Dance Styles In Latin America
Latin America has been the home for many a popular dance styles, their dances were typically paired dances, however the way they held each other varied from cultures and figures. These dances were known for their romances, which could be typically derived from the Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Rumanian). The three cultures which sculpted the art of dancing in Latin America are the European, African and the Indigenous cultures.
Here we have taken in to account some of the most popular styles of dancing and have given a brief history about it.
Samba
The austere slaves from Nigeria and Angola brought in their ritual dances, (which they so defiantly protected) which consisted of rolling on the floor, and touching the navels! This concept was seen to be peculiarly absurd and immoral to the cultured Europe that they passed a law forbidding it, later a fusion dance was evolved which consisted of the typical body roll and the cultured western plait's dance. The Rios embraced it and molded it into ballroom, and it was called as the graceful Brazilian dance, later it came to be known as the Samba.Princess Margaret fell in love with the art of Samba and popularized it during her period, which was then formalized by Margolie in the year 1956.
Rumba
Brought it by the African Negro Slaves, this dance emphasized the importance of body movements rather than feet, the name was derived from the popular dance band at that time "Rumboso Orquestra" The word means heap pile and 'rhum' means the popular liquor.
Pasodoble
Meaning "two steps" in Spanish was one of the popular Spanish folk dances that embarked on portrayal of various perspectives of the Spanish life. Different versions of the Pasodoble have come up, the most popular one being the dance with the Competition version wherein the typical portrayal of the bull and the man takes place.
Cha Cha
Two Cuban dances, both not in less popularity compared to other, Danzon and Montuno, were analyzed by the dance teacher Pierre Margolie, however the musicians had combined both of those dances to form a new one, and it appealed the dancers so much that they were combined and the originals were forgotten, the aforementioned dance teacher began teaching them as separate dances, and it rose to become the most popular dance in Europe.
Jive
Again dating its origins to the Negroes of USA, it was closely associated with war like steps, and the dance rose to prominence that competitions were waged on this type. This dance is parted into two sections, the first one being a pious walk by the couples holding hand in hand, suddenly followed by an exuberant movement and a wild dance. This dance however lost its popularity among the adults as they claimed it to be non progressive, and it disturbed the orderliness so prevalent in other forms of dances, however the youths who always sided anything opposite to the adults took it for instant liking.
Time immaterial, dance are said to bring out the innermost emotional nature of man and will continue to do so.
