Incendiary Latin American dances with their temperament conquered serious and strict Europe, and with it the Soviet, and later the post-Soviet space, back in the 80s of the 20th century. After all, how could one remain indifferent to the incredible dancer Johnny performed by the amazing Patrick Swayze? A lot of time has passed since then, and Latin American dances do not even think of giving up their positions. Various dance schools appear like mushrooms after the rain, inviting people not only to classes, but also to their famous club parties, where you can successfully apply everything that you have been taught in the dance class.

But how not to get confused in the variety of types of Latin American dances? And then one school lures you with discounts on merengue, another promises to teach you how to dance a sensual rumba, and you hardly understand how they can differ from each other. Let's try to figure it out together!

To begin with, Latin American dances are usually divided into two groups. The first includes the so-called classical or ballroom Latin American dances, there are only five of them: samba, rumba, cha-cha-cha, jive and paso doble. You can learn it in ballroom dancing schools, and later you can even try yourself in competitions.

The second group of Latin American dances are the so-called club dances. There are a great variety of them, but the most popular are, of course, salsa, merengue, mambo and bachata. Knowing these dances will make you the star of any Latin club party.

Now let's go back to the first group of ballroom Latin American dances and get to know its members better:

Samba- this name somehow by itself eventually began to be attached to all dances of Brazilian origin. For example, samba is also danced at the Brazilian carnival, but this dance is very far from its ballroom namesake in terms of technique and vocabulary. The bright and rhythmic ballroom samba was born as a result of the merging of African dances with Spanish and Portuguese dances in the Brazilian land.

Cha-cha-cha- playful and flirtatious dance. It originated in Cuba at the beginning of the 19th century and, like many Latin American dances, has African roots. This dance has a peculiar rhythm - slow, slow, fast, fast, slow. And it is performed with a typical Cuban swing in the hips.

Rumba- the famous "dance of love." The origin of the rumba makes it related to the tango, since the origins of both are in a Cuban dance with Spanish roots called the habanera. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were three varieties of rumba, but the guaguancho rumba became the most popular of them. In this dance, the partner follows his partner, trying to touch her hips, and the lady tries to avoid this touch.

Jive- the most energetic, fastest and reckless dance of the Latin American program. It originated in the 19th century in the southeastern United States, and according to various versions, either African emigrants or Indians are considered its creators. The main figure of modern jive is considered to be a fast syncopated highway. At one time, this dance borrowed a lot of movements from rock and roll, and sometimes even borrows music from its “dance brother”.

paso doble- Spanish dance, the plot of which imitates the traditional fight with a bull - bullfighting. Here the partner is a brave bullfighter, and the partner, as it were, depicts his bright red cape, designed to tease the bull. An important difference between paso doble and other Latin American dances is the position of the body, in which the chest is raised, the shoulders are lowered, and the head is rigidly fixed. Paso Doble borrowed a lot of movements from its Spanish counterpart, the flamenco style.

So we figured out ballroom dancing, and now let's take a closer look at club latin.

The second group of Latin American dances:

salsa- Traditionally, it is she who is considered the queen of club Latin American dances. Salsa originated in Cuba in the early 20th century. Its name is translated from Spanish as "sauce", and in this dance dance traditions of different countries of Central and Latin America are mixed. And although there are many varieties of salsa in the world (Venezuelan, Colombian, salsa Casino, etc.), the common thing for all these types of dance is the main step, performed to four percussion rhythms.

merengue- a bright and energetic dance originally from the Dominican Republic. This dance has a lot of figures and decorations, including circular movements of the hips, rotation of the body and movements of the shoulders at a fast pace. Merengue partners dance embracing, which gives the dance a special eroticism.

mambo- also has a Cuban origin, and its origins are seen in ritual dances. Mambo undergoes special changes in the 40s as a result of the fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz. Soon the dance becomes popular all over the world, it is danced both in pairs and solo, and even in whole groups.

Bachata- It is considered that this is the most romantic dance of the club Latin. He, like merengue, comes from the Dominican Republic.

There are several varieties of bachata - Dominican bachata (in many respects similar to merengue), modern bachata and removed bachata (contain elements of European and North American dance styles).

In a separate type of ballroom program, Latin American (Antillean) dances or simply latina took shape in the middle of the 19th century. They owe their wide distribution to free North America, in which cultures, including dance cultures, of several races are bizarrely mixed. Thus, the Spanish folk dance, elements of which were performed by bullfighters during bullfights, became known throughout the world as paso doble. Samba was brought to Brazil, and then to Europe, African slaves, rumba and cha-cha-cha in Cuba and Haiti.

The traditional program of sports ballroom dancing, adopted by the Ballroom Sports Federation, since 1930 includes five dances in the Latin American section. These are jive, samba, rumba, cha-cha-cha and paso doble. All of them are performed in pairs, and, moreover, the peculiarity of Latin, in contrast to European dances, is that during the performance, partners can both separate contact and snuggle up to each other very closely. All Latin American dances are rhythmic and emotional, and some of them are particularly sensual.

As a rule, at competitions and festivals, Latin dancers perform in bright, tight-fitting outfits with a lot of sequins. For ladies, a short skirt and a maximally open back are allowed, for a partner - a tight-fitting suit.

Not only professionals dance Latin American dances. The so-called "club" latin has long been one of the most popular mass dance trends, both in Latin America and in the USA, Europe and Russia. Salsa and bachata, merengue and mambo - these dances do not require refined skills, it is more important to open up fully in them, turning movements into a story filled with meaning and passion. It is no coincidence that the same half-jokingly-half-seriously called "sex on the floor."

For many years, a cult for all Latin dancers is the film "Dirty Dancing" with Patrick Swayze, where the most popular of amateur dances are shown in all their glory.

Sources:

• Latina: everyone dance!

Advice 2: What branches are modern Latin American dances divided into

Each of the Latin American countries has several of its own dances. However, they have a lot in common - they all appeared on the same continent, becoming a kind of fusion of several cultures - Spanish, Indian and African. Initially, they were considered dances for the poor and were performed at parties and folk festivals. Only in 1930, Latin American dances began to spread in the United States and Europe. But since then they have enjoyed constant popularity.

Instruction

Samba is a rhythmic, fiery dance of passion. It originated in Brazil, the result of a fusion of African dances with Spanish and Portuguese.

Rumba and cha-cha-cha are dances that originated in Cuba. Rumba is a beautiful dance of love, which is considered the main one in the Latin American program. Cha-cha-cha is a playful "dance of coquettes", with a typical Cuban swaying of the hips.

Paso Doble is a dance of Spanish origin, its plot is a reflection of traditional bullfighting. In this case, the partner plays the role of a fearless bullfighter, and the partner plays the role of his bright red cape. Many movements are borrowed from the paso doble from the famous Spanish flamenco dance.

Jive is a very energetic, fast and fun dance. It is located in the southeastern United States in the 19th century; according to various versions, Indians or Africans are considered its creators. Separate elements of jive are borrowed by him from rock and roll.

Salsa is considered the queen of club Latin American dance. It appeared in Cuba at the beginning of the 20th century. Translated from Spanish, its name is "sauce". Salsa combines the choreographic traditions of different countries of Latin America. The dance is somewhat reminiscent of the rumba, but in a slower and more elegant version.

Description of the dance

The incendiary and hot latina dance is known for its movements, which it borrowed from the most famous Latin American dances. This dance represents passion, which is realized through movement. Latina is a mixture of a club party and a school of traditional Latin American dances: mumba, cha-cha-cha, rumba, bachata, samba, salsa, sodoble, and also R&B elements were included in the dance.

Types of dance

It can be solo, club and steam.

• Solo - an option for the performance of one person, it is technically more difficult than a pair dance. The solo includes dances: Brazilian samba, jive, cha-cha-cha, merengue, rumba, reggaeton, salsa. This dance is popular among women of all ages, while learning to dance alone, the body learns to perform dance waves (hips and whole body);
• The club dance is a ballroom dance that has been transformed into a fashionable dance trend. To learn how to dance, you need to know the movements from various Latin dances that are adapted for solo performance;
• Steam room - the dance is performed together with a partner of the opposite sex, for its performance you need to learn to trust the partner. Coordination and plasticity in this direction are important elements. All famous Latin American dances are danced in pairs.

Performance clothing

• Solo - for women it is recommended to have sandals or shoes with a heel of 3-5 cm, the sole of the shoe should be plastic or leather, which will promote free rotation and speed of movement. On the body, you can wear a T-shirt, a tight-fitting top, jeans, trousers and a light skirt not below the knee.
• Steam room - for women, you can start with sweatpants, t-shirts and tops with a closed back. Shoes are selected with a heel 3-5 cm high. Men in the first lessons can be in a T-shirt or shirt, trousers or jeans. Shoes should be boots or light shoes, with plastic or leather soles with a small heel.

The history of the origin of the dance

Latin American dances are a very sick group of dances that originated in colonial America, in the 19th century, when there was a synthesis of Indian, Spanish-Portuguese and African dances. For example, Paso Doble is from Spain, while Jive is a North American dance.

Other types of Latin American dances exist in clubs and dance schools.

You can find videos with solo and double performances, as well as club latina, here.

Latin American dances are the common name for ballroom and folk dances that originated in Latin America. Just as Latin America itself appeared as a result of Spanish-Portuguese colonization, Latin American dances were based mainly on Spanish influence.

The dances of the habanera and rumba appeared on the basis of the country dance brought in the 18th century, and the bachata - on the basis of the bolero. In Brazilian samba, Colombian cumbia, Cuban mamba and rumba, in addition to European traditions, African ones can be traced, and Indian ones in Diablade. Tango is recognized as a unique Latin American dance.

The characteristic features of Latin American dances include energetic, passionate, incendiary movements and swaying of the hips.

Ladies' dresses are usually short, very open and tight. The suits of the Cavaliers are also very tight-fitting, often (but not always) black. The meaning of such costumes is to show the work of the muscles of athletes.

In the 20th century, Latin American dances flourished. There are such new types as salsa, cha-cha-cha and reggaeton.

Currently, the Latin American ballroom dance program includes 5 elements:

2. Cha-cha-cha

4 Paso Doble

Sammba (port. samba) is a Brazilian dance, a symbol of the national identity of the Brazilians.

The dance gained worldwide fame thanks to the Brazilian carnivals. One of the varieties of samba entered the mandatory five of the Latin American ballroom dancing program. It is performed at a tempo of 50-52 beats per minute, in 2/4 or 4/4 time.

In Russian, the word samba is feminine, and in Portuguese it is masculine.

Samba is a Brazilian dance that has its roots in the state of Bahia. Over time, the first samba schools and blokos appeared in the amount of up to fifty people who paraded through the streets. The first Brazilian carnivals appeared in the twenties and thirties. To date, they have become traditional not only for Rio de Janeiro, but also for other large cities. The carnival has long turned into a competition where different samba schools compete for the title of "Best Samba School".

“Brazilians loved samba so much that it became their national music. And Rio is the center of the most diverse directions of samba. Many samba schools operate here, its folk version lives here - the samba of the Brazilian slums ”(c) Gilbert Gilles.

Samba nu pe (Samba no pй - samba on feet) - the movements of this dance are used by dancers (passistas) who ride a special colorful van when passing samba schools at carnivals. In this case, this is one of the types of carnival samba - a solo dance performed by women. Can be performed on the dance floor as a pair dance without support, i.e. partners keep their distance.

Samba de Gafieira (Samba de Gafieira) is a paired social dance that combines elements of mashishe, previously known as Brazilian tango, Argentine tango, waltz. In demonstration shows, the dance is performed with acrobatic movements borrowed from rock and roll.

The name of the style comes from the Brazilian word gafiera, which means dance floor. In Brazil, the samba de gafieira is considered to be a ballroom dance, or rather a salon dance (danza de salgo), but is completely different from the international sports samba. The striking difference between the two variants is due to the fact that samba de gafieira came directly from machishe. The ballroom dance samba (international standard) was formed in Europe and the USA on the basis of an ennobled and devoid of defiant eroticism mashishe. Such a dance was introduced in 1909 in Paris by a pair of Brazilian dancers Duque (Brazilian pronunciation: Duque - Antonio Lopes de Amorim Diniz, 1884-1853) and Maria Lina. Duque created his own machiche choreography, which he taught from 1914 at the dance school he opened in Paris. Steps are currently being taken to standardize the samba de gafieira with a view to making it a mandatory Latin American ballroom dance program (International Latin). The standard figures of the samba de gafieira are given by the Brazilian parlor dance researcher Marco António Perna.

The National Salon Dance Association (Associazgo Nacional de Danza de Salgo, ANDANZAS) was founded in Brazil in 2003.

Pagode (Pagode) resembles samba de gafieira, but does not contain acrobatic movements, is performed in pairs with partners close to each other.

Samba Ashe (Samba Axy) dance is performed solo or in large groups. A form of samba that mixes elements of nu-bae samba and aerobics, plays on the playful lyrics.

Samba reggae originated in the Brazilian state of Bahia. A very common version of samba, which is performed to reggae music.

Samba de roda (circular samba or samba in a circle) is an improvised Afro-Brazilian dance from the state of Bahia. The most ancient and authentic type of samba, from which the urban samba carioca was born. In Bahia, as a rule, men perform musical accompaniment, and women sing and clap their hands. According to tradition, these performers form a circle, in which usually only one or rarely two women dance. Men rarely enter the circle to perform the dance. Capoeiristas also play capoeira in a circle (port. roda - roda), which often ends with a samba de roda dance, in which the capoeiristas themselves take part.

Ballroom dance samba (port. Samba internacional, eng. International Ballroom Samba) currently belongs to paired sports ballroom dancing (SBT) and is mandatory for performance in the Latin American program.

The ballroom dance samba is characterized by frequent changes in the positions of partners, mobility of the hips and a general expressive character. Dance movements are characterized by the rapid shifting of body weight by bending and straightening the knees. The main choreography timeline is: "a-slow, slow, a-slow, slow". Some typical pas of the dancers are bota fogo (from the name of the area of ​​Rio de Janeiro Botafogo), corta jaca (corta jaca), turn (volta), quick movement (whisk) and crossing (cruzado).

The ballroom dance samba arose as a result of the mutual influence of two cultural traditions: African ritual dances of black slaves who arrived in Brazil from the Congo, Angola and Mozambique, and European dances (waltz, polka) introduced by the Portuguese. The samba was also influenced by the Brazilian dance chote (port. xote, xutis), which developed from the Scottish polka in its German version. Brazilian chote should not be confused with ecossaise. Prior to contact with European culture, Africans did not have partner dances.

Encyclopedia Britannica notes that this style of pair dance is of Brazilian origin. This type of samba became popular in the USA and Western Europe in the late 1940s. Many of the dancers' movements were borrowed from the machiche ("Brazilian tango"), which was in great fashion in Brazil in 1870-1914. Partners can break the pair and perform some dance moves at a considerable distance from each other.

In Europe, until 1914, the ballroom dance samba was not known, since the Brazilian dance was in vogue, and in Brazil, until the early 30s of the 20th century, samba existed in an urban environment in symbiosis with mashishe: samba-mashishe (samba-maxixe) . Mashish was forbidden because of the erotic movements of the dancers. It should be noted that sexual frankness and expression of mashishe is also characteristic of the Angolan dance tarraxinha, which originated from the slow Angolan semba and is considered a kind of kizomba, and in all these dances there is a characteristic ancient ritual movement - umbigada. Such a clear parallel provides undoubted grounds for the assumption of a single source of Angolan semba and Brazilian samba.

Despite the fact that this ballroom dance is called samba and comes from Brazilian dances, in Brazil it is called "international samba" (port. o samba internacional), is not considered typical Brazilian and is little known in the country. The costumes of the dancers, the musical accompaniment and the performance style of the international samba have little in common with the samba de gafieira, which is a popular ballroom dance in Brazil. The movements of modern ballroom dance samba are mainly based on machishé pas and are not always performed in the rhythm of samba, as they are often accompanied by flamenco, cha-cha-cha and salsa music.

Compared to other Latin American ballroom dances, the paired sports samba in its evolution has moved farthest from the origins that gave it its name, and outside of Brazil it can be called the “Brazilian Waltz” (Brazilian Waltz).

A distinctive feature of samba, like other types of African American music and dance, is the syncopated rhythm. Characterized by the use of polyrhythms and cross rhythms. Rhythmic polyphony is created by a wide range of percussion instruments.

Determined to expand their range of skills with the help of fiery ones, many enthusiasts begin to simply study the announcements for the recruitment of their respective interest groups. And there the first problems already begin, because not everything is so simple, and the category of these same dances includes a dozen different types. Therefore, it is worth first deciding on the main names and what distinguishes, for example, Paso Doble from Rumba.

What are they?

First of all, you need to list all types of Latin American dances that are invariably popular today, these include:

• Mambo;

Test the bull's patience

It is interesting that the Paso Doble is nothing more than a Spanish dance of the heroic bullfighter in front of an angry bull, and in this case the partner represents the notorious red rag. Although there is no killer animal here, it is necessary to keep the chest high, the shoulders low, and the head fixed. Jive, in turn, is the most energetic and fastest of the ballroom cohorts. It originated in the southeastern United States, has a certain connection with classic rock and roll, from where it even took a number of movements at one time. During Latin American dance competitions, Jive usually comes last, being the traditional culmination of the program.