Modern Dance

FoxAt the beginning of the 20th Century, few in the US danced. Those who did danced the Waltz, Polka, and Two
Step. But in 1910, ragtime music was bringing unprecedented numbers of dancers into the dance halls. Especially, a
whole flock of "animal dances" were briefly popular, formed out of the earlier Two Step. There was the Squirrel, in
which dancers took small, mincing steps, a Duck Waddle involving quick walks and sways of the upper body to the
left and right, a Snake, where dancers walked sinuously to banjo with a dip and then to sidecar. There was the Lame
Duck, Chicken Scratch, Kangaroo Hop, a Horse Canter, and a Horse Trot. And of course, there was the Fox Trot.

However, the Fox Trot might not actually have started as an "animal dance." One story tells of Harry Fox, a
burlesque comic and a part of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1913, who worked on a stage scattered with scantily clad
women in static poses. His act involved a fast, comical dance to 4/4 ragtime music from one woman to the next
where he would deliver his jokes. The act was popular, the music was widely marketed, and Fox's "Trot" became
popular in dance halls and dance studios. It was introduced to members of the Imperial Society of Teachers of
Dancing in London in 1915.

In these earliest days, the Fox Trot was not the smooth: slow, quick, quick, of today (which if you think about it, is
nothing like a "trot"). Back then dancers might have taken four slow steps down line and then eight quicks with just
a little bit of a prance. They walked in a circle. There was a lunge, close, lunge, close; producing a full turn. There
were hops, kicks, and capers. There was a definite strutting or trotting look. One of the first "definitions" of the
rhythm came from an American teacher who said, "There are but two things to remember; first a slow walk, two
counts to a step; second a trot or run, one count to each step."

But Vernon and Irene Castle and other teachers wrote new figures for the rhythm, and by 1916, the Fox Trot had
evolved into the Foxtrot, a slower, more elegant, floating kind of dance.

During the Jazz Age of the 20s, the Foxtrot was sped up again. It acquired some of the jazzy hops and skips of the
Charleston and became our present-day Quickstep. Of course, the Quickstep didn't replace the Foxtrot, but joined it,
a close cousin. The existence of the Quickstep maybe allowed the Foxtrot itself to slow back down. In England, the
Foxtrot was danced at 48 measures per minute in 1927, at 42 in 1928, and between 38 and 42 in 1929. The
Quickstep was being danced at 54 to 56. By 1932, the Foxtrot tempo was down to 36 measures per minute.

Foxtrot uses long passing steps that keep the dancer up, stretched, and extended. It has a gentle rise and fall but not
as much as that of Waltz, where the third closing step causes you to lower more dramatically. (Where Waltz is
"mountains and valleys," Foxtrot is "rolling hills," and Tango is "as flat as Kansas.") In three steps, we step heel, toe
rising, toe, toe, heel lowering again.

The passing steps encourage us to keep moving, too. We want fluidity, continuity; a graceful, steady glide. Even
when checking a movement or when in a picture figure, where your feet have stopped, we keep the body flowing.
We introduce sway, change the sway, change it again if we have the time, incorporate arm and hand movements that
extend these body movements, and then flow right on out into the next figure. The long, gliding steps of the slow
Foxtrot give an impression of elegant ease, but control and balance are required to maintain that smooth flow.

Still another sophisticated feature that developeed in Foxtrot involved angled bodies so that dancers aren't directly
facing or backing the line of progression; they are angling or slicing down the hall. I think of a barge plowing
forward, directly into the wind and current, "breasting" the waves. The Foxtrot doesn't do that. Dancers progress at a
graceful angle, slicing through, with one or the other side leading.

The slow, elegant, gliding Foxtrot is a rich and sophisticated rhythm and is one of the most popular dances ever.
The Foxtrot seems more sustainable, less intense, than the Waltz for instance. Maybe it is the slow count that gives
us a little rest in each measure. Certainly, the "slow, quick, quick" rhythm and the more subtle downbeats on 1 and
3 (and upbeats on 2 and 4) provide more variety and interest than the steady "1, 2, 3" and strong, regular
downbeat on 1 that we find in Waltz. Where the feel of waltz music has been described as "BOOM, cha, cha," the
feel of foxtrot is more like "BOOM-cha, BOOM-cha." Maybe it is the soaring glide of Foxtrot that feels so good,
compared to Waltz's more dramatic rise and fall. Quickstep-The quickstep formed about 1925 out of a
marching one step, a fast foxtrot, and some of the jazzy hops and skips of the charleston, which had originated as a
solo dance in South Carolina and then was promoted by Ned Wayburn in the "Follies" of 1923 in New York. In the
beginning, there was a lot of playful and even dangerous kicking to the side, which was smoothed out by 1926. Rise
and fall came more from the ball of the foot and less from the knee, and the dance became more progressive, more
gliding, and less choppy by 1927. The chasse was incorporated as a fundamental component of the dance.So, very
rapidly, the quickstep evolved into an up, light, airy, skipping sort of a dance. However, this is not the easy skipping
of a child down the sidewalk. The quickstep is the skipping of a flat stone across a pond, especially at the end of the
throw, where the skips are short and fast: bip-bip-bip-bip. Stay level. Don't slide the balls of your feet across the
floor, but lift each foot and skim.Use forward poise to keep your body and especially your head over your
supporting foot. The fast flow of quickstep can easily get out of control when you want to change direction;
momentum can become hard to overcome. So as you move forward, keep your head a little back. As you move
back, keep your head forward, and as you change from forward to back, you won't have to fight to haul your body
along.There is a little rise and fall in the feet and knees, but rise to flexed knees only. If you straighten or lock the
knees, you will pop up, and again, we are striving for a skipping look, not a jumping-jack look. Try to direct your
rise laterally or even forward to achieve smooth progression rather than waltz-like rise and fall. Dance with a
walking heel lead that puts you on the balls of your feet, and then stay up and in flight.Two features that make
quickstep an especially interesting, fun rhythm also make it difficult at first. These are the fast tempo and the almost
perverse, ever changing combinations of quicks and slows (see the first column in the table below). Not only do
figures vary one from another in the number and timing of their steps, but a given figure can vary at the choice of
the choreographer, and I try to describe some of this variability below. There is a general rule that can help you
decide which steps should be slow and which should be quick — usually, forward and back steps are slow and
closing or locking steps are quick. Usually, exceptions to this rule will be clarified in the cue. For instance, the
telemark to semi-closed position consists of three forward steps for the man (see below) and so uses three slow
steps. If the cue is "quick open telemark," the count would be quick, quick, slow. However, given the fast tempo,
you don't really have time to think through the rule as each figure is cued. You have to memorize the timing of each
figure, as well as the steps (telemark is ss; s — quarter turns and progressive chasse is ss; qqs; sqq; s — V-six is qqs;
sqq;) But this rich variety is half the fun. Mr. Alex Moore, one of the foremost teachers of English ballroom dance,
has referred to the Quickstep as, "a dance that can never grow stale, a dance that is unquestionably the most
attractive expression of rhythm the world has ever known."

Quickstep viennese waltz ,slow waltz - Viennese waltz (German: Wiener

Walzer)- Is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first
sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing,
danced to the music of Viennese waltz.The Viennese waltz, so called to distinguish it from the waltz and the French
waltz, is the oldest of the current ballroom dances. It emerged in the second half of the 18th century from the
German dance and the Ländler in Austria and was both popular and subject to criticism. At that time, the waltz, as
described in a magazine from 1799, was 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. The main difference between Slow Waltz and Viennese Waltz is
speed. Footwork and patterns are also different, but the main difference is speed. Viennese Waltz can be up to four
times faster than the slow version. A true Viennese waltz consists only of turns - that is why it is also known as the
Rotary Waltz.In fact, the Viennese Waltz often uses 6/8 time with a tempo of about 180 beats per minute. The
Viennese Waltz also differentiates itself from the Slow Waltz due to its form factor. This dance is comprised of
constant turns and has a less-pronounced rise and fall tilt than the Slow Waltz.Viennese Waltz allowed dancers to
drop their composure and free their emotions. Initially, these liberties presented by Viennese Waltz were considered
very scandalous. Women's ankles were exposed as they danced around the floor and couples embraced too closely
for social approval.
 Latin American Dances
Cha cha-Originated in Cuba and evolved from a slow version of Mambo called “Triple Mambo” or Mambo
with guiro rhythm. ... Enrique Jorrin, a Cuban Violinist created the first cha cha song in 1948. He named it after the
shuffling sound the dancers shoes made when they dance to this type of music.The Cha Cha is a true Latin dance,
which originated in Cuba where it evolved from the danzon, an older form of Cuban dance. The primary difference
in Cha Cha is the addition of a triple step that replaces the slow step in Mambo/Rumba.The category of Latin dances
in the international dancesport competitions consists of the cha-cha-cha, rumba, samba, paso doble, and also the jive
of United States origin. Social Latin dances (Street Latin) include salsa, mambo, merengue, rumba, bachata, bomba
and plena.In the early 1950s, Enrique Jorrín worked as a violinist and composer with the charanga group Orquesta
América. The group performed at dance halls in Havana where they played danzón, danzonete, and danzon-mambo
for dance-oriented crowds. Jorrín noticed that many of the dancers at these gigs had difficulty with the syncopated
rhythms of the danzón-mambo. To make his music more appealing to dancers, Jorrín began composing songs where
the melody was marked strongly on the first downbeat and the rhythm was less syncopated. When Orquesta
América performed these new compositions at the Silver Star Club in Havana, it was noticed that the dancers had
improvised a triple step in their footwork producing the sound "cha-cha-cha". Thus, the new style came to be known
as "cha-cha-chá" and became associated with a dance where dancers perform a triple step. Samba- The origins of the
Samba come from Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century. Many steps can be traced back to the Maxixe danced
in the 1910's. (Before 1914, the Samba was known under the Brazilian name "Maxixe".)As early as 1923, an
international meeting of professors of dancing took note of the rise of the Samba's popularity, particularly in France.
A French dance book published by Paul Boucher in 1928 included Samba instructions.The dance was introduced to
United States movie audiences in 1933 when Fred Astaire and Dolores Del Rio danced the Carioca in Flying Down
to Rio. Several years later, Carmen Miranda danced the Samba in That Night in Rio.A Samba exhibition was given
at the November 1938 meeting of the New York Society of Teachers of Dancing. General interest in the Samba was
also stimulated at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, where Samba music was played at the Brazilian Pavilion. A
few years later the Brazilian composer Ary Barroso wrote the classic Samba, "Brasil," which quickly became a hit,
and in 1944 he went to Hollywood to write the score for the musical Brazil.The Samba is a partner dance.The
Samba danced in the world of DanceSport, even more than other ballroom dances, is very disconnected from the
origins and evolution of the music and dance that gives it its name.

Jive - An latin dancing, the jive is a dance style that originated in the United States from African-Americans in
the early 1930s. It was popularized in 1934 by Cab Calloway. It is a lively and uninhibited variation of the Jitterbug,
a form of Swing dance.Jive is a lively, and uninhibited variation of the jitterbug. Many of its basic patterns are
similar to those of the East Coast swing. Jive is one of the five International Latin dances, although it has an
African-American origin.Jive was first demonstrated by Cab Calloway in 1934. It caught on in the United States in
the 1940s and was influenced by the Boogie, Rock & Roll, African/American Swing, and Lindyhop. The name
either comes from jive being a form of glib talk or from African dance terms. Jive became a generic term for swing
in the United Kingdom.In International Style ballroom dancing competition, jive is grouped with the Latin dances
but it is danced to Western music, with 42 bars per minute in 4/4 time. Paso Doble - The Paso doble is a dramatic
interpretation in dance of the matador facing a bull in the traditional bullring, and originated in southern Spain. Paso
doble translates as 'two step', and developed from the march at the start of a bullfight.The Paso Doble, or Pasodoble,
is a lively dance modeled after the drama of the Spanish bullfight. In Spanish, "Paso Doble" means "two-step" and
refers to the marching nature of the steps. This theatrical dance has an interesting background that involves role-
playing of sortsPaso Doble dancing gained popularity in the United States in the 1930s. Although today the Paso
Doble is on occasion danced as a social ballroom or Latin dance, it is generally seen as a competitive or performance
style dance. Due to its French origins, most of the steps in the Paso Doble have still French names.Paso Doble was
actually invented in Southern France, where its march-like steps were used in the military, coined “Paso Redoble”.
The steps easily travelled to Spain because of their close proximity. Beginning in the 18th century, the “Paso Doble”
was played during the matador's entrance into the bullring.

Rumba - Originating in the late 19th century among the black population of the eastern Cuban province of
Oriente, the son is a vocal, instrumental, and dance genre also derived from African and Spanish influences. The
Afro-Cuban rumba developed in the black urban slums of Cuba in the mid-19th century.Rumba, also spelled
rhumba, ballroom dance of Afro-Cuban folk-dance origin that became internationally popular in the early 20th
century. Best known for the dancers' subtle side to side hip movements with the torso erect, the rumba is danced
with a basic pattern of two quick side steps and a slow forward step.Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a
genre of ballroom music and dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It
combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cubano, but also conga and
rumba.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.