The Dance Styles

Street Latin

The Street Latin dances are the modern social dances of South America.

They are most easily recognizable by a much freer & smoother style of body movement than is characteristic of the Ballroom Latin dances, with the rhythms being expressed through the dancer's whole body.

In Merengue, the emphasis is on intricate 'twister' like turn patterns.

In Argentine Tango there is a significant focus on fancy footwork styling with lots of fast kicks, flicks & rhondaes.

The speed of Salsa & Merengue & the intricacy of the movements in these dances demand good leading & following skills, as well as good balance & control, so they might take a bit longer to learn.

Its definitely worth the extra effort though because the freedom & flexibility they offer gives them a unique appeal & makes them intriguing, passionate and spirited.

Most of these dances can be danced very compactly (except for Argentine Tango which is much more easily danced on a larger floor.)

Modern and traditional South American music suits these dances best, but both Salsa & Merengue can be adapted to other upbeat popular music.

The Street Latin dances include:

Ballroom Latin

The Ballroom Latin dances have a ballroom flavour & are recognizable by their stylized latin hip movements which contrast with the dancer's more solid & stationery upper bodies.

These dances have Cuban, Spanish and African origins but under American, English & European influences have evolved over time into the popular social dances we know today.

Generally, these dances are 'spot' dances, suited to smaller & crowded dance floors.

They are quite versatile & may be danced to a variety of music.

The Ballroom Latin dances include:

Ballroom Classics

Ballroom Classics are recognizable by the way they continuously travel anticlockwise around the dance floor & by the fact that dancers are in a very close dance position.

The emphasis is on stylized upper body movements rather than hip movements & in achieving body flight (the appearance of a smooth glide around the floor).

You have to search a little harder to find modern music that is appropriate for these dances as well as for dance floors large enough to do them justice.

But the old time classics can be great fun & era revival artists such as Michael Buble keep them alive & kicking.

Our Ballroom Classics include:

Quickstep

Swing, Rock n Roll & Jive

Swing dancing is a broad umbrella term that covers a range of dances that have evolved over time to suit changing popular music - from the Lindy Hop of the 1920s to the Modern Jive of today.

Our Swing dances include:

Jive