Styles of Dancing

El tango is one of the best produced dances of all times.

Ballroom dancing originated in England in the late 18th Century and early 19th centuries in which these dances such as the waltz were performed by the upper and elite classes of society in balls and parties. During the late 19th century to the early 20th century, it became a trend among the working and middle class where they would go to gatherings and events in public dance halls. In the early 1920’s ballroom dancing competitions started to boom that in 1924 an organization was formed called the Ballroom Branch of Imperial Society of teachers of Dancing. The objective of this was to standardize and formalise ballroom dancing techniques, sets of steps and music to which it was danced to.

Salsa is not easily defined. The Cubans and Puerto Ricans invented the salsa. The popular Latin music known world wide as salsa began centuries ago in the islands of the Spanish Caribbean.

It originated in Cuba when the Latinos became free of slavery they celebrated by dancing.

The salsa involves a mixture of Latin and Jazz music.

The costumes for salsa dance involves tight skirts that flow out at the knees, tops are worn short and tight. The outfits are both revealing and sexy. Salsa played a large part in the evolution of the Latino countries.

Modern swing jive may be the latest dance craze to sweep the UK, but it is by no means NEW!The origins of jive start back in the 1920's & 30's in the dance clubs of black America, the sounds of jazz led on to Big Band Swing, perfecting the dances such as Lindyhop & the Jitterbug.The war years took the dance underground due to its "Corrupting influence". However, the American G.I's brought the dance with them to Europe. In the UK it surfaced in the Rock & Roll years, having been adapted to fit the new style of music.

The French took the dance, simplified it, mixed it in with the traditional Latin dances to form the dance that we now know as Modern Jive. Over the years the dance has been adapted to fit music trends, and broken down into a basic format making it suitable for the masses.The dance now known as Modern French Jive can be seen throughout the UK, under many different guises. But the base dance is always the same, no matter how it is marketed.