International Ballroom or International Standard
There
are various types of dances also under this category, which are; fox-trot,
quickstep, Viennese waltz, tango, waltz, jazz etc.
·
Fox-trot
This is a form of ballroom dancing choreographed by Henry Fox in 1914 in
New York City. The fox-trot involves moving the back leg in smooth action
although there are many versions of the fox-trot. The original fox-trot was
faster and not as smooth and stylish as some of the variations danced today.
This is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing
movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal)
music, and the feeling is one of elegance and sophistication. The dance is
similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is 4/4 instead of ¾ times.
Developed in the 1920s, the foxtrot reached its height of popularity in the
1930s, and remains practiced today.
The exact origin of the name comes from the movement of a fox. The
positioning of the feet through the dance is like that of a fox. Whereby if you
saw a fox's foot prints in the snow they would be one line rather than two such
as a dogs. This is the way the foxtrot is danced.
·
Quick-step
This is a quick version of the fox-trot. It is a ballroom dance
comprised of extremely quick stepping, syncopated feet myths and runs of quick
steps. The quickstep is exciting to watch, but among the most difficult of all
ballroom dances.The quickstep is a light-hearted member of the standard
ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and
sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to
make it suitable for both formal and informal events. Quickstep was developed
in the twenties in New York and was first danced by Caribbean and African
dancers. Its origins are in combination of slow foxtrot combined with the
Charleston, a dance which was one of the precursors to what today is called
swing dancing.
The Quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the
Foxtrot, The Chase G Chug, Charleston, Shag, Peabody, and One-Step. The dance
is English in origin, and was standardized in 1927. While it evolved from the
Foxtrot, the Quickstep now is quite separate. Unlike the modern Foxtrot, the
man often closes his feet and syncopated steps are regular occurrences (as was
the case in early Foxtrot). Three characteristic dance figures of the Quickstep
are the chassés, where the feet are brought together, the quarter turns, and
the lock step.
This dance gradually evolved into a very dynamic one with a lot of
movement on the dance floor, with many advanced patterns including hops, runs,
quick steps with a lot of momentum, and rotation. The tempo of Quickstep dance
is rather brisk as it was developed to ragtime era jazz music which is
fast-paced when compared to other dance music.
By the end of the 20th century the complexity of Quickstep as done
by advanced dancers had increased, due to the extensive use of syncopated steps
with eighth note durations. While in older times quickstep patterns were
counted with "quick" (one beat) and "slow" (two beats)
steps, many advanced patterns today are cued with split beats, such as
"quick-and-quick-and-quick, quick, slow", with there being further
steps on the 'and's.
·
Viennese Waltz
This is a quick rotating ballroom dance with a subtle rise and fall. It
is considered by most, to be one of the most difficult dances to learn. The
simple and elegant rotational movement characterizes the Viennese Waltz.Viennese
Waltz is the genre of a ballroom dance. At least three 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.
What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the
waltz. It was the first ballroom dance performed in the closed hold or
"waltz" position. The dance that is popularly known as the waltz is
actually the English or slow waltz, danced at approximately 90 beats per minute
with 3 beats to the bar (the international standard of 30 measures per minute),
while the Viennese Waltz is danced at about 180 beats (58-60 measures) a
minute. To this day however, in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and France, the
words Walzer (German for "waltz"), vals (Danish, Norwegian, and
Swedish for "waltz"), and valse (French for "waltz") still
implicitly refer to the original dance and not the slow waltz.
The Viennese Waltz is a rotary dance where the dancers are
constantly turning either toward the leader's right (natural) or toward the
leader's left (reverse), interspersed with non-rotating change steps to switch
between the direction of rotation. A true Viennese waltz consists only of turns
and change steps. Other moves such as the fleckerls, American-style figures and
side sway or underarm turns are modern inventions and are not normally danced
at the annual balls in Vienna. Furthermore, in a properly danced Viennese
Waltz, couples do not pass, but turn continuously left and right while
travelling counterclockwise around the floor following each other.
As the Waltz evolved, some of the versions that were done at about
the original fast tempo came to be called specifically "Viennese
Waltz" to distinguish them from the slower waltzes. In the modern ballroom
dance, two versions of Viennese Waltz are recognized: International Style and
American Style.
·
Tango
It was formally known as tango criollo. Today there are many tango dance
styles including; argentine tango, Uruguay tango, ballroom tango, American and
international tango styles, tango nuevo, Finnish tango and vintage tangos.
Ø Ballroom Tango
Ballroom tango, divided in recent decades into the
"International" (Yogita) and "European" styles, has
descended from the tango styles that developed when the tango first went abroad
to Europe and North America. The dance was simplified, adapted to the
preferences of conventional ballroom dancers, and incorporated into the
repertoire used in International Ballroom dance competitions. English tango was
first codified in October 1922, when it was proposed that it should only be
danced to modern tunes, ideally at 30 bars per minute (i.e. 120 beats per
minute – assuming a 4/4 measure).
Subsequently the English tango evolved mainly as a highly
competitive dance, while the American tango evolved as an unjudged social dance
with an emphasis on leading and following skills. This has led to some
principal distinctions in basic technique and style. Nevertheless there are
quite a few competitions held in the American style, and of course mutual
borrowing of technique and dance patterns happens all the time.
Ballroom tangos use different music and styling from the tangos
from the Rio de la Plata region (Uruguay and Argentina), with more staccato
movements and the characteristic "head snaps". The head snaps are
totally foreign to Argentine and Uruguayan tango, and were introduced in 1934
under the influence of a similar movement in the legs and feet of the tango
from the Rio de la Plata, and the theatrical movements of the pasodoble. This
style became very popular in Germany and was soon introduced to England, one of
the first proponents being Mr. Camp. The movements were very popular with
spectators, but not with competition judges.
Ø Finnish Tango
The tango spread from the dominant urban dance form to become
hugely popular across Finland in the 1950s after World War I and World War II.
The melancholy tone of the music reflects the themes of Finnish folk poetry;
Finnish tango is almost always in a minor key.
The tango is danced in very close full upper body contact in a
wide and strong frame, and features smooth horizontal movements that are very
strong and determined. Dancers are very low, allowing long steps without any up
and down movement. Forward steps land heel first, and in backward steps dancers
push from the heel. In basic steps, the passing leg moves quickly to rest for a
moment close to the grounded leg.
Ø Tango Nuevo
A newer style sometimes called tango nuevo or "new
tango" has been popularized in recent years by a younger generation of
dancers. The embrace is often quite open and very elastic, permitting the
leader to initiate a great variety of very complex figures. This style is often
associated with those who enjoy dancing to jazz- and techno-tinged, electronic
and alternative music inspired in old tangos, in addition to traditional Tango
compositions.
Tango nuevo is largely fueled by a fusion between tango music and
electronica, though the style can be adapted to traditional tango and even
non-tango songs. Gotan Project released its first tango fusion album in 2000,
quickly following with La Revancha del Tango in 2001. Bajofondo Tango Club, a
Rioplatense music band consisting of seven musicians from Argentina and
Uruguay, released their first album in 2002. Tanghetto's album Emigrante
(electrotango) appeared in 2003 and was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2004.
These and other electronic tango fusion songs bring an element of
revitalization to the tango dance, serving to attract a younger group of
dancers.
·
Waltz
It is one of the smoothest ballroom dances. It
is a progressive dance marked by long, flowing movements, continuous turn and
“rise and fall”. The dance is so graceful and elegant waltz dancers appear to
glide around the floor with almost no effort.
Most of the basic figures have 1 step per 1 beat, i.e. 3 steps per
measure. Advanced figures may have 4-6 steps per measure, and this, coupled
with various turns, makes the dance very dynamic despite the relatively slow
tempo. At the same time, advanced dancers often use slow steps and elegant
poses to create contrast (sometimes referred to as "light and
shade"). Waltz is usually the first dance in the Dancesport competitions
in the "Standard" category. The dance is danced exclusively in the
closed position, unlike its American Style counterpart. Like all dances of
Standard category, it is a progressive dance.Waltz is characterized by the
pendulum swing body action. Other general elements of ballroom technique
important for Waltz are foot parallelism, rise and fall, contra body movement
and sway.
It originated from the
dances of several different peoples in Europe but its main predecessors were
the "Matenick" and a variation called the "Furiant" that were
performed during rural festivals in the Czech Republic. The French dance, the
"Walt", and the Austrian Ländler are the most similar to the waltz
among its predecessors. The king of dances acquired different national traits
in different countries. Thus there appeared the English Waltz, the Hungarian
Waltz, and the Waltz-Mazurka.
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