Quickstep is an International Style ballroom dance that follows a 2/4 or 4/4 time beat, similar to a fast Foxtrot. An example of a song suitable for the classic quickstep would be “Come to the Cabaret” from the Cabaret movie. However, while the dance may appear very similar to a fast Foxtrot, its technique and patterns are unique to itself.

The Quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the Foxtrot and the Charleston, as bands started to play music which was too quick to make large open leg movements which the Foxtrot required. The Quickstep now is quite separate from the Foxtrot. Unlike the Foxtrot, the man often closes his feet, and syncopated steps are regular occurrences. In some ways, the dance patterns are close to the Waltz, but are danced to 4/4 time rather than 3/4 time.

This dance gradually evolved into a very dynamic one with a lot of movement on the dance floor, many advanced patterns include hops, runs, quick steps with a lot of momentum, and rotation. The tempo of quickstep dance significantly increased, especially in ballroom competitions, due to the extensive use of steps with eighth note durations. While in older times quickstep patterns were counted with “quick” and “slow” steps, many advanced patterns today are cued with split beats, e.g., “quick-and-quick-and-quick-quick-slow”.

Note: There was a 19th C. Quickstep which was a march-like dance and has no relation to the modern ballroom step.

The Quickstep is elegant like the Foxtrot, and should be smooth and glamourous. The dancers should appear to be very light on their feet.

The Foxtrot (also: “Fox trot”, “foxtrot”, “fox trot”) is a ballroom dance which takes its name from its inventor, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox. According to legend, Fox was unable to find female dancers capable of performing the more difficult two-step. As a result, he added stagger steps (two trots), creating the basic Foxtrot rhythm of slow-slow-quick-quick. The dance was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the talented husband and wife duo, Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature grace and style. It was later standardized by Arthur Murray, in whose version it began to imitate the positions of American Tango.

At its inception, the Foxtrot was originally danced to ragtime. Today, the dance is customarily accompanied by the same big band music to which swing is also danced.

When rock and roll music first emerged in the early 1950s, record companies were uncertain as to what style of dance would be most applicable to the music. Famously, Decca Records initially labelled its rock and roll releases as “Fox trots”, most notably “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets. Since that recording, by some estimates, went on to sell more than 25 million copies, “Rock Around the Clock” is technically the biggest-selling “Foxtrot” of all time.

Over time, Foxtrot split into slow (Foxtrot) and quick (Quickstep) versions.

In the context of International Standard category of ballroom dances, for some time Foxtrot was called Slow Foxtrot, or Slowfox. These names are still in use, to distinguish from other types of Foxtrot.

The Charleston is a dance named for the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in the United States of America by a 1923 tune called The Charleston by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin’ Wild and became one of the most popular hits of the decade.

While it developed in Afro-American communities in the USA, the Charleston became a popular dance craze in the wider international community in the 1920s. Despite its black history, Charleston is most frequently associated with flappers and the speakeasy. Here, these young women would dance alone or together as a way of mocking the “drys,” or citizens who supported the Prohibition amendment, as Charleston was then considered quite immoral and provocative.

Charleston was one of the dances from which Lindy Hop developed in the 1930s, though the Breakaway (dance) is popularly considered an intermediary dance form. A slightly different form of Charleston became popular in the 1930s and 40s, and is associated with Lindy Hop. In this later Charleston form, the hot jazz timing of the 1920s Charleston was adapted to suit the swing jazz music of the 30s and 40s. This style of Charleston has many common names, though the most common are ‘Lindy Charleston’, ‘Savoy Charleston’, ’30s or 40s Charleston’ and ‘Swing(ing) Charleston’. In both ’20s Charleston’ and ‘Swinging Charleston’ the basic step takes 8 counts and was danced either alone or with a partner.

Today Charleston is an important dance in Lindy Hop dance culture, danced in many permutations: alone (solo), with a partner or in groups of couples or solo dancers. The basic step allows for a vast range of variations and improvisation. Both the 1920s and Swinging Charleston styles are popular today, though swinging Charleston is more commonly integrated into Lindy Hop dancing.

There was a sultry red glow inside Teatro Juvarra, a small theater downtown, as the patrons arrived Saturday in their dancing shoes.
It was tango night at this dance hall, and when the music began, the men and women grabbed their partners. Some men closed their eyes. Some women fell limp as their partners held them. Others, in a bold move, wrapped one of their legs around one of their partner’s.
“To dance like this, you have to have it in your blood,” said Christel Glasa, a 56-year-old telecom worker from Turin. “That’s why Americans don’t dance like this. They have cold blood.”
A day earlier, Glasa watched the compulsory portion of the Olympic ice dancing competition on television. The Italian team of Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio finished first. “The Italians won because it’s the same thing as tango,” Glasa said. “It needs the same emotion. Americans don’t have that.“

Hula is the soul of Hawaii expressed in motion. No one knows its exact origins but Hawaiians agree that the first hula was performed by a god or goddess which makes the dance a sacred ritual. Some believe the hula was only danced by men, but legend and historical sources tells us both men and women danced. Hawaiian hula is unique and totally different from other Polynesian dances. Although it began as a form of worship during religious ceremonies, it gradually evolved into a form of entertainment.

Every movement in hula has a specific meaning, and every expression of the dancer’s hands has great significance. The movements of a dancer’s body might represent certain plants, animals, and even war. For example, in imitating a shark or waving palm tree, the true hula dancer believes he or she becomes the shark or palm.

Chants accompany the movements and aid in telling the dancer’s story. Traditionally it was not the dancer’s hands but the words that counted the most. Today, because so few understand the language of the chants, increasing emphasis has been placed on movements and gestures.
During the 19th century, the hula almost vanished because the missionaries considered it vile and heathen. King David Kalakaua is generally regarded as saving it during the late 1800’s, when he formed his own troupe and encouraged the dancers to learn the old hula.

Today, several hundred halau hula (hula schools) and less formal hula groups are active on every island and the mainland, teaching hula to thousands of students and keeping the old ways and traditional Hawaiian culture alive.

Hula continues to play a major role in the Hawaiian cultural revival begun in the 1970’s.
Hula is the opera, theater, and lecture hall of the islands, all rolled into one.
Hula is history portrayed in the performing arts.

More about hula at Alternative Hawaii

Hah! I believe all of you know the song. But how many of you know how to dance to it? I can produly say I know how to dance The Macarena! Do you want to learn it? Of course you do! Follow these easy steps:

Step 1:
Right arm out palm down.
Step 2:
Left arm out palm down.
Step 3:
Right arm out palm up.
Step 4:
Left arm out palm up.
Step 5:
Right hand grabs inside of the left arm.
Step 6:
Left hand grabs inside of the right arm.
Step 7:
Right hand grabs behind right back of NECK.
Step 8:
Left hand grabs behind left back of NECK.
Step 9:
Right hand on left front pants pocket.
Step 10:
Left hand on right front pants pocket.
Step 11:
Right hand on right back pants pocket.
Step 12:
Left hand on left back pants pocket.
Step 13:
Move your butt to the left.
Step 14:
Move your butt to the right.
Step 15:
Move your butt to the left.
Step 16:
Clap and turn 90 degrees to the right.
And repeat it over and over and over again!

Many moons ago, when Scotland was still engulfed in the mists of time, the natives of many far-flung parts would often be caught doing a few steps to an old fiddle tune or two - be it in a local village hall or at a kitchen ceilidh.

Throughout the 19th century the people of the Highlands were forced to evacuate their homes in order to make way for sheep grazing (The Highland Clearances). Many emigrated to Canada where the tradition of stepdance was kept alive, while in Scotland it almost completely vanished.

Over the past decade a number of Scots have begun to reclaim this rich cultural heritage mainly from the people of Nova Scotia in Eastern Canada.

The Scottish Stepdance Company is now proud to be re-integrating this old art form into the Scottish musical culture.

My favourite society dance: The Waltz! Most people are afraid of it, thinking that it is so hard they can’t handle it. Yes, it is very hard to learn it for a competition, an international contest and if you are a professional dancer. But you’re no dance master, and neither is your partner, right?

Take it as a child’s play. Just try it! The best song for this is “The Blue Danube” of Johan Strauss. Play the music, go to the center of the room, close your eyes and imagine: you are all alone on a big boat, surounded by a clear, blue water; let yourself flow to the music, no one is watching, you can relax to the max. You’ll see how easy your body adapts to the beautiful music, you can feel as if you are floating. The pases will come as natural, for the sounds are so pure they create another dimension, a dimension of passion and dance.

Go ahead! You’ve got nothing to lose, only to gain. A man who can waltz is a man indeed! So, are you a man?

There are many different ways of Salsa. Today you are going to learn the basic step on “1″. You will see it is not that hard! So turn and the music and follow these instructions!
Two bars of music are required to complete one basic step, each bar is made up of 4 beats.
Bar one: 1, 2, 3, pause
Bar two: 5, 6, 7, pause

Beat 1
Men: With feet parallel and hip width apart, step forward onto your left foot ensuring the ball of the foot makes first contact quickly followed by the heel.
Ladies: With feet parallel and hip width apart, step back onto your right foot ensuring the ball of the foot makes first contact quickly followed by the heel.

Beat 2
Men: Without moving the right foot forward or back and keeping the ball of the foot on the floor, slightly raise your right heel then replace it.
Ladies: Without moving the left foot forward or back and keeping the ball of the foot on the floor, slightly raise your left heel then replace it.

Beat 3
Men: Move your left foot back parallel with your right
Ladies: Move your right foot forward parallel with your left

Beat 4
Men: Pause.
Ladies: Pause.

Beat 5
Men: With feet parallel and hip width apart, step back onto your right foot ensuring the ball of the foot makes first contact quickly followed by the heel.
Ladies: With feet parallel and hip width apart, step forward onto your left foot ensuring the ball of the foot makes first contact quickly followed by the heel.

Beat 6
Men: Without moving the left foot forward or back and keeping the ball of the foot on the floor, slightly raise your left heel then replace it.
Ladies: Without moving the right foot forward or back and keeping the ball of the foot on the floor, slight raise your right heel then replace it.

Beat 7
Men: Move your right foot forward parallel with your left
Ladies: Move your left foot back parallel with your left

Beat 8
Men: Pause
Ladies: Pause

Disco, such a common word today, but its origins actually started in the Big Band era with the radio DJ’s (disc-jockey). The Disc-Jockey would be the one who made the announcements and played the records (a flat 6″ or 12″ Disc with recorded music). The DJ’s would eventually have their own TV, Radio and Movie shows such as DJ’s - ‘Dick Clark and Allan Freed’.

This was to eventually get the “DJ’s” into the nightclubs and start the disco trend (using records/discs rather than live bands). It was much cheaper for the club owners than hiring the bands and the music was much more varied and up-to-date. The first Disco club was the Peppermint Lounge in Paris, France which opened in the 1950’s. This would open the door to other establishments over time. The first Disco in the USA was the “Whiskey-A-Go-Go” on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood (now named The Whiskey).

In the Late 1960’s, the disco dance craze was not really apparent yet. Some Cuban dancers in Florida where dancing a form of salsa and swing to the experimental disco sounds in the late 1960’s. About 1968 a new type of electronic music (synthesizers) was making an impact and a new music was being born. The Cubans and the new music formed to create disco music … a kind of hard hitting, thumping continuous beat that could be mixed from one song to another without stopping the music. By 1970, these couples would start doing what was finally tagged as ‘Disco Swing’, the public would later become confused and call it the Hustle (Van McCoy), which was actually a line dance, however the name stuck for the better. The discos were now getting high tech and the money was being invested in fancier nightclubs.

None-the-less, disco as a music, a dance or a club had not died out completely, and probably never will, it has just transformed with the times. It fits any society’s pocketbook and a society’s want for the many varied artist’s songs which are made available by the DJ’s, unlike the bands who usually don’t know any other style of music except what they play as well as charging extremely high fees to play a nightclub are easily replaced by a DJ. The dances, mainly the couples dance today known as the Hustle, is still being danced by a handfull of people, mainly in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Philly and Los Angeles. The main disco dance styles today are the faster and more energetic L.A. Hustle, the simpler Street or Sling Hustle, and the slower, smoother New York Hustle.

Tango is a social dance form that originated in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The musical styles that evolved together with the dance are also known as tango. Early tango was known as tango criollo or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles including Argentine tango, ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango, Chinese tango, and vintage tangos. Argentine tango is often regarded as the “authentic” tango since it is closest to that originally danced in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Music and dance elements of tango are popular in activities related todancing, such as figure skating, synchronized swimming, etc., because of its dramatic feeling and rich opportunities for improvisation on the eternal topic of love.

The Samba (or Mesemba) which means ‘to Pray’ is an Afro-Brazilian dance from Bahia, Brazil. It is said to have been derived from a dance called the Lundu, (adding a ballroom hold), The West African-Slaves, Portuguese Songs and Indian rituals. When different body motions and carnival steps were added to the dance, it would be called the “Zemba Queca”, which was described as “a graceful Brazilian dance” way back in 1885 and later became known as the Mesemba and finally mixing with the Maxixe during the 1900’s became known as the Samba.

The samba is the main dance done at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since 1935, however, its roots go way back in ancient times. Today during Carnival it is no longer danced as a couple dance in Brazil. The dance usually consists of a “Long Quick-Short Quick-Slow” rhythm.

The Can-Can is a hybrid of the Polka and the Quadrille and was said to be first danced in 1822, and by 1830 was being outlawed for a number of years as immoral and indecent and prohibited by the police. It has been said that “Chicard” invented the Can-Can, but very doubtful (He more probably named it).

Originally, the word Can-Can in French meant “Scandal,” or “Edge”, since they usually danced on the edge of the stage. The Can-Can is said to be the start of public nudity, because of the bare legs above the stockings to the frilly panties, which at the time was very indecent. Eventually the Can Can costume consisted of sporting fishnet stockings, high heels, bustiers, feathers and frilly skirts. The word Burlesque first came into use in the 16th. Century in an opera of the Italian Francesco Berni, who called his works burleschi. American stage burlesque (from 1865), often referred to as “burleycue or “leg show, began as a variety show, characterized by vulgar dialogue and broad comedy, and uninhibited behavior by performers and audience.

While both sexes originally danced the Can-Can, now however, the French Can-Can is now danced only by women. Most Americans are familiar with the Can-Can as portrayed in many Hollywood Westerns. Michael Jackson can be seen using a variation of the Can-Can in his dance routines (Lifting the Leg and circling it around).

The Cha-cha-cha (in Spanish chachachá) is a Latin American dance and style of music derived from the rumba and mambo in 4/4 meter.

The term “cha-cha” comes from Haiti, where it referred to a component of a bell which made a “cha-cha” noise when it was rubbed. The device was kept and used as an instrument.

The music of cha-cha-cha, however, evolved from mambo. In the late 1940s, mambo was wildly popular across the United States, but it was very fast and difficult to dance to. Orchestras slowed down the mambo, and cha-cha-cha was the result. In 1951, Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín introduced the cha-cha-cha rhythms under this name to Cuban dance floors while playing with Orquestra America. Some say that he came to this idea as early as in 1948 while being with Antonio Arcaño’s orchestra. In 1953, his La Engañadora and Silver Star became recorded hits. The dance teacher Pierre Lavelle from the United Kingdom, a founder of the Latin American Faculty of the ISTD, visited Cuba in 1952 to discover mambo (some say, rumba) danced with the triple step in place of the slow one. He brought this dance idea to the Europe and eventually created what is known now as ballroom Cha-cha-cha.

The Límbó (Limmm-Bó) is a novelty or eccentric dance and is also known as the “Under Stick Dance”, where as the dancer moves to a Caribbean rhythm and dances under a stick, held up by a person on each end of the stick or a stand, without knocking or touching the stick. The word Limbo in the Roman Catholic tradition means a place where the souls of people go if they are not accepted into heaven, but not bad enough to be sent to hell, not a very nice place to be and no one knows you’re there with no chance of escape.

If the dancer is successful he must repeat this again and again with the bar being lowered another “Notch” each time. Each dancer does this until there is only one left standing who has not touched the bar, fallen down, laid on the floor or used his/her hands to keep balance. On-lookers as well as other dancers would clap and cheer and sing while the dancer tries to go under the stick. This dance was and is very popular at beach parties.