Dance Style: Samba

The Samba originates from Brazil. It was and is danced during the street festivals and celebrations such as Carnival in Rio.. The music has an joyful contagious rhythm which makes even non dancers want to get up and dance. It was first introduced in the U.S. in a Broadway play called "Street Carnival" in the late twenties. The festive style and mood of the dance kept it alive and popular to this day and the rhythm pervades popular music. The South America Samba is slower and more fluid than its American counterpart, which is danced to a faster tempo. Both styles have the basic "Samba Bounce". The beautiful music of the Gypsy Kings epitomizes the addictive Samba style but many modern singers have Samba rhythms.

Sambas:

"Copacabana" by Barry Manilow
"Stop" by Mark Anthony
"La Isla Bonita" by Madonna
"The Girl from Ipanima" by Sammy Davis Jr.

Dance Style: Polka

The Polka was originally a Czech peasant dance, developed in Eastern Bohemia (now part of Czechoslovakia). Bohemian historians believe that the polka was invented by a peasant girl named Anna Slezak in 1834 one Sunday for her amusement. It was composed to a folk song "Uncle Nimra brought a white horse." Anna called the step "Madera" because of its quickness and liveliness. The dance was first introduced into the ballrooms of Prague in 1835. The music is played in 2/4 time (1 & 2) and sounds happy and playful. The name of the dance (pulka) is Czech for “half-step”, referring to the rapid shift from one foot to the other.

Polka is danced around the room in a series of small and fast chasses (side steps) with a distinctive hop, turning about 360 degrees every 4 beats. In 1840, Raab, a dancing teacher of Prague, danced the polka at the Odéon Theatre in Paris where it was a tremendous success. French dance instructors seized upon it and Polkamania ensued. Dance academies were swamped and in desperation recruited ballet girls from the Paris Opéra as dancing partners to help teach the polka. This naturally attracted many young men who were interested in things other than dancing. Consequently, manners and morals in the dance pavilions were suspect so many parents forbade their daughters from dancing with anyone but close friends of the family.

The polka was introduced in England in the mid 1800s. When it came to the USA it was taken up by the country western set and is still danced in Country Competitions today. The western style Polka is danced with less turning, with very little hopping and somewhat resembles the two-step in its execution with a lot of turns for the woman. After WW2, American/Polish immigrants adopted the more European variant as their “cultural” dance and it is not uncommon to see it danced by young and old at Polish weddings today. The Polka was standard fare on the Lawrence Welk Show. Most people will remember it as the dance Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner did swirling around the ballroom in "The King and I".

Polkas:

"The Beer Barrel Polka" by Lawerence Welk
"Shall We Dance?" from "The King and I" soundtrack
"Back In The Saddle Again" by Gene Autry

Dance Style: The Cha Cha

The Cha-cha is the newest of the "Latin" dances. It is a true American dance, developed in the dance studios in the early 50s as a mid-tempo variant between Rumba (slow) and Mambo (fast). It is believed to have started as a step in Mambo - a triple step to replace the slow one to accommodate slower musical rhythms. This developed into an entirely new dance. Slower modern music has often inspired the evolution of popular dances such as Single Swing into Triple Swing and Quickstep into Slow Foxtrot. Cha-cha music is slower than Mambo/ Salsa but not much. It it quite a common upbeat musical tempo. The dance is alive and well in ballrooms and studios today. It is flashy, sassy and full of itself. The Cha-cha styling is very similar to Rumba and Mambo. Like most Latin dances, your weight is forward and most of the movement occurs below the ribcage. The steps are small, taken with the ball of the foot first to better execute the hip action commonly known as "cuban motion". Cha-cha music is composed in 4/4 time. The rhythm is danced 2-3-4 & 1 ( "rock step cha cha cha".) Cha-cha is a flirty dance great for couples or just to catch someone's eye!

Cha-chas:

"Smooth" by Santana
"Oye como Va" by Santana
"My Maria" by Brooks and Dunn
"Super Freak" by Rick James
"Cuban Pete" by Tito Puente