Nightclub two step (NC2S, sometimes disco two step or California two step) is a partner dance initially developed by Buddy Schwimmer in the mid-1960s. The dance is also known as "Two Step" and was "one of the most popular forms of contemporary social dance" as a Disco Couples Dance in 1978. [1] It is frequently danced to mid-tempo ballads in 4
4 time that have a characteristic quick-quick-slow beat. A classic example is the song Lady In Red .
The nightclub two step basic step can be counted as one & two - three & four -. [2]
The dance position for nightclub two step is with a more relaxed hold, or "what people tend to do without lessons". The lead rocks back on their left foot, the follow on their right, for one beat. "The toe is to the heel, but not further. Don't twist your hip. If your hip opens up, you have gone too far." [3] A gentle but noticeable resistance is maintained during the rock step. [2] Then both partners replace weight on the second part of the first beat. On the next beat, the lead takes a step to the left and the follow to the right. Then both partners repeat, but on opposite feet (the lead rocks back on their right foot and moves to the right).
The quick rock steps should be matched with the quick drum beats in the music. The "slow" drum beat and slow step can occur on either the second and fourth, or the first and third beats of a measure. Although other rhythmic interpretations of the music are possible, including the use of "breaks" in the music, they are beyond the scope of this article.
Another pattern in NC2S is the side-cross-side move. Typically, the lead starts this move by stepping side with their left foot and then crosses in front with their right foot. This is followed by another step to the side with the left foot. The rhythm, here, is quick, quick, slow. The follow does the same thing, but starts with their right foot. Both partners cross in front. In an interview with Phil Seyer [4] Buddy said he created this move by modifying something that was popular in the 60's called the "Surfer Stomp." The surfer stomp was simply, side, together, side, touch. In the DVIDA Nightclub Two-Step syllabus, this action is called a Traveling Cross.
UCWDC lists a narrow range of 54-64 beats per minute for the dance. [5]
Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television.
East Coast Swing (ECS) is a form of social partner dance. It belongs to the group of swing dances. It is danced under fast swing music, including rock and roll and boogie-woogie.
West Coast Swing is a partner dance with roots in the Lindy Hop. It is characterized by an elastic look that results from its extension-compression technique of partner connection and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor. The dance allows for both partners to improvise steps while dancing together, putting West Coast Swing in a short list of dances that emphasize improvisation.
Salsa is a Latin dance, associated with the music genre of the same name, which was first popularized in the United States in the 1960s in New York City. Salsa is an amalgamation of Cuban dances, such as mambo, pachanga and rumba, as well as American dances such as swing and tap.
Modern Jive is a dance style derived from swing, Lindy Hop, rock and roll, salsa and others, the main difference being the simplification of footwork by removing syncopation such as chasse. The term "French Jive" is occasionally used instead, reflecting the origins of the style, as is the term "Smooth Jive". The word "modern" distinguishes it from ballroom Jive.
The schottische is a partnered country dance that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina, Finland ("jenkka"), France, Italy, Norway ("reinlender"), Portugal and Brazil, Spain (chotis), Sweden, Denmark ("schottis"), Mexico, and the United States, among other nations. The schottische is considered by The Oxford Companion to Music to be a kind of slower polka, with continental-European origin.
Social dance is a category of dances that have a social function and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance and can be led and followed with relative ease. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competitive and erotic functions.
This is a list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances. See List of dances and List of dance style categories for those.
The hustle is a catch-all name for some disco dances which were extremely popular in the 1970s. Today it mostly refers to the unique partner dance done in ballrooms and nightclubs to disco music. It has some features in common with mambo, salsa and swing dance. Its basic steps are somewhat similar to the discofox, which emerged at about the same time and is more familiar in various European countries. In the 1970s there was also a line dance called the hustle. Modern partner hustle is sometimes referred to as New York hustle, however, its original name is the Latin hustle. People still do this dance around the world today.
Box step is a basic dance step named after the pattern it creates on the floor, which is that of a square or box. It is used in a number of American Style ballroom dances: rumba, waltz, bronze-level foxtrot. While it can be performed individually, it is usually done with a partner. This is the most common dance step in the waltz. In international standard dance competition, there is a similar step called closed change.
A Coaster Step is term used in swing dances, in particular in West Coast Swing to describe a Triple Step done in the pattern "back-together-forward" or "forward-together-back". Most often it is the follower's step. As of 1994, the Coaster Step was still used in "Ballroom Swing", and is an identifying feature of that dance.
The cha-cha-cha, is a dance of Cuban origin. It is danced to the music of the same name introduced by the Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrin in the early 1950s. This rhythm was developed from the danzón-mambo. The name of the dance is an onomatopoeia derived from the shuffling sound of the dancers' feet when they dance two consecutive quick steps that characterize the dance.
The Iroquois is a confederacy of six Native American tribes.
Bulgarian folk dances are intimately related to the music of Bulgaria. This distinctive feature of Balkan folk music is the asymmetrical meter, built up around various combinations of 'quick' and 'slow' beats. The music, in Western musical notation, is often described using compound meter notation, where the notational meter accents, i.e., the heard beats, can be of different lengths, usually 1, 2, 3, or 4. Many Bulgarian dances are line dances, in which the dancers dance in a straight or curved line, holding hands.
Samba de Gafieira is a partner dance to various Brazilian samba musical rhythms. Unlike street and club forms of Brazilian samba, it evolved as a ballroom dance.
The country/western two-step, often called the "Texas two-step" or simply the "two-step," is a country/western dance usually danced to country music in common time. "Traditional [Texas] two-step developed, my theory goes, because it is suited to fiddle and guitar music played two-four time with a firm beat [found in country music]. One-two, one-two, slide-shuffle." The two-step is related to the polka, the Texas waltz, and the jitterbug.
The Texas two-step is the same step known to ballroom dancers as the international fox-trot. Except for the one-step, which is just that, most Texas dances are variations of a two-step, also called a half-step, which is simply a step-close-step. The Texas two-step is generally done with two long steps and a step-close-step to two-four time. Speeded up, it's a shuffle or double shuffle, but still a two-step.
Buddy Schwimmer is a West Coast Swing dancer and choreographer, credited with inventing nightclub two-step in the 1960s.
Daychovo horo is a Bulgarian folk dance done to a nine-beat meter. It is unique in two ways: it is a circle dance, and yet it has a leader.
The Collegiate Shag is a partner dance done primarily to uptempo swing and pre-swing jazz music. It belongs to the swing family of American vernacular dances that arose in the 1920s and 30s. It is believed that the dance originated within the African American community of the Carolinas in the 1920s, later spreading across the United States during the 1930s. The shag is still danced today by swing dance enthusiasts worldwide.