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BERNIE'S LATIN DANCING PAGE
RHUMBA: A passionate story of love and tension between man and woman. This dance is also a position dance, so not a lot of travel on the floor. The 4th beat is the most important. For tournaments the rumba is between 1.5 and 2 minutes. The official beat count is 27. For the woman the attractive hip movement is most important, while for the man the whole body is used to impress the woman. The rumba is all about impressing and seducing the opposite sex. On a slow beat the woman tries to impress and challenge the man, to finally reject him. All this while the man tries to impress the woman and lets her know he's interested. The rumba is an erotic passionate dance where the actions of the body are most important in executing this dance. This dance requires well timed and dynamic actions. Especially the women steals the show in this dance, while the man is only there to establish more attention on the woman. In a well choreographed dance you will always find elements of teasing and Withdrawal. The gentleman is being seduced and then rejected. The sensual and erotic movements of the lady are being answered by the gentleman through his movements, his desire for her, and his attempts to prove his manhood by physical domination. Unfortunately, he never succeeds. History: Many Africans came to the Americas because of the slave trade. They brought with them their own culture. (read "dance") The Rumba developed as a Cuban dance. This dance has been standardized, in spite of the fact that there are many Cuban Rumba variations. In its recent form of basic figures, this dance contains the age-old premise of the lady, trying to dominate the gentleman by means of her womanly charms. CHA CHA: A lively dance with quick moves. This dance is a position dance, this means there may not be a lot of travel across the floor. During the dance its second beat is most important. In tournaments a normal cha cha cha is between 1.5 and 2 minutes. The official amount of beats per minute is set on 30. The timing of the actions is important while executing this dance. A lovely dance to go wild where everything is about dynamic actions. No serious thoughts during the cha cha cha, just fun, pleasure and most of all the naughty character of the dance must be visible on the floor. Just follow the music and your heart. History: This dance was first seen in the ballrooms of America around 1950. It was a logical follow-up of the Mambo, from which it was developed. Shortly after the Mambo was introduced, this rhythm gained in popularity. It turned out to be a rhythm that became more known than any other Latin dance. The interpretation of the Cha-cha-cha music should create a happy, careless and fierce mood. It has been decided recently to shorten the name to simply Cha-cha. JIVE: This Swinging dance is a mixture of Rock-n-Roll, Boogie Woogie, African/American Swing and the Jitterbug. The important point is the speed and expression. The Jive is also a position dance, this means not a lot of travel across the floor but lots of action. During the dance the intonation is on the 2nd and 4th beat. In competitions the Jive lasts for 1.5 to 2 minutes. The official speed is 44 BPM. The jive is a dance where you dance together but also solo. The couple doesn't need to stay in contact with each other all the time. History: It is an exquisite, swinging dance which conquered the West after 1940 under the name of Jitterbug. Also the Bebop, Rock-n-Roll and the American Swing influenced this dance. It is a fast dance. With this dance, contest participants are able to show that, after four dances, they still are not tired (the Jive is the last dance in a series of five) and that they still can go full steam. Sometimes this turns out to be only an illusion. SAMBA: The roots of the Samba are in Africa, but most of the development was done in Brazil, In 1925 the Samba was imported into Europe. Although the samba was already accepted as a competition Dance, the great breakthrough of the Samba happened on the World exhibition in New York in 1939. Europe was really captured by the Samba in 1948/1949. Walter Laird with partner Lorraine developed the Samba enormously. History: It originates in Africa, and developed in Brazil, it is a dance that excites. In order to achieve the real character of the Samba, the dancer has to try for a flirting, exaggeratedly happy interpretation. Many figures now danced in the Samba are accentuated by means of hip movements. This action is difficult to achieve, but without it, the dance loses a lot of its effect. PASO DOBLE: The Paso Doble is the only Latin Dance which has not come from the "African" culture, the roots of the Paso Doble are in Spain. The peak in popularity of this dance was in 1926. After World War II the Paso Doble was accepted as a Competition Dance. History: Without a doubt a Spanish dance, but also discovered early in Mexico. Play the music and instantly everybody is transported into a Spanish ambience. It will quickly conjure up a bullfight. It is obvious that the gentleman represents the "torero", the bullfighter , but erroneously one sometimes sees the lady as "el toro", the bull. She in reality portrays the "cappa", the bullfighter's red cloth. This dance was already popular here in 1920.
