Having firmly decided to expand the range of their skills with the help of fiery ones, many enthusiasts begin to simply study advertisements for the recruitment of relevant interest groups. And there the first problems 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 the types Latin American dances, enjoying continued popularity today, these include:

• Mambo;

Test the bull's patience

It’s interesting that Paso Doble is nothing more than spanish dance a heroic bullfighter in front of an angry bull, and the proverbial red rag in this case is personified by his partner. Although there is no killing animal here, you must steadfastly keep your chest high, your shoulders low, and your head fixed. Jive, in turn, is the most energetic and fast of the ballroom cohort. It originated in the southeastern United States and 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, the Jive usually comes last, being the traditional culmination of the program.

IN separate species ball program Latin American (Antillean) dances or simply latina took shape in the mid-19th century. They owe their widespread popularity to free North America, in which cultures, including dance, of several races are intricately mixed. Yes, Spanish folk dance, elements of which were performed by bullfighters during a bullfight, became known throughout the world as the paso doble. Samba was brought to Brazil, and then to Europe, African slaves, rumba and cha-cha-cha in Cuba and Haiti.

Traditional program of sports ballroom dancing adopted by the Federation ballroom sports, since 1930, has included 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 the peculiarity of Latin, unlike European dances, is that during the performance the partners can either separate contact or press very closely together. 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 outfits with a lot of sparkles. Ladies allowed Short skirt and a maximally open back, for a partner - a tight-fitting suit.

Not only professionals dance Latin American dances. The so-called “club” Latin has long become one of the most popular areas of mass dance, both in Latin America and in the USA, Europe and Russia. Salsa and bachata, merengue and mambo - these dances do not require honed skills; it is more important to open up completely, turning movements into a meaningful story and passion. It is no coincidence that the same thing is called, half-jokingly and half-seriously, “sex on the parquet.”

For many years, the film “Dirty Dancing” with Patrick Swayze has been a cult favorite for all Latin dancers, where the most popular amateur dances are shown in all their glory.

Sources:

• Latin: everyone dances!

Tip 2: What branches are modern Latin American dances divided into?

In each country Latin America I have a few of my own dances. However, they have a lot common features- they all appeared on one continent, becoming a kind of fusion of several cultures - Spanish, Indian and African. They were originally considered dances for the poor and were performed at parties and folk festivals. It was not until 1930 that Latin American dances began to spread to the United States and Europe. But since then they have enjoyed constant popularity.

Instructions

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

Rumba and cha-cha-cha are dances that originated in Cuba. Rumba – beautiful dance love, which is considered the main one in the Latin American program. Cha-cha-cha is a playful “dance of coquettes”, with a typically Cuban sway 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 his bright red cloak. Many movements are borrowed from the Paso Doble from the famous Spanish flamenco dance.

Jive is very energetic, fast and cheerful dance. It is in the southeastern United States in the 19th century, its creators, according to different versions, considered Indians or Africans. He borrowed certain elements of jive from rock and roll.

Salsa is considered the queen of Latin American club dance. It appeared in Cuba at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its name is translated from Spanish as “sauce”. Salsa combines choreographic traditions different countries Latin America. The dance is somewhat reminiscent of the rumba, but in a slower and more elegant version.

The final formation of Latin American dances ended at the end of the nineteenth century. Latin American dances are a fusion of the rhythms of African drums and the music of the Spanish colonialists who conquered Latin America.

This is how dances appeared that the whole world is now passionate about: cha-cha-cha, salsa, merengue, bachata. American soldiers who arrived in Cuba during the Revolutionary War in 1898 were the first foreigners to be captured and captivated by these rousing rhythms and movements.

Soldiers were frequent guests of this island during the Prohibition era in the States, when all alcoholic beverages were completely prohibited on their territory.

Latin American dances are still associated with hot passions and strong drinks, which is why they are banned in Muslim countries. But the rest of the world dances these fiery dances with pleasure.

As Anastasia Sazonova, who teaches dance lessons at the 5 Life school, explained, all Latin American dances can be ballroom and social. Social dancing Anyone can dance easily by memorizing a few simple movements and improvising the remaining elements of the dance.

Even people who do not have special physical training can do this. Ballroom dancing is a completely different matter. They require dancers to be in good athletic shape and to accurately perform the basic dance elements. This is a kind of beautiful and exciting sport.

DREAM

The birthplace of the dream dance is Cuba. The elements of this dance are an improvisation of African rumba. And until the first decade of the twentieth century, representatives of the white part of the Cuban population avoided performing it. But in the early thirties everything changed. The dance began to win fans in many countries. They were attracted slow pace and the intricacy of the rhythmic pattern. And today, sleep has taken one of the leading places in the family of social Latin American dances.

SALSA

The name of the dance is translated from Spanish as “sauce” and this fully reflects the essence of salsa. It contains dance genres and musical rhythms many Central American and Latin American countries. But New York is considered the birthplace of this dance, where it appeared in the sixties and seventies thanks to Cuban emigrants who mixed traditional Cuban son with jazz.

Salsa is performed with feeling, this is facilitated by the bodies being tightly pressed during the dance, and often passionate relationships arise between partners, albeit briefly.

CHA-CHA-CHA

The origin of the cha-cha-cha is not fully understood. Some argue that its direct relative is the ancient guaracha dance, which was popular among the peoples of the Caribbean. Others believe that its author was Enrique Horrina, a Cuban composer of the mid-last century who was keen on experimenting in the field of dance.

There is another version that this dance was created completely by accident. Pierre Lavelle, during his stay in Cuba, saw how local residents dancing rumba. This temperamental dance captured Lavelle and, having arrived in England, he began to teach it to his students. But since he did not fully understand the rumba technique, the dance he taught turned out to be a completely new dance.

The cha-cha-cha is danced very energetically. Dancers must straighten their knees with each step while performing high-amplitude hip movements. By doing cha-cha-cha at least once a week, you can feel noticeable changes in your figure within a month.

You will get slender legs, and your thighs will disappear overweight. This dance also has a social option available a large number his admirers, and the ballroom version, where the dancer must have sports technique.

BACHATA

The name of the dance is translated from Spanish as “noisy fun.” This is what all the holidays taking place in the poorest neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic were called in the thirties. That's how this one came about couples dance, which is based on the Cuban dream and the Spanish bolero, which is danced to the sad melodies of songs about unrequited love.

It is quite simple to implement. They dance bachata, rhythmically stepping left and right, back and forth in close contact with a partner, hugging each other and practically not separating their hands.

MERENGUE

The Latin American dance merengue has black roots. That is why it was not recognized for a long time by representatives of the aristocratic circles of Cuba and considered performing the dance to be in bad form.

In the nineteenth century, they even wanted to ban merengue, but thanks to Rafael Trujillo, the former dictator of the Dominican Republic, the dance gained recognition.

Trujillo was popularly known for his numerous sexual relationships, and merengue attracted him with movements that were lightly erotic in nature and allowed some liberties with his partner during the dance.

The basic merengue step consists of transferring body weight from one leg to the other, imitating a limping gait, but in combination with big amount figures and decorations that come from folklore merengue look very interesting and attractive.

It does not require a huge dance space. You can dance merengue even in a small area, the main thing is to have the desire and the mood to dance.

Video: Latin American dances

Having firmly decided to expand the range of their skills with the help of fiery ones, many enthusiasts begin to simply study advertisements for the recruitment of relevant interest groups. And there the first problems 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, we need to list all the types of Latin American dances that are always popular today, these include:

• Mambo;

Test the bull's patience

It is interesting that the Paso Doble is nothing more than the Spanish dance of a heroic bullfighter in front of an angry bull, and the notorious red rag in this case is personified by the partner. Although there is no killing animal here, you must steadfastly keep your chest high, your shoulders low, and your head fixed. Jive, in turn, is the most energetic and fast of the ballroom cohort. It originated in the southeastern United States and 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, the Jive usually comes last, being the traditional culmination of the program.

IN last years a huge number have appeared in Russia dance studios and fitness clubs, where you can find the line “Latin American dancing” in the range of services. They enjoy enormous popularity and love among the people, both in their homeland and in all countries of the world. It is impossible not to love Latin American dances - beautiful, passionate, fiery - more and more hearts are being conquered in the world.

Where did Latin American dances come from? What are the basic dance principles and types? Is dancing good for a woman’s health, and if so, why exactly?

The benefits of Latin American dances

Combining business with pleasure is exactly what Latin American dancing is all about. They have been proven to have a positive effect on a person’s overall health and well-being:

• First of all, dance will be useful for both men and women. It has no contraindications, since the dancer is not subjected to sudden stress.
• Promotes good coordination of movements - as evidence, it is worth looking at the activity and flexibility of the dancers, with what skill they perform many of their steps.
• Supports posture in in excellent shape and corrects gait - it is important for every person to be able to “carry” himself. Dance is the best assistant in developing this skill.

• Helps improve the respiratory system.
• It has been proven that if you practice regularly, dance helps get rid of colds and bronchitis. Helps relieve asthma attacks.
• Dancing promotes a more positive attitude. How often can you see a dancer in bad mood?
• Useful for maintaining overall performance levels.
• Dancing burns calories, so for those who want to lose... excess weight- the way to the dance floor!

Samba: fiery dance

Samba dance is a combination of dance cultures of African and American peoples, which was brought to Brazilian soil in the 16th century. It was designed to relax the population after a hard day at work; they danced it barefoot. Interestingly, Samba was used great love among the poor, while the aristocratic part of society treated this type of Latin American dance with contempt, considering it obscene and vulgar. Exactly because of this reason for a long time It was not customary to dance it in decent establishments. Attitudes towards samba changed after the dancers performed in public, making the movements less explicit. Since then, the dance began to conquer the hearts of people and became one of the most popular.

Today, samba is considered one of the most popular dances at the Brazilian carnival. Many dance schools compete to be the best. The birthplace of the dance, Rio De Janeiro, is considered the world center of samba.

Types of samba

Today sambo has a number of directions:

• Samba nu pe is a type of samba that is performed while the carnival van is moving by solo dancers, that is, without a partner.
• Samba de Gafieira is a pair dance that uses acrobatic elements, elements of rock and roll, and Argentine tango.
• Pagode is a samba performed by a couple in very close contact with each other. Acrobatic elements are not used.
• Samba ashe - can be performed both solo and in large group. Combines elements of samba and aerobics.
• Samba de roda is considered the founder of urban samba. Traditionally, men form a circle and accompany musical instruments, and one, maximum two women perform samba in this circle.

Salsa: a story of love and freedom

Salsa is a native Cuban dance that promotes the ideas of love, freedom, passion, emancipation and flirtation.

The word “salsa” itself means “sauce” in many languages. According to one version, a Cuban group of dancers and dancers once performed in a Miami club. They managed to ignite the audience so much that people began to chant “salsa!”, which meant that the dance had a “peppercorn” - as spicy as the sauce that seasoned the main dishes of the establishment.

Today salsa is called a sport; it is interesting that this dance is characterized by frequent changes of partners. This allows you to gain new knowledge and consider dance as a means of communication and transfer of dance experience.

Thus, salsa can be performed in any club in the world, using the universal language of communication - dance.

The partner is characterized by frequent alardes movements - reminiscent of combing and stroking hair. The professionalism of a partner depends not so much on the clarity of the movement of the legs, but on the ability to move naturally, with relaxed arms. It is believed that Latin American dancers can move best this way. The main role is played by the leading partner, while extremely modest demands are placed on the follower.

Meringue: dance of flirtation and improvisation

Merengue is native to the Dominican Republic. Very quickly this dance became popular throughout the Latin American region.

Merengue can be performed solo, in pairs, or even in a group. It is filled with all kinds of movements with an emphasis on eroticism, movements of the hips and shoulders at a fairly fast pace.

Merengue originally originated as Musical direction. When and for what reason exactly this happened, dance historians do not agree: either it was first composed by one of the Dominican composers, or the music was first heard after the military battle of Talanquera, which the Dominicans solemnly won, or the dance came from the shores of Puerto Rico.

So the dance began to spread and gain popularity due to its simplicity and ease, displacing some traditional dances.

Then merengue developed in two versions:

• Salon merengue is a pair dance in which the couple, almost never separating, makes rhythmic movements to the left and to the right;
• Figured merengue is a pair dance in which the couple, almost without separating, makes figure combinations with their bodies.

Bachata: dance of unrequited love

Bachata is considered a dance that tells the story of unrequited love. The birthplace of this Latin American dance is the Dominican Republic.

Bachata is extremely multifaceted, it is difficult to distinguish it into any type, however, bachata can be:

• Colombian bachata - never allows simplification of steps, characterized by a clear movement of the hip on the fourth count
• Dominican bachata is characterized by a lighter foot technique, sometimes reaching the point where partners take a normal step.

The main purpose of the dance is to get into very close contact with the partners, so there is a lot of movement from side to side with clasped hands.

Rumba: dance of love

It is the rumba that is recognized as the pearl of Latin American dances.

Rumba is considered a Cuban dance of African origin. It was originally a wedding dance that featured movements reminiscent of household chores.

Most famous composition Rumbas can be called the composition “Guantanamera”, authored by Joseito Fernandez.

Today there are two varieties of rumba:

Cuban and American.

What is their difference?

Cuban rumba is used in sports ballroom dancing, and the American one is social, that is, it is danced in a relaxed, non-competitive atmosphere.

Cha-cha-cha: dance of seduction

It’s not for nothing that the cha-cha-cha is recognized as the dance of coquettes. The combination of steps seems to be specially created so that a woman can show herself how seductive and sexy she is. Distinctive feature dance is active work hips. The dancer openly seduces, flirts and provokes the dancer.

One of the most modern varieties of Latin American dances. It originally came from mambo dancing and was performed in American dance halls in the 1950s. Its main difference from mambo is that cha-cha-cha uses less rhythmic and calmer music.

The famous "cha-cha-cha" is a component of mambo, which separated and became the main element of an independent dance.

In 1951, a dancer named Enrique Joren showed the world his vision of the cha-cha-cha. In his opinion, this dance should be of medium speed, suitable not only for professional dancers, but also easy to learn by the mass public.

After World War II, cha-cha became even more popular than mambo.

Argentine tango: a dance of madness and passion

It is noteworthy that tango was the first of all types of Latin American dances to become known to Europeans. Argentine tango was born in the poorest areas of Buenos Aires more than a hundred years ago. All sorts of cultures have left their mark on it: African motifs, the German waltz, the Mazurka of the Poles, and flamenco from Spain.

Since its birth, Argentine tango has been considered a dance for men, as it was predominantly performed by the stronger half of humanity. The purpose of the dance is to demonstrate prowess and masculine strength, grace and courage. Sometimes, only a good tango could win the heart of a beautiful woman. Dance has a place for most human emotions - from suffering and sadness to love and admiration.

Like some Latin American dances, Argentine tango has stood the test of time: initially this type of dance was banned due to its vulgarity and obscenity. This did not last long, and already in the 1920s a real boom began, when everyone more or less a famous person had to, one way or another, mention tango in any form.

Today the dance has been standardized as much as possible; there are many required elements for the dance. However, in their homeland, dancers can dance it without any restrictions, as they feel it themselves.

Conclusion:

Today, Latin American dances are experiencing a “second life” - in many countries around the world, interest in this art is returning with greater force than before. Not surprising, because they are bright, dynamic, passionate, sexy and good for health and maintaining the overall tone of the body.