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| If you
are interested in learning to dance and would like to
reach Maggie, please
Telephone: 604-437-9464
Email: Maggie.Bretton@telus.net
Mailing Address and registration payments to:
Dance-Town
P.O. Box #357,
916 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC,
Canada
V5Z 1K7
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| DANCE STYLES |
Latin Dances have a strong base rhythm
with melodic overtones with a distinct body movement called
Cuban Motion.
Salsa, Rumba ,Madison, Mambo, Cha Cha,
Merengue, Bossa Nova, Samba.
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Swing Dances offer a sultry, sensual,
sophisticated, funky or lively rhythm:
West
Coast Swing, Hustle, Carolina Shag, Lindy (Hop) Swing,
Night Club Two Step, Single, Delayed and Triple time Jive.
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Ballroom Dances are known as Standard
or Modern dances, are executed in a flowing counterclockwise
movement known as the line of dance.
Waltz,
International Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep. |
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| BALBOA SWING |
| A swing rhythm dance during the 1930's
and 1940's. Originated on Balboa Island at the Balboa
Pavilion, California at a time when the music was fast
and the floor was packed. Dancers fell easily into its
rhythm hosting a suttle bounce quite easily due to dancing
Lindy and Truckin'. Well known greats accredited with
the reconstruction and curriculum of this dance during
the 1980's was Maxie Dorf, Sylvia Sykes and Jonathan Bixby.
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| BROADWAY STYLE |
| "Razzle Dazzle Em" ! Step out
of your comfort zone and experience a little theatrical
or stage dancing. Jazzy and fun. Show steps are crystallized
into a fun choreographed dance routine. If you watched
'So You Think You Can Dance" you would have enjoyed
watching some of the contestants dancing Broadway style!
Here is your chance to try it out for fun and excel in
your dance skill. Includes body isolations, syncopations
and musical phrasing! Shuffle your feet on over to this
class and try something different. |
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| CAROLINA SHAG |
| A swing dance spawned in the late 1930's
on North Myrtle Beach and is the official state dance
of the Carolina's. It is danced to Beach type music and
hosts a distinctive style with a quiet action of the hips
and upper torso, focusing on working the feet and legs.
The dance was known as a "mans dance' where he did
all the turns and fancy footwork and the ladies job was
to make him look good. Today the dance has evolved to
a more equal partnership. The dance contains 6 and 8 beat
patterns and uses "mirrored" basic steps. The
Carolina Shag community has a following of over 15,000
Shaggers who attend the 2 top Shag conventions annually
called The Spring Safari and the Fall Migration. Famous
dancers of the Carolina Shag who held the championship
title for more than 10 years was Jackie McGee and Charlie
Womble, Atlanta, Georgia. In 1994 they received the Feather
Award for Shag and in 2005 they became the Good Will Ambassadors
for the Shag community. For further reading on the Carolina
Shag, visit Kurt Lichtmann's website: www.ithacaswingdance.com.
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| CHA CHA |
| A delightful Latin American dance from
Cuba and is an outgrowth of the Mambo began in 1955. Cha
Cha is a playful rhythm and is danced on the off beats
of the music, 2 and 6. This versatile dance is part of
every dance studio's curriculum. The story goes that the
dancers feet made a shifting sound between the beats of
the slower tempo tunes of the Mambo thus creating a Cha
Cha Cha sound. Cha Cha offers opportunity to individually
play sporting some amazing footwork. |
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| EAST COAST SWING |
| A generic term that covers an entire "family"
of Swing dancing. A rhythm dance that was originally danced
to Big Band music. Today East Coast Swing is danced to
Contemporary, Country and Rock and Roll with the latest
trend, the slower Blues music allowing for added syncopations.
East Coast Swing was originally called Eastern Swing by
The Arthur Murray Studios. The East Coast Swing name evolved
between 1975-1980 and became the new name after "Western"
and "West Coast" in the earlier '1960's. |
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| HUSTLE |
| The line dance that started it all began
with the music of Van McCoy's Hustle. Popular in a time
known as the "Hustling 70's" and further popularized
by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
There were various forms of couple Hustle which evolved
and included Latin Hustle, New York Hustle, LA Hustle,
Street Hustle, Same Foot Hustle, 3 Count and 4 Count
Hustle. The musical count for the Hustle is attracting
favorable attention because of its strong connection
to the music which makes the dancer feel the rhythm
and excitement of the music. |
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| LINDY (Hop) SWING |
| A jazzy dance in the late 1920's named
after Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic
in 1927. Danced through the swing era of the 1930's, it
was known as Jitterbug and featured improvised steps for
solo or partnered dancing. "Shorty" George Snowden
invented the "breakaway" had to give up dancing
in 1938 because he had pounded his feet shapeless. Today's
Lindy seems to be mostly acrobatic tricks but to be done
right the Lindy is mainly footwork. |
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| The Madison Craze: |
| "It's Madison Time!" Began in 1957. A line dance (also has a partner version) that became the biggest dance craze nation wide! It is seen in the movie Hairspray and the current TV series American Dreams. Dancers are in a line similar to the 1970's Soul Train line dance. It consists of a back-and-forth shuffle with "call outs" for various steps: double cross, Wilt Chamberlain's basketball move, Rifleman etc. The Madison is a hoot to dance. It is taught in many of the the dance studios today. Get on the Madison train, let's dance! |
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| MAMBO ... SALSA |
| Mambo, a "Dancers dance" originated
in Cuba, 1943 by famous bandleader Perez Prado. In 1953
it had become the fast paced Latin dance with body embellishments
and fast footwork. Known as the "naughty" Dance.
Mambo is danced "off beat" rhythm which means
to break on the 2 and 6 count of the music. There was
fast, medium and slow called triple Mambo which lead to
the birth of the Cha Cha. The Pachanga (Truckin') was
the forerunner of Mambo and danced "on beat"
rhythm" During the 1980's there was a resurrection
of Mambo, however it was difficult for most to learn to
dance which lead to the change of name to Salsa and danced
on the 1 and 5 known as "on beat" rhythm. Salsa
is the hottest Latin dance currently. The faster paced
beat of Salsa is enjoyed by many in the Salsa clubs today.
Advanced dancers prefer to "Trip the Light Fantastic"
with their ability to dance Salsa on the off beat counts
of the music. |
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| NIGHT CLUB TWO STEP |
| Created by Buddy Schwimmer created and
popularized this "great feeling dance" IN 1978
for the Night Clubs in LA. The dance has a triple rhythm
basic and a characteristic rhythmic lilt. Each pattern
starts with a back step. Night Club is a swing dance first
called Disco Two Step or Slow Dancin'. Smooth swing danced
with a partner. |
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| RUMBA |
| Once an erotic dance combining African
and Caribbean rhythms. It reached the United States in
1926 producing a tamed version that remained popular even
today. The dance is flamboyant and sensuous. The Rumba
was immortalized by Cole Porter in 1935 with his musical
tune called Begin the Beguine. |
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| SAMBA |
| A Brazilian dance that was originally
performed by African slaves. The characteristic Samba
movement, as practiced outside its native country, where
it is a popular dance at carnival time, is a bouncing
or dropping action obtained by bending and straightening
of the knees while the weight is transferred from the
ball to the flat of the foot. A jazzed up version of the
Samba was the Bossa Nova. Samba was introduced at the
Worlds Fair of 1939 and became a partner dance with a
rhythmic lilt that is felt more than it is seen. The characteristic
lilt has been removed from International Samba but remains
in the Cuban and American Samba. The excitement of Samba
focuses on relating the feeling of the music to the dance.
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| SHIM SHAM |
| A famous line dance during 1930's and
1940's. New York swing dancers still enjoy this tapper's
delight today. The crazy migrated to California and became
the "Thing to Learn" if you are a swing dancer.
The original version came from tap dancers as did many
of the rhythm breaks and side by side variations that
are used today in swing dancing. The 1944 version is danced
on the 8th count with some today dancing on the 1st count.
Frankie is credited with the original version. At 92 (2006)
he is still teaching Shim Sham and Lindy across the United
States. In 1935 on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New
Jersey, a young Miss Skippy Blair witnessed the Shim Sham
danced by 3 black tap dancers who did a phenomenal job
of song and dance that included a slow soft shoe called
the Shim Sham. An unforgettable performance! |
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| SWANGO |
| The fusion between West Coast Swing and
Argentine Tango. Tango brings out the “Inner flame”
of your West Coast Swing moves and Swing will add “nuevo”
to your Argentine Tango! Swango is a dance full of amgic
and surprises giving you freedom in creativity and improvisation.
The exotic new tango music inspires experimentation to
fuse Argentine Tango with Swing and other dances. Pattie
Conley and Tony Azar discovered links to switching back
and forth between the two dances. |
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| WALTZ |
| It was 1799, the Waltz began in Germany
as a turning dance to 3 / 4 time music. It spread to the
rest of Europe in the early 19th century. The characteristic
of the Waltz is the rise and fall action. The degree of
rise and fall will change with the tempo of the music.
The slower the tempo the greater the rise and fall. There
are various styles of Waltz such as the American Waltz,
Country Waltz, International Waltz and the Viennese Waltz.
The roots of the Waltz are in folk dancing with a closed
holding of a partner. |
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| WEST COAST SWING |
| The Official State Dance of California.
This swing dance derived from the Lindy Hop during the
1930's is enjoyed to the genres of music: pop, rock, rhythm
& blues, blues, jazz, country. This high tech game
of swing has two rhythm patterns. One known as pass rhythm
and uses 6 counts of music and the other known as whip
rhythm counted as 8 counts of music. West Coast Swing
is danced in linear floor position and allows for endless
possibilities. Each dancer may express individuality while
dancing with partner. Popular and stylish, it is characterized
by a distinctive elastic look that results from its basic
leverage-compression technique of partner connection.
Within the spectrum of partner dances, WCS is a dance
of challenge and improvisation. |
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| TANGO |
| A social dance; originated in the lower
class districts of Buenos Aires Argentina and Montevideo
Uruguay during the 1890's. It became a huge part of society
as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the
suburbs to the working class slums which were packed with
many European immigrants. The musical styles evolved and
the dance became known as Tango which grew into various
styles: Argentine, Uruguayan Tango, Ballroom-International,
American, Chinese and Finnish Tango. Also Salon, Milonguero,
Nuevo and Fantasia (Show Tango). Argentine Tango is regarded
as the "Authentic" Tango, it is the closest
to that danced in Argentina and Uruguay. Tango is emphasized
with long elegant steps and complex figures with the Milonguero
style having a very close embrace, small steps and syncopated
rhythmic footwork. Tango music, a fusion of various musical
forms from Europe, has a dramatic feeling associated with
love and romance. The music favors the Bandeoneon, a french
folk instrument belonging to the sane family as the Concertina
and the Flutinas squeeze boxes. Their bass systems are
a true science in themselves having many unique configurations.
For Argentine Tango films of interest check out: Tango
Bar (1988), The Tango Lesson (1997), Assassination Tango
(2002), Orquestra Tipica 2005 documentary film. |
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