Ballroom Dancing - The Jive - VelocitySpark.net

Ballroom Dancing - The Jive

Ballroom Dancing - The Jive

The fastest of all the Latin dances would be the Jive. According to some sources the roots of this dance are in New York's Harlem area, others put the origin of the dance with the Negroes of the southeast United States where it resembled the dances of the Seminole Indians. Depending on which source you are looking at either the Negroes copied it from the Indians or the Indians copied it from the Negroes.

The Jive is a face paced, rhythmical dance that was influenced by a number of other dance styles including Boogie, Rock, African American Swing and the Lindyhop. In the late 1800's the Negroes in the south held Jive competitions where the prize was a cake which is how the dance became known for a while as the Cake Walk.

Unlike the other ballroom dances the Jive doesn't require moving around the dance floor, however, even though it looks like the dancers feet are flying every which way the feet should be directly under the body with the knees always close together. You'll see the woman being twirled a lot and lots of kicks. The music that is associated with the Jive is commonly called Ragtime, possibly because the participants dressed up in their finest clothes ("rags") or maybe because of the syncopation of the music giving it a ragged feel.

Ballroom Dancing - The Samba

When the Samba music plays its party time! The Samba originated with Brazil's Rio Carnival and is comprised of several different South American dances. While walking and side steps are the main moves with heavy hitting rhythm and lots of hip action the Samba is the perfect party dance.

Slaves imported into Portugal in the 16th century brought along their dances (a few of which are the Catarete, Embolada and the Batuque). Europeans thought these dances were quite sinful as the dancers were close enough to have their navels touching. The Batuque was an incredibly popular dance - so much so that at one time it was outlawed. The Batuque was done in a circle with dance steps resembling those of a Charleston with a solo dancer in the center of the circle. Down the line carnival steps were added and members of Rio's high society decided that once the dance had been modified to use the closed ballroom position it was then a proper dance.

Eventually aspects from all these dances and probably others combined emerging as the Samba we know today.

Some things the judges watch for in a good Samba are steps like the Volta (crossing in front of the body), the Samba Roll (moving the upper body in a circular motion while going through a six step turn), Botafogo (traveling walk that includes a direction change) and dancers who have a good balance of moving and stationary moves. They will also look for outstretched arms and the distinctive climax of the Samba where the dancers throw their heads back and their arms are splayed out to the side.

Tools

Web Search

Related Articles

Where to Learn Ballroom Dancing After seeing ballroom dancing on television, you decide it's time for you to get up ...
read more

Ballroom Dance Clothing and Shoes Dressing for ballroom dance is a lot like getting ready for the prom. You have ...
read more

Ballroom Dance Competitions When you think of athletic competitions, chances are you probably don't think of ballroom dancing. Most people ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - Dancers, Judges Ballroom dancing has been around for decades upon decades producing thousands of dancers, and judges. ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing and the Movies Hollywood has always had a love affair with dancing. That includes everything from Ballroom dancing ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing and Television Ballroom dancing competitions have been broadcast on television for years. Men and women of many different ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - Slow Fox Trot There are several different theories on the origin of this ballroom dance's name. The ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - The Handicapped and the Disabled Dancing is good for your overall health, for weight loss and for ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - The Jive The fastest of all the Latin dances would be the Jive. According to some sources ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - Judging Criteria Ballroom dancing is judged on more than a dozen different points. Some of those are, ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - The Paso Doble The Paso Doble, originally a Spanish folkdance, has the distinction of being one of ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - The Rumba Unlike all the other ballroom dances, the Rumba emphasizes ones body movements more than their ...
read more

Modern Ballroom Dancing - Standard Waltz The standard Waltz is a graceful ballroom dance of turns and glides that was ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - The Tango Staccato steps, and sharp head turns set the Tango apart from the Fox Trot and ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - The Viennese Waltz and the Quick Step The Viennese Waltz which was derived from the Austrian Landler ...
read more

Ballroom Dancing - Ballrooms There are hundreds of ballrooms in the United States and throughout the world. There has been ...
read more

Choosing a Ballroom Dance for your Wedding Weddings are a special time for everyone. It's a time of new beginnings ...
read more

Dresses for Ballroom Dancing Getting dressed for an evening on the ballroom dance floor is much different than getting ready ...
read more

Get in Shape with Ballroom Dancing Nearly everyone got caught up in the dance craze by watching "Dancing with the ...
read more

History of Ballroom Dance Ballroom dancing conjures up images of beautiful women in flowing gowns and tall dark handsome men ...
read more

History of Ballroom Dancing Until recently, most people haven't thought much of ballroom dancing. It has become a popular worldwide ...
read more

Media Coverage of Ballroom Dancing Until recently, ballroom dancing was not considered to be a popular American pastime. In fact, ...
read more

Music for Ballroom Dancing When you think of ballroom dancing, you probably think of slow music being played by a ...
read more

Types of Ballroom Dancing With ballroom dancing growing in popularity, more and more people are choosing to learn how to ...
read more

United States Amateur Ballroom dancers Association, Inc. In 1965 Norman Martin, a leading social and competitive ballroom dance champion put ...
read more

Disclaimer

The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.

This site is a common sense guide to Ballroom Dancing - The Jive. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly.

This site is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.

Any perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.