long gowns to prevent them from dragging or being stepped on. The dancers would lift their dresses and hold them high like cloaks and this would bring both their bodies under one cover. This action also required the dancers’ bodies to be very close together and this closeness also attracted moral disparagement. Wolf published a pamphlet against the dance entitled “Proof that Waltzing is the Main Source of Weakness of the Body and Mind of our Generation” in 1797. But even when faced with all this negativity, it became very popular in Vienna. Large dance halls like the Zum Sperl in 1807 and the Apollo in 1808 were opened to provide space for thousands of dancers. The dance reached England in 1812 and was introduced as the German Waltz and became a huge hit. Throughout the 19th century, the dance gained further fame with the music of Josef and Johann Strauss.
Nowadays, the Viennese Waltz is danced to music with a tempo of about 180 beats a minute. However, it has a restricted range of figures which are the Change Steps, Passing Changes, Hesitations, Hovers, the Contra check and the Natural and Reverse Turns.
http://ezinearticles.com/?History-of-the-Viennese-Waltz&id=213887
QUICKSTEP During the 1920s, many bands played the Quickstep too fast and some couples couldn’t keep up. Over time, a faster version was born, absorbing extra elements of ragtime such as the Charleston. This led to the creation of what we today call the Quickstep. This is a light, bright, twinkling and happy dance with tricky footwork. Quite sporty in its delivery as it is very springy and fast paced. The basic feel is slow, quick, quick, slow, quick, quick. The majority of the slow should be taken on the heel; the majority of the quick should be taken on the toe.
Developed during World War I in suburban New York, it was initially performed by Caribbean and African dancers. It eventually made its debut on the stage of American music-halls and immediately became popular in ballrooms. Foxtrot and Quickstep have a common origin. In the twenties many bands played the slow-Foxtrot too fast. Eventually they developed into two different dances. The slow-Foxtrot tempo was slowed down and Quickstep became the fast version of the Foxtrot. 1925 began the Charleston fever, it had a lot of influence on the development of the Quickstep. The English developed the Quickstep from the original Charleston as a progressive dance without kicks and mixed in the fast Foxtrot. They called this dance “the QuickTime Foxtrot and Charleston”. At the ‘Star’ Championships of 1927, the English couple Frank Ford and Molly Spain danced a version of the QuickTime Foxtrot and Charleston without the characteristic Charleston knee actions and made it a dance for two instead of a solo.
There was a debate as to why this dance became so popular in Britain. It has been thought that the Quickstep was Brit’s answer to keeping warm indoors during the winter. It is a proven fact that the energy exerted while dancing a 60 second Quickstep is equivalent to running a mile in record time!!
This dance might be termed the “joy” dance of modern dancing. While the basic figures are quite simple, the tempo of the music and the whole character of the dance seem to invite a carefree interpretation of its bright rhythm. The beginner will find the basic steps easy to learn and easy to fit the music. The advanced dancer will discover that the music lends itself to an infinite variety of steps. The dancer who masters the fundamentals of the Quickstep will have command of a dance that can never grow stale, a dance that is unquestionably the most attractive expression of rhythm the world has ever known. The Quickstep is undoubtedly the most popular dance today.
http://www.dancelovers.com/quickstep_history.html
Ayan, with matching sources ko pa yan… tinatamad ako ilagay yung mga costumes na na-search ko eh. Since it’s 11am na, magbibihis na ko at mag-aayos dahil aalis na akong 12nn at may classes na ako mamayang 2pm. Bakit ang aga? I’m here sa Cavite and my school is in Manila, 2 rides pa ako unless na swertehina ko at may masakyang Lawton Quiapo na pupunta sa terminal nila sa España. Ayun. GTG.
