Partner dances are dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually in a non-coordinated manner, and as opposed to groups of people dancing simultaneously in a coordinated manner.
Prior to the 20th century, many ballroom dance and folk dances existed in America. As jazz music developed at the start of the 20th century, Black American communities in tandem developed the Charleston and eventually the Lindy Hop by the end of the 1920s. Many cities had regular local competitions such as the Savoy Ballroom which accelerated the development and popularization of the dance. The dances were introduced to wider public through movies and regular performances such as those done at the Cotton Club in New York. [1]
An unusual (for the time) feature of the dance was the inclusion of sections where the dancers would move apart from each other and perform individual steps (known as the "breakaway"). Another unique feature that was introduced in these early days were the first airsteps, also known today as aerials. These daring maneuvers were exciting for the audiences to watch, and when combined with live performances such as those by Ella Fitzgerald, became a staple of organized Lindy Hop performances. [2]
Other dances such as Collegiate shag and Balboa developed in the United States in the same time period but never saw the same international popularity as the Lindy Hop. [3]
Over the next few decades, popular music changed, moving away from the big band sound of swing to styles like rhythm and blues and then rock and roll. Due to this and other factors, the Lindy Hop evolved and mutated into a number of different styles. Dance styles such as West Coast Swing and Modern Jive integrated features of ballroom dances and new music to create distinctive but similar dances. [4]
In 1023, the German poet Ruodlieb referred to a couple dance with a basic motif of a boy wooing a girl, and the girl rejecting his advances. Men and women dancing as couples, both holding one hand of their partner, and "embracing" each other, can be seen in illustrations from 15th-century Germany. [5]
At the end of the 13th century and during the 14th century, nobles and wealthy patricians danced as couples in procession in a slow dignified manner in a circle, while farmers and lower classes danced in a lively fashion. The burgher middle class combined the dances with the processional as a "fore dance", and the turning as an "after dance". [6]
The Danse de Paysans' (Peasant's Dance) by Théodore de Bry shows a couple with a man lifting his partner off the ground, pulling her towards him while holding her closely with both arms. His Danse de Seigneurs et Dames (Dance of the Lords and Ladies) features one Lord with his arms around the waist of his Lady. [7] Syncopated rhythms gained widespread popularity for dancing in the last two centuries, although usually less complex and more regular than previous music. [8]
An old couple dance which can be found all over Northern Europe is known as "Manchester" or "Lott is Dead". In Bavaria words to the music include "One, two, three and one is four, Dianderl lifts up her skirt And shows me her knees", and in Bavaria one verse invites the girl to leave her bedroom window open to allow a visit from her partner. [9]
Dance partners stay together for the duration of the dance and, most often, dance independently of other couples dancing at the same time, if any.
Although this kind of dancing can be seen, for instance, in ballet, this term is usually applied to various forms of social dance, ballroom dance, folk dance, and similar forms.
Partner dance may be a basis of a formation dance, a round dance, a square dance or a sequence dance. These are kinds of group dance where the dancers form couples and dance either the same choreographed or called routines or routines within a common choreography—routines that control both how each couple dances together and how each couple moves in accord with other couples. In square dance one will often change partners during the course of a dance, in which case one distinguishes between the "original partner" and a "situational partner".
In most partner dances, one is the leader and the other is the follower. As a rule, they maintain connection with each other. In some dances the connection is loose and called dance handhold. In other dances the connection involves body contact. In the latter case the connection imposes significant restrictions on relative body positions during the dance and hence it is often called dance frame. It is also said that each partner has their own dance frame. Although the handhold connection poses almost no restriction on body positions, it is quite helpful that the partners are aware of their dance frames, since this is instrumental in leading and following.
In promenade-style partner dancing there is no leader or follower, and the couple dance side-by-side maintaining a connection with each other through a promenade handhold. The leader dances traditionally to the left of the follower.
Some peoples have folk partner dances, where partners do not have any body contact at all, but there is still a kind of "call-response" interaction.
A popular form of partner dancing is slow dance.
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Generally, partner dance has taken place between a man and a woman. Before the 1950s, however, if there was not a sufficient number of partners of the opposite sex available, couples formed into pairs of the same sex.
Sometimes this is also done as part of a dance tradition. In traditional partner dances done within certain conservative cultures, such as in traditional Uyghur partner dance, dancing is often done with the same sex as a matter of respect for the conservative culture.
As learning both dance roles has become more common and social norms have changed, many events and competitions have removed restrictions.
Typically, in ballroom competitions today, same-sex partnerships are allowed up to the silver level (the third level in competition, after newcomer and bronze). However, these are comparatively rare.
It is thought[ by whom? ] that some partner dances actually developed with more relaxed gender roles. Prior to adoption by the mainstream, these dances did not actually normalize the man-lead/woman-follow paradigm.
This kind of dance involves dancing of three persons together: usually one man with two women or one woman with two men. In social dancing, double partnering is best known during times when a significant demographic disproportion happens between the two sexes. For example, this happens during wars: in the military, there is a lack of women, while among civilians, able dancers are mostly women. For example, during the Second World War, many advanced leaders learned to dance Lindy Hop with two followers.
Since the 1980s, double partner dance is often performed in Ceroc, Hustle, Salsa and Swing dance communities, experienced leaders leading two followers.
There are a number of folk dances that feature this arrangement. Among these are the Russian Troika and the Polish Trojak folk dances, where a man dances with two or more women. A Cajun dance with the name Troika is also known.
Ballroom dance is a set of European 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.
In partner dancing, connection is physical, non-verbal communication between dancers to facilitate synchronized or coordinated dance movements. Some forms of connection involve "lead/follow" in which one dancer directs the movements of the other dancer by means of non-verbal directions conveyed through a physical connection between the dancers. In other forms, connection involves multiple dancers without a distinct leader or follower. Connection refers to a host of different techniques in many types of partner dancing, especially those that feature significant physical contact between the dancers, including the Argentine Tango, Lindy Hop, Balboa, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Salsa, and other ballroom dances.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to dance:
In some types of partner dance, lead and follow are designations for the two dancers' roles in a dance pairing. The leader is responsible for guiding the couple and initiating transitions to different dance steps and, in improvised dances, for choosing the dance steps to perform. The leader communicates choices to the follower, and directs the follower by means of subtle physical and visual signals, thereby allowing the pair to be smoothly coordinated.
The Charleston is a dance named after the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson, which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one of the most popular hits of the decade. Runnin' Wild ran from 28 October 1923, through 28 June 1924. The peak year for the Charleston as a dance by the public was mid-1926 to 1927.
West Coast Swing is a partner dance with roots in 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.
Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular "swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that have survived beyond that era include Charleston, Balboa, Lindy Hop, and Collegiate Shag. Today, the best-known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, which originated in Harlem in the early 1930s. While the majority of swing dances began in African-American communities as vernacular African-American dances, some influenced swing-era dances, like Balboa, developed outside of these communities.
In partner dancing, closed position is a category of positions in which partners hold each other while facing at least approximately toward each other.
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 dances are dances that have social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competitive and erotic functions.
Western promenade dances are a form of partner dance traditionally danced to country-western music, and which are stylistically associated with American country and/or western traditions.
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.
In ballroom dancing, directions of progressive movement, in particular directions of steps, can be indicated either in relation to the room or in relation to the body position. Directions of turns, although there are only two of them, may also be indicated in several ways.
Merengue is a style of Dominican music and dance. Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic and is also important to national identity in the country. It is a type of danced walk and is accessible to a large variety of people with or without dance experience. The music of merengue draws influence from European and Afro-Cuban styles and mainly uses instruments like guitars, drums, and a charrasca or metal scraper. The dance originated as a rural dance and later became a ballroom dance. Merengue has three distinct sections: the paseo, the merengue proper, and the closing jaleo which includes improvisation.
The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England, with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others referring to Lancashire hornpipes in 1609 and 1613.
The basic step, basic figure, basic movement, basic pattern, or simply basic is the dance move that defines the character of a particular dance. It sets the rhythm of the dance; it is the default move to which a dancer returns, when not performing any other moves. More formally, it can be defined as a "rhythmic step pattern" in the form of a "consistent and recurring grouping of weight changes" between the feet which is rhythmic and repeated for the length of a song. For some dances it is sufficient to know the basic step performed in different handholds and dance positions to enjoy it socially.
Hungarian dance refers to the folk dances practised and performed by the Hungarians, both amongst the populations native to Hungary and its neighbours, and also amongst the Hungarian diaspora.
Osman Resul Taka was a Cham Albanian dancer and unclear personage from 19th century. The Dance of Osman Taka is named after him. His early life is not clear. He belongs to the Taka clan of Filiates, also known for Alush Taka, an Albanian patriot.
According to narrative sources, his name became well-known during the mid 19th century. He was probably a kachak or klepht fighting the Ottomans in Chameria region. Other sources connect him with the Albanian National Awakening of late 19th century. He was jailed in Yanina and was sentenced to death. When he was asked to give his final wish, he wanted to dance. The folk tradition says that his dance was so beautiful that the local Albanian gendarmes of the Ottoman army, did not execute him. After some days he was caught again and was killed in Konispol.
The promenade position is a dance position in ballroom and other dances. It is described differently in various dance categories.
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