The Dances

Swing:  It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.  Swing is an authentic American art form. Born in Harlem to its parent the Charleston, the term Swing originally referred to the music.  Swing commonly refers to hanging back, being a little behind the beat.  Some musicians swing tunes, some don't.  Same with the dance.  You can hang behind the beat and really be there with the music, or you can jump it and race on ahead.  We are lucky to have some of the original Savoy dancers around, and teaching, today.  Frankie Manning is the most notable... now 87 and still leaving us all in the dust.  Swing dancing emerged in Harlem's Savoy Ballroom, a ballroom that took up a full city block, back in the 1930's, from some teens who wanted to swing out and play with the dance, who wanted to improvise with the dance as their buddies with the instruments were doing on stage.  These teens kept one upping each other, and out of their competitions and play were created aerials, jazz footwork, and choreography that is still widely danced today.  Swing went on to take the world by storm, and it evolved into many different styles.  Basic swing done in 6 counts is most often referred to as East Coast Swing, while the style of dance done at the Savoy was in 8 counts, or in a mixture of 6 & 8 counts, and was called Lindy Hop. Hollywood style was created by Dean Collins who took his own style to Hollywood in the 1940's & 50's.  West Coast swing is popular among Ballroom dancers and has precise, sharp, clean steps and lines.    

Salsa:  Salsa is taking the world by storm!  The richness of the Latin rhythms are intoxicating.  The simplicity - and the opportunity for endless creativity and complexity - of the dance will keep this dance alive forever.  Also, the presence of a culture whose children grow up immersed in the rhythms... Salsa literally means "sauce" in Spanish.  There are several stories about where the name Salsa comes from.  Some say that a DJ in the 60's used to the word to describe music that was hot!, some say that the first use of the term was by Fania records in the 1970's to promote their Latin artists. Cubans say that Salsa encompasses all the popular dances and music; Son, ChaChaCha, Mambo, etc.  Salsa is an evolution of these rhythms, a playful mixture of all of these rhythms - a blending of African rhythms, Spanish melody, and island heat.  We prefer to dance the Cuban style of Salsa, called 'Casino.  We find the music richer, more layered and textured than much of the modern salsa music (although there is good stuff coming out of Peru, Colombia, New York, LA, and many other spots these days).  The Cuban style of dancing Salsa is smoother, more circular, and less flashy than other styles. 

Foxtrot:  This dance was born in the United States in the early 1900's and is based on patterns or combinations of quick steps and slow steps.  Foxtrot can be danced to a wide variety of music; we enjoy dancing it most to slow swing or to the loungy music of the 1950's (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee....).  

Waltz:  While the popularity of waltz in recent years has not exploded anywhere near the Swing or Salsa phenomena, if you ask any of the best swing, salsa, tango or other social dancers what their "second favorite" dance is...you'll be surprised how many will say waltz.  It's a fabulous dance. Waltz is a 3/4 tempo of music, and the dance is always danced in this time.  Waltz can be done in a box step (as some of us learned as kids) or in spinning circular fashion as in Viennese Waltz.  Dancing a fast waltz is like flying!

Slow Dancing / One Step / Blues:  One-Step is the original form of Foxtrot, and of slow dancing, again born here in the United States, and emerging at the turn of the century.  It was considered scandalous at the time (as was Waltz), and the youngsters who were dancing it in the 1910's were creating wild "animal" variations that tormented their parents (and were later incorporated into Charleston variations)!  We LOVE dancing the One-Step - the steps are so easy (can you walk?) that you can be fully present to the music and your partner without worrying about your feet.  It is wonderful to dance One-Step to old style ragtime or any of the softer popular music from the 30s and 40s; it is also wonderful to dance to Blues music.

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