BALLROOM

Dance is one of the oldest human activities that has managed to follow us through our
development as a species, our spreading across continents and rise of modern cultures and
civilizations. The oldest archeological evidences of dance can be traced to some 9 thousand years
ago, and ever since then its presence in historical records grew and took greater significance as
they became part of our daily lives, customs and various religious ceremonies. As the music and
dance became more complex and advanced, it started to separate in two distinct forms -one for
general population that was practiced openly, and other one for aristocracy and royalty that was
practiced in closed environments during special occasions. This separation of dance became
especially noticeable in Europe after the end of the Middle Ages, when Renaissance influences
born in Italy and France started drastically changing 16th century European lifestyle.

Ballroom dancing was a product of that time, and it signified the tradition of social
dancing of the privileged. It name was derived from the word ball, which originated from the
Latin word “ballare” which means “to dance”. After a while, boundaries between high classes
and lower classes disappeared, transforming the ballrooms across Europe into places where both
folk dances and sophisticated dances can be performed.
 JIVE
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.
Characteristics of Jive Dancing
Jive and East Coast swing share many figures, as well as the same music style and tempo. The
basic look and feel of jive are that it is performed with lots and lots of energy, with the legs
portraying a pumping action. Both the East Coast swing and basic jive consist of two triple steps
and a rock step. The jive differs in that the count begins with the rock step, which is counted "1,
2." The two triple steps are counted "3 and 4" and "5 and 6." In competition, it is danced at 176
beats per minute.

History of Jive
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.

Jive Action
Jive is a very happy, boppy, energetic dance, with plenty of knee-lifting, bending, and rocking of
the hips. The fastest of the Latin dances, jive incorporates lots of kicks and flicks, even twirling
of the woman, and doesn't move around the dance floor like other dances. Although jive dancers
may appear to be moving their feet haphazardly in every direction, the feet are actually well-
controlled under the body with the knees close together.
Distinctive Jive Dance Steps
The basic jive step (jive basic) is a 6-beat pattern:
 The man and woman face each other with arms in the closed position and the man leads.
 Rock step (counts 1 and 2): Step one foot behind the other and lift the front foot up. The man
steps back with his left foot while the woman steps backward with her right foot.
 Chasse to the left (counts 3 and 4) The man goes left, the woman goes right.
 Chasse to the right (counts 5 and 6) The man goes right, the woman goes left.
A few distinctive Jive steps:
 American Spin
 Throwaway
 Comb

Jive Music and Rhythm

Origins and History

Samba is Brazil's most well-known musical form and most widely played kind of Brazilian
music. Samba evolved in Rio de Janeiro by the early 20th century and grew to become the
quintessential music and dance form associated with Rio's carnaval. With its rich and syncopated
rhythm and its often voluptuous dance moves, it has become the most popular music and dance
style of South America. Brazilian musicologists argue about the origins of samba. The word
samba most likely is derived from the Kimbundu (Angolan) term semba- the belly bump or navel
thrust in dancing. According to Silvio Romero (1954), the term was associated with a Bahian
(one of the twenty-six states of Brazil) dance in the second half of the 1800's, when Bahian ex-
slaves brought it to Rio de Janeiro. Kazadi wa Mukuna (1979) argues that it may have
developed on the coffee plantations of the Paraiba Valley before reaching the capital. Jose
Ramos Tinhorao (1986) argues that samba was a product of a middle-class elaboration of Afro-
Brazilian musical practices by professional musicians in Rio.

Over time samba gained important influences not only from Brazilian predecessors such as the
maxixe and the marcha, but the Cuban habanera and German polka as well. As a song form,
samba was extremely popular during the turn of the century, with some of the early recordings
dating back to 1911. The first officially registered and recorded samba was "Pelo Telefone,"
which became a hit in 1917. Among the early pioneers of the song form was Alfredo da Rocha
Vianna Jr., known as Pixinguinha, who helped to crystallize the form as well as develop a richer
harmony. From the 1920s and into the height of the radio era of the '30s, sambas were slower
and more romantic (such as those of Ismael Silva), leading to the subgenre known as samba-
canção, which emphasized the melody over the rhythm, and lyrics that were more sentimental
and often moody. Brazilian crooners and composers put samba on the international radar.

By the 1950s, as samba-canção began to lose its momentum, a more percussive and funkier style
of samba began to develop in the poor areas and shantytowns (known as favelas). At first called
samba de morro because of its development in the morros (hills), the style came to be known as
samba-de-batucada, and emphasized the polyrhythmic sounds of multiple percussion
instruments. In the late 1950s, the second international wave of popularity for Brazilian music
began: the development of bossa nova. Considered an adaptation of the previous samba- canção
form, bossa nova emphasized the melodic and vocal aspects of samba in a slower, more romantic
style fused with the richness of American jazz harmony. By the 1970s, samba saw its rise within
the era of MPB (música popular Brasileira) as artists modernized the more dynamic batucada
style with contemporary harmony and instrumentation, fusing samba with rock, jazz and other
forms, and bringing the style into the mainstream. Samba was everywhere, and it seemed to be
the measure of happiness for Brazilians of all races and social classes.

amba (dance) is a lively, rhythmical dance of Brazilian origin in 2/4 time danced under the
Samba music. However, there are three steps to every bar, making the Samba feel like a 3/4
timed dance. Its origins include the Maxixe. There are two major streams of Samba dance that
differ significantly: the Brazilian Samba and the Ballroom Samba. Brazilian Samba music has
been danced in Brazil since its inception on the late 19th century. There are actually a set of
dances, rather than a single dance, that define the Samba dancing scene in the country and none
of them can be elected as the official one.

Many regional varieties of samba exist. As a folk dance, it was formerly important but its
importance has diminished because of the popularity of the types of urban samba. In the
southern-central areas, the folk samba is known as samba-lenco, samba, de roda, samba
campineiro. The choreographic arrangement of the samba-lenco- dancers with a kerchief (lenco)
in their hand- resembles the old batuque, in circular formation. With texts in forms of quatrains,
the songs are performed in parallel thirds with snare drum and tambourine accompainment. The
songs are usually in eight bars long, in duple meter with an anacrusis, and have a range of up to
an octave, a descending motion with repeated notes, and isometric rhythm. The accompaniment
exhibits typical Afro-Brazilian syncopation. Mario de Andrade observed that the samba is
defined by its choreography rather than its musical structure. The latter shows an arched melody
in duple meter, syncopated rhythmic figurations, strophic and variable textual forms, and the
relative importance of textual improvisations.

Samba Improves the flexibility of the body and helps achieve easy movement and
lightness. The Samba rolling action teaches the body to be supple. To move lightly, quickly,
and smoothly without effort takes study but only at the start. Although considered a good
exercise, Samba should be danced smoothly and in a relaxed manner giving the appearance of
effortless movement. Sometimes called the South American Waltz, the Samba pulsates to a
unique Latin rhythm.

CHA CHA
Cha Cha Originating in Cuba as an off-shoot of Mambo, Cha Cha is danced to slower music. It
has a distinct sound suggesting the 1/2 1/2 1, or cha-cha-cha, that embodies the scraping sound
made by the feet while dancing the triple rhythm added to the middle of the basic salsa
movement.

This is a fun, flirty dance that grew out of the Cuban Mambo and became immensely
popular in the United States in the 1950’s. It consists of triple chasse steps (cha cha cha’s)
and rock steps.

Cha Cha has a modified Cuban Motion hip action, because of the speed. This is an
exuberant dance that will get your heart pumping and put a smile on your face.

History
Cha Cha originated in Cuba and evolved from a slow version of Mambo called “Triple
Mambo” or Mambo with guiro rhythm. This musical rhythm inspired dancers to dance a
hip syncopation to the forward and back breaks of a mambo which late evolved to a triple
step.
Mambo evolved from a fusion of danzon, son and American jazz. Danzon has its
origins from Europe (chamber music) and African/Haitian drum rhythms. 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.
In 1952, an English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba and saw dancers dancing
this triple step to slow rumba and mambo music. On his return to Britain, he taught this as a
separate dance and it has since evolved to Ballroom Cha Cha.
Cha Cha was introduced to the US in 1954 which replaced mambo as the latest dance
craze. After its introduction to the US, the traditional violins and flutes were exchanged
with big band instruments such as trumpets, trombones and saxophones.

Dance Characteristics
Cha Cha is a lively, fun, cheeky and playful dance. It is a non-progressive dance that
emphasizes Cuban motion, distinguished by the chasses (cha-cha-cha) typically danced
during the 4&1 counts of the music. Cuban motion in Cha Cha is more staccato than Rumba
to reflect the music with emphasis on count 1. The Cha Cha frame is a typical Rhythm
frame.
 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.
The word "rumba" comes from the verb "rumbear" which means going to parties, dancing, and having
a good time.

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.

History of the Rumba

The rumba as we know it formed in Cuba in the late 1800s as a mixture of various musical
genres, like how grunge formed in Seattle from punk and metal. The rumba is a mixture of
African dance and drum genres, abakuá and yuka, and Spanish coros de clave. From this mixture
you get a very energetic, often polyrhythmic (multiple rhythmic patterns layered atop one
another) musical form.
The African influence on the rumba cannot be overlooked. Much like the slave songs in the
United States, the Cuban slave trade directly influenced the rumba's development. Some
ethnomusicologists argue that the rumba came from the urbanization of rural slave songs, much
the same way the urbanization of rural blues eventually became the blues we know in America
today.
Like the blues spreading from the United States' rural South to its urban northern cities, rumba
began as a mostly working class street music that eventually became the national musical style of
Cuba. As it became more commercialized in the 1930s it spread from the island to the United
States, where it is stylized as rhumba, a Cuban influenced ballroom dance. Funny thing about the
rhumba in America: it doesn't even really sound like the original Cuban rumba. Instead it's more
like a jazz, big-band reinterpretation of the genre. It's like the music you hear in The Godfather
Part II whenever they're in the Miami scenes.

Musical Form

The basis of the rumba is the rhythmic pattern.

Rumba Rhythm

It's a binary meter, a time signature of either 2/4 or 4/4, though uncommonly you could find a
triple meter (9/8, 12/4). The important part is the syncopation of the meter. Syncopation is
where you emphasize the off-beat parts of the meter, like the half beat. Look at all those rests in
the above image. Most of them come on the downbeat. By resting on the downbeat and playing
on the off-beat you get syncopation, which gives excitement and energy to the music.
Rumba Learning this dance is a prerequisite for good Latin dancing. The Cuban Motion is
essential in most Latin dances. The Rumba is used by good dancers everywhere and provides
interesting variety suited to a limited space. Neat, attractive, precise footwork gives you
confidence in your dancing. The Rumba will sharpen your sense of rhythm, timing, and
muscular control.

Type of Dancing
Which dances should be included in the canon of 'ballroom dances' is a matter of debate.
However, the following are all generally considered to belong to the world of ballroom dance:

1. RHYTHM dances: Rumba, Cha-Cha, Samba, Mambo, Salsa, Bolero, East Coast Swing,
Jive, West Coast Swing.
2. LATIN dances: Rumba, Cha-Cha, Samba, Mambo.
3. SMOOTH dances: Foxtrot, Tango, Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep, Night Club Two-
Step.