Social Dances

Cha-Cha Dance
The Cha-Cha is a playful and flirtatious dance known for it’s vibrant energy. Although it is
traditionally danced to up-beat music with a Latin or Cuban beat, today it is common to
dance the Cha-Cha is to many current styles of music including Top 40, Pop and R&B.
Cha-Cha Dance History
The Cha-Cha is a dance that descended from another partner dance known as the Mambo.
While the music of Mambo dancing comes from old traditions rooted in the heart of Africa,
Mambo dancing itself was born in Cuba and the Cha-Cha developed along side it.

Havana, Cuba was a very happening place in the 1940s and 1950s. It was extremely
popular for the rich and famous to go and spend time in Havana resorts. Influential writers
such as Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams had experiences in Cuba that shaped
their monumental novels, and the famous Broadway “Guys and Dolls” was set in Havana,
Cuba. Very famous American dance bands and the best Latin orchestras native to Cuba

played in the Havana casinos. Mambo was born in this music and entertainment hotspot
and the Cha-Cha was an offshoot.
The Cha-Cha was originally one of the figures within the Mambo where three quicker steps
followed two slower steps and weight was changed on each step. This Mambo pattern
became the basic step for the Cha-Cha. Being born out of Mambo dancing, Cha-Cha
dancing adopted the popular Latin dance technique. Like Mambo dancers, Cha-Cha
dancers keep their feet close to the floor, move their hips a lot while keeping their upper
bodies erect.
In the 1950s, Cha-Cha dancing started to spread internationally. 1952 English dance
teacher Pierre Lavelle went to Cuba and brought back his version of the Cha-Cha to the
British Isles. The American dancer Arthur Murray simplified the dance to a 1-2-3 Cha-Cha
rhythm because he thought it would be simpler for his studio students. This gave the Cha-
Cha a slower more mechanical feel.
There are different beliefs on how the Cha-Cha dance got it’s name. Some suggest that the
name of Cha-Cha dance can be traced back to the religious ritual dances of the West
Indies. There is a West Indies plant known to produce seedpods called “cha-chas.” These
seeds are used to make small rattles also known as “cha-chas” and in Haiti traditional
voodoo bands consist of musicians playing the cha-cha rattle along with a bell and three
drums. The leader of the band uses the Cha-Cha rattle as a metronome to guide and set the
time in both secular and religious singing and music. Some believe that it is from this Cha-
Cha rattle that Cha-Cha dancing got it’s name. Others suggest that Cha-Cha dancing was
originally called the “Cha Cha-Cha” after the sound of the dancer’s shoes as they shuffle
around the dance floor. Regardless of how the Cha-Cha dance got its name, the term “Cha-
Cha” grew to be recognized and known on a global scale as a lively partner dance.
How to Dance the Cha-Cha
This Cuban dance has several foundational steps on top of which fancier footwork can be
added:

• Start with a rock step. Leaders start by stepping back with the right foot, shifting
their weight to be on their right hip, and tapping the left foot. The follower does the
opposite, stepping forward with the left, tapping with the right.
• Add a triple step. The triple step follows the rock step. The leader brings their
right foot back next to the left, then lifts and replaces first their left foot then right
foot. That right-left-right action is the triple step and the motion that gives the cha-
cha cha dance its name. The follower mirrors this motion.
• Repeat, but alternate direction. The leader does another rock step, this time
stepping forward with the left foot and then tapping the right. They then cha-cha-
cha with their left foot, then right, then left again. The follower again mirrors their
movements.
• Add a side step. After doing a couple triple steps, the leader may try a more lateral
motion with the side step. The side step begins with a rock step, stepping back with
the right and tapping with the left. Next, instead of closing the feet together, the
leader goes side-close-side, stepping out with the right foot, closing with the left
foot, and stepping rightward again with the right foot. They then do another rock
step forward with the left foot and then another side step, this time going to the left.
The follower mirrors their movements.
 • Hand placement. Throughout the dance, the leader can put their right hand on the
follower’s back and the follower puts their left hand on the leader’s shoulder. Clasp
hands with the free hand. Throughout the rock, triple, and side steps, both partners’
torsos should stay straight, and their hips should sway out to the direction of their
feet’s movement. As each dancer moves on the triple step’s cha-cha-cha, their hips
can sway left, right, left or right, left, right.

Tango Dance

Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la
Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the
impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combination of Rioplatense
Candombe celebrations, Spanish-Cuban Habanera, and Argentinean Milonga. The tango
was frequently practiced in the brothels and bars of ports, where business owners
employed bands to entertain their patrons with music. The tango then spread to the rest of
the world. Many variations of this dance currently exist around the world.
Tango Dance History
Tango is a dance that has influences from African, South American and European culture.
Dances from the candombe ceremonies of former African enslaved peoples helped shape
the modern day tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and
Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe.
The words “tango” and “tambo” around the River Plate basin were initially used to refer to
musical gatherings of slaves, with written records of colonial authorities attempting to ban
such gatherings as early as 1789.
Initially, it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society,
as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums,
which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants.

When the tango began to spread internationally around 1900, cultural norms were
generally conservative, and so tango dancing was widely regarded as extremely sexual and
inappropriate for public display. This led to a phenomenon of culture shock. Additionally,
the combination of African, Native American and European cultural influences in tango was
new and unusual to most of the Western world.
Many neighborhoods of Buenos Aires have their particular tango histories: for example La
Boca, San Telmo and Boedo. At Boedo Avenue, Cátulo Castillo, Homero Manzi and other
singers and composers used to meet at the Japanese Café with the Boedo Group.
In the early years of the 20th century, dancers and orchestras from Buenos Aires travelled to
Europe, and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London,
Berlin, and other capitals. Tango historian Nardo Zalko, a native of Buenos Aires who lived
most of his life in Paris, investigated the mutual fertilization between the two cities in his
work, Paris Buenos Aires, Un Siècle de Tango (“A Century of Tango”). Towards the end of
1913, it hit New York City as well as Finland. In the U.S., around 1911, the word “tango”
was often applied to dances in a ²/⁴ or ⁴/⁴ rhythm such as the one-step. The term was
fashionable and did not indicate that tango steps would be used in the dance, although they
might be. Tango music was sometimes played but at a rather fast tempo. Instructors of the
period would sometimes refer to this as a “North American tango”, versus the so-called
“Argentine tango”. The tango was controversial because of its perceived sexual overtones
and, by the end of 1913, the dance teachers who had introduced the dance to Paris were
banished from the city. By 1914, more authentic tango stylings were soon developed, along
with some variations like Albert Newman’s “Minuet” tango.

In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after
the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930, caused a temporary decline in
tango’s popularity. Its fortunes were reversed later in the 1930s, and tango again became
widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the first Perón government, which
in turn had a major effect on Argentinian culture overall. Mariano Mores played a role in
the resurgence of the tango in 1950s Argentina. Mores’s Taquito Militar was premiered in
1952 during a governmental speech by President Juan D. Perón, which generated a strong
political and cultural controversy between different views of the concepts of “cultured”
music and “popular” music, as well as the links between both “cultures”.

Tango declined again in the late 1950s, as a result of economic depression and the banning
of public gatherings by the military dictatorships; male-only tango practice—the custom at
the time was considered “public gathering”. That, indirectly, boosted the popularity of rock
and roll because, unlike tango, it did not require such gatherings. However, in the late
1980s the tango again experienced a resurgence in Argentina, partly due to the endeavors
of Osvaldo Peredo. In 2009, the tango was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural
Heritage Lists.
There are several theories regarding the origin of the word tango, none of which has been
proven. An African culture is often credited as the creator of this word; in particular, it is
theorized that the word derives from the Yoruba word shangó, which refers to Shango, the
God of Thunder in traditional Yoruba religion. This theory suggests that the word “shangó”
was morphed through the dilution of the Nigerian language once it reached South America
via slave trade. According to an alternative theory, tango is derived from the Spanish word
for “drum”, tambor. This word was then mispronounced by Buenos Aires’ lower-class
inhabitants to become tambo, ultimately resulting in the common tango. It is also
sometimes theorized that the word is derived from the Portuguese word tanger, which
means “to play a musical instrument”. Another Portuguese word, tangomão, a combination
of the verb tanger (“to touch”) with the noun mão (“hand”) meaning “to play a musical
instrument with one’s hands”, has been suggested as the etymon of tango. According to
some authors, tango is derived from the Kongo word tango which means “sun”, “hour”,
“space-time”

Basic step for Men

Waltz Dance
The Waltz is a very popular social and wedding dance. It is characterized by an elegant
“rise and fall,” turns, and gorgeous body sways. It is a fantastic Ballroom dance for new
dancers and the Waltz is a beautiful style for a wedding first dance.
Waltz Dance History
The beginning of Waltz has several references from the 16th century. A French philosopher
by the name of Montaigne wrote of a dance that he witnessed where the couple dancing
and how they held each other so close that their faces were touching. These dances were
seen as “godless” dances, and were performed mainly by the peasant populations.
By 1750, peasants of Bavaria, Tyrol, and Syria were dancing the Walzer (a Waltz-like
dance.) At the same time, a similar dance known as the Landler was popular in Austria,
Bohemia, and Bavaria. The Landler was spread from the countryside to the suburbs of the
cities. Upper class citizens continued to dance the minuet, while noblemen began to get
bored and to joined the balls of their servants.

When the Waltz was first introduced in Europe in the early 1800s, it was viewed as
scandalous and “immoral” because of its very close dance embrace and its rapid turning
movements. Despite the dance originally being associated with lower class servants and
disgraceful movements, the Waltz quickly became part of popular culture in Europe. The
Waltz spread from Germany to the dance halls of Paris as soldiers came back from the
Napoleonic wars. In the mid-1800s, it was introduced to the United States. Early Waltz
music was very fast (from it’s early days as an Austrian folk dance) with continuous
twirling. Gradually, in the early 1900s, a slower style of Waltz dancing developed. This
slower style of Waltz is what people call Waltz today. The faster style of Waltz is known as
Viennese Waltz. The Viennese Waltz is technically the oldest of all current ballroom dances
as it emerged from the earlier mentioned Landler dance. Both Waltz and Viennese Waltz
were criticized for their “scandalous nature” at first, but both grew to be accepted as two of
the most beautiful, classy, and embraced dance styles in the world.
While it is not clear exactly when the Waltz came to America, it is agreed that by the end of
the 19th century the Waltz was considered an established party dance of the United States
dance scene. American’s created their own variations of the dance including the “Boston
Waltz” which slowed down the tempo of the music to favor the long, gliding dance steps
and scarcer circular motions. American style ballroom dancers developed Waltz dancing
with open dance positions in addition to only being done in closed dance position. The
dancers’ legs in the American style crossed each other with each step as opposed to closing
together. These stylistic variations have remained part of the Waltz to the present. The
“Hesitation Waltz” also developed in the United States, but did not stand the test of time
like the Boston Waltz and Viennese Waltz. This slower paced Waltz never became as
popular as the Waltzes that are dance today.
Man’s Steps
1. Step forward with the LF.
2. Step forward with the RF so that right foot is parallel to left foot.
3. Bring the LF to the RF.
4. Step back with the RF.
5. Step back with the LF so that the left foot is parallel to right foot.
6. Bring the RF to the LF.
Woman’s Steps
1. Step back with the RF.
2. Step back with the LF so that the left foot is parallel to right foot.
3. Bring the RF to the LF.
4. Step forward with the LF.
5. Step forward with the RF so that right foot is parallel to left foot.
6. Bring the LF to the RF.