Rhythm Dance Styles | Smooth Dance Styles |Benefits of Dance
Click on each dance style listed below for a brief description and to watch a short video clip:
The Bolero, originating in Spain, is danced to a very slow type of Rumba rhythm. With its slip pivot and body rise danced to dreamy music usually accompanied by vocals, the Bolero has a very romantic and soft feel to it…
The mid-tempo Cha-Cha is a spin-off of the Rumba and the Mambo. With its two slow steps followed by three quick ones (rock step, cha-cha-cha), this sensual, energetic dance is extraordinarily popular with old and young alike…
Back in the good old days of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, the East Coast Swing originated as a simplified 6-count triple step dance…
The official state dance of California, the West Coast Swing originated from the Savoy Style Lindy dance. Brought to Hollywood by Dean Collins, a famous movie dancer…
The 1970s was the time to do the Hustle! Predated by the line dance with the same name, the Hustle exploded onto the scene after John Travolta danced his way to stardom in the famous movie, Saturday Night Fever…
It all started at the Savoy…or so the story goes. While “Shorty George” Snowden, a dance enthusiast, watched some couples dancing at New York City’s famous Savoy Ballroom…
A Cuban bandleader named Perez Prado is credited with starting the Mambo dance craze in the mid-1950s. The Mambo is a Rumba with a break on 2 and 4 in 4/4 time, danced according to the individual dancer’s temperament…
The Merengue, the national dance of the Dominican Republic, was created in the mid-1950s. With its simple steps and 1-2 march-like rhythm, it was rumored to be initially performed by…
The Polka, coming from Bohemia in the 1800s, has an unforgettable rhythm – da-da-dum, da-da-dum. The name is Czech for “half-step,” much used in the dance. The Polka is danced in pairs…
Steamy! The most famous Latin American dance to gain popularity in North America and Europe is, without doubt, the rumba. Slow and romantic, the Rumba is the most sensual of the Latin dances…
Salsa, a fusion of Cuban, Puerto Rican and American styles, describes the fast, Latin music coming out of New York City in the late 1960s. Salsa dancing is characterized by a complicated rhythm…
The spirited Samba always gets feet tapping! Originally from Brazil, the festive Samba was popularized in the movies of Carmen Miranda….
The country music dance called the “Texas Two-Step” is a modified Foxtrot – some call it a Foxtrot with a swagger! It started as a simple barn dance and is notable for two quick steps and two slow steps…
