Basic Information on Dance Moves

Salsa

Salsa is a dance created in the Caribbean that mixes African and European dance influences. It is generally a partner dance, though there are some solo variations. Most of the weight changes within the salsa dance occur in the lower half of the body with the upper body somewhat taut. The hips, however, do a lot of moving during a salsa dance, bringing about the term “Cuban hip movement.”

  • Lessons in Salsa Dancing | History: This site provides an introduction to salsa with a history of salsa dancing in America as well as an introduction to salsa music and an explanation of salsa steps.

  • Basic Steps - Salsa: The steps of salsa are broken down here, and a simplistic diagram is given. This page does not address the upper body positions or any variances to the dance, but it does give enough information to start one out.

  • Salsa Dance Styles of the World: An interesting article explaining the different salsa styles throughout the world, in many different countries.

    • Hip Hop Dance

    Hip Hop dance refers to the dancing that is done to Hip Hop music. There are many different types of hip-hop dancing such as break dancing, popping, and locking. Hip Hop dance is generally done solo, and much freestyle is done. Occasionally choreographed numbers are performed, and sometimes group numbers are done as well. However, Hip Hop dance grew from a Hip Hop culture, and that culture brought a message. The dance wants to deliver that personal, individual message that can only be delivered personally.

  • Hip-Hop Won’t Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life: The National Museum of American History Site, this article goes behind the museum’s project on Hip Hop and gives the history of the Hip Hop culture and Hip Hop dance.

  • Hip Hop Timeline: This Hip Hop timeline begins in 1956 with Clive Campbell’s birth in Jamaica. He is known as the father of Hip Hop culture. The time line is broken down by significant events and goes through 1994 when the b-boy Summit becomes a top annual event for Hip Hoppers.

  • Popular | Dance-Videos.Net: This site has various small dance video snippets giving some of the more noteworthy of the Hip Hop steps such as the Heel Toe Slide, the Melbourne Shuffle, as well as some Michael Jackson Hip Hop.

    • Capoeira

    Capoeira began as an African form of Marital Arts by slaves in Brazil. It now combines the fighting with music and dance to create a spectacle of excitement and suspense. It is most often danced by groups in a circle, with participants taking turns “sparring” with one another in dance.

  • Capoeira: Information on the history of Capoeira among the slaves in Brazil, and how the fighting and dancing was seen by their Brazilian captors.

  • Salvador de Bahia, The Dances and Capoeira: This site examines several dance styles one can experience in Salvador de Bahia, but concentrates a great deal on the Capoeira. It gives a brief history of the dance, and then gives detail on how the Capoeira is danced today.

    • Ballet

    Ballet is the most famous of the performance dances. It originated in sixteenth century France but was quickly developed further in England, Italy, and Russia as well. Ballet is highly formal, and it has its own vocabulary, and it must be a learned art. Ballet is most often choreographed and performed on a stage by a single ballerina or by a group.

  • Dancing Online, History of Ballet: This site gives a history of ballet from its beginning in Renaissance Italy and the French Courts, through the first professional ballets, and to the 20th Century.

  • Ballet Terms: Ballet has a vocabulary of its own, and there are many positions and stances that must be adhered to. This glossary gives some of these terms.

  • Basic Ballet Positions: This page was actually created as a lesson plan, but it outlines each of the five ballet positions with good detail.

    • Country Line Dancing

    Country Line Dancing is done by a group of people standing in lines forming rows, mixed male and female. The group of people does a choreographed number to a particular country western song. They do not face one another; they do not have physical contact with one another while dancing. Line dancing began with folk dancing in many cultures, but country western line dancing exploded with the movie “Urban Cowboy” in the 1980’s when many line dances were choreographed for the movie. This was followed by a few country hits such as “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” and “Achy Breaky Heart” that had line dances, and now there are hundreds of country songs that have line dances associated with them.

  • Origins and History - UCWDC - United Country Western Dance Council: This is the website for the United Country Western Dance Council, an organization that hosts country line dance competitions. Furthermore, they seek to standardize country line dance competitions all over the United States. This article also gives a history of line dancing with a brief synopsis of the three significant times of country line dance history.

  • The History of Line Dancing: This article gives an obscure history on line dancing, dating back farther than the contemporary country line dancing of today.

  • Western Dance history. Origins of country dancing.: This site gives an excellent history of dance and how the cowboy relates to that dance. Through each of the dance eras, the writer explains how the cowboy adapts his music and dancing to the times. This leads up to the country line dancing that America knows today.

    • Tango

    The tango dance originated in the lower class areas of Buenos Aires and was only present in one form. Today, there are many kinds of tango including Argentine Tango, Ballroom Tango, Finnish Tango, and others, each with their different variations. The tango is done with partners, but the variations in step and embrace are as varied as the music from region to region and generation to generation. Tango Nuevo, the newest form of tango, is characterized by an open embrace, fluid movements, trading of lead, and a fusion of tango and electronica music.

  • History of Tango: This history of tango concentrates on the earlier days of tango. It also provides a glimpse into tango music and its influence on the dance.

  • About Argentine Tango: Traces the beginnings of the tango in Argentina and how the dance was introduced to the culture outside the seedy areas of Buenos Aires.

  • Tango Steps: A breakdown of the steps of the tango, both for the man and for the woman. The steps are broken down by counts on a chart, and a diagram is included.

    • Bollywood

    Bollywood, a term that combines the phrases “Bombay” and “Hollywood,” is an idiom used when referring to Indian film. When discussing Bollywood dancing, it is worth noting that most of the singing is not done by the same people that do most of the dancing in Bollywood films. The dancing itself is similar to Indian folk dancing, though in modern Indian films and in films and videos here in the United States, there is western dance also fused in the numbers. Often during a Bollywood film, an attractive female with perform an “item” number with a number of back-up dancers. This elaborate dance may not have anything to do with the plot of the film. Such an example would be “Jai Ho” from Slum dog Millionaire.

  • What is Bollywood - Everything about Bollywood: This site gives information on Bollywood; the films, the dances, the music, the actors, and other aspects of the industry. It is noted that dance is an integral element in Bollywood films, and very few films are produced without at least one song and dance number.

  • Dance in Bollywood: This is a brief article about the history of dance in Bollywood and how men were incorporated into dance. It also points out some notable Bollywood dancers.

    • Tap Dance

    Tap dancing is a form of dance that one can do individually or with a group. Its distinguishing feature is the shoes that are worn during the dance. They are fitted with a metal plate on the bottom so that they make a tapping noise to cause percussion. Tap is formally taught in most dance studios around the world, and it is danced by both men and women. Some forms of tap dancing include Irish step dancing, clogging, stomp dancing, and Juba dance.

  • NYPL, Gregory Hines Collection Of American Tap Dance: Beginning with an introductory story of Colin Dunn and Savion Glover’s face off tap challenge on national television, this is a comprehensive article regarding the history of tap.

  • All About Tap Dance | TheatreDance.com: This site includes the history of tap, features several tap dancers, and highlights many tap steps and dances.

    • Samba

    The samba is a three-step Brazilian dance that is danced to samba music played in 2/4 time. In fact, the samba is a set of dances, some can be danced solo, and some are danced with partners. The distinguishing factor in samba dancing is the samba music.

  • Samba: This site gives a brief history of the samba, but also includes the popular way to dress while dancing the samba, the steps of the samba, and some more famous artists.

  • Samba Dancing: Photos are provided on this page to illustrate a few of the movements of the samba. Some history of the samba is given as well, but the article touches on the popularity of the dance and where it tends to be featured in Brazil.

  • The Samba Dance History: Some different historical information is presented in this article, and an overview of some of the different instruments used in samba music is given.

    • Swing

    Swing dance also refers to a number of dances that are danced to a particular kind of music. In this case, the music is the jazz of the 1920’s through the 1940’s. The most popular swing dance is the Lindy Hop; others include the Collegiate Shag, The Jitterbug, Eastern Swing, West Coast Swing, The Jive, and Washington Hand Dancing. Swing dancing is done with a partner, and there have been many competitions created for swing dancing both in the United States and abroad.

  • The State Swing Society: This site gives a brief history of swing dancing and highlights the Lindy Hop and East Coast Swing.

  • Swing Styles!: A synopsis of each of the following swing styles: Lindy Hop, East Coast Swing, Balboa, Blues, Charleston, 20’s Charleston, Shag, and West Coast Swing. Brief histories are given of each as well as an explanation of how each is danced.

    • Modern Dance

    Modern dance began in the early 20th century when dancers began to rebel against traditional ballet and other constraining forms of dance. Modern dance has a freedom about it; it can be used to express emotion and art in an abstract way. Modern dance brought with it new and innovative costume and design, and a whole new era of performance dance began.

  • MODERN DANCE,: This in-depth article first seeks to explain modern dance and the role of the dancer to the music, and then provides a history of the modern dance. The writer traces the development of modern dance from the early period at the beginning of the 20th century, through the 1930’s, in the postwar era, and to the present.

  • History of Modern Dance: Tells of the history of modern dance and highlights some of its more notable dancers.

  • What is Modern Dance? | Dance Advantage: Seeks to define modern dance by tracing its history and looking at its style today.