Subject: rec.arts.dance FAQ (part 2/2)
Date: 12 Dec 1995 00:38:13 GMT
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and
.their answers) about practically all dance forms and issues,
.in particular pertaining to their discussion on the net. This should
.be read be anyone wishing to post on rec.arts.dance.
.Social, Competitive, Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep,
.Cha-Cha, Rumba, Jive, East Coast Swing, Samba, Mambo, Salsa, West
.Coast Swing, Hustle, Two-Step, Merengue, Paso Doble, Bolero, Polka,
.Jazz, Ballet, Folk Dancing


Archive-name: dance/faq/part2
Version: 1.11
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Maintainer: Victor Eijkhout <eijkhout@math.ucla.edu>
Last-modified: 20 November, 1995



SPECIFIC DANCE QUESTIONS (5.0)
------------------------------

  Questions about specific dances and their relations. 

So many different dances! How many exactly are there? (5.1)
-----------------------------------------------------------

  Here is a _partial_ listing. 

**Ballroom**

  Smooth: Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep Latin:
  Cha-Cha, Rhumba, Jive/East Coast Swing, Samba, Mambo Nightclub: West
  Coast Swing, Hustle, Nightclub/Ca. Two-Step Less frequent: Merengue,
  Paso Doble, Bolero, Polka, Peabody. 

**Country and Western:**

  Common competition dances are Two-Step, Waltz, Polka, East Coast Swing,
  West Coast Swing, Cha-Cha. Less common dances are Rhythm Two-Step,
  Triple Two-Step, Pony (also called Pony Swing), Schottische,
  Southern-style (`Sweetheart') Schottische, Shuffle, Houston Shuffle,
  Fort Worth Shuffle. There are too many line and pattern dances to
  mention. 

**Swing:**

  Most people know East Coast Swing and West Coast Swing. Related to the
  ECS are Jitterbug and Lindy Hop. Carolina Shag dancers don't consider
  themselves swing dancers, but there are many resemblances. Hustle is
  done to disco music. St Louis Shag and Balboa are old styles of swing.
  There are regional variations: DC Hand Dancing, St Louis Imperial
  Swing, Alcatraz, and many others. Further, Blues, Rock and Roll, Boogie
  Woogie. 

**Latin:**

  Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia. 

**Vintage:**

  Maxixe, One-Step, Turkey Trot, Charleston, Black Bottom. 

**Argentine Tango**

  In addition to the [Argentine] Tango, tangueros also dance, albeit less
  frequently, the Milonga (a predecessor to the Tango) and the Vals
  Cruzada (a Waltz with figures that resemble the Argentine Tango). 

What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? (5.2)
-------------------------------------------------------

  Here are some explanations about the relations between various dances. 

**American Style/International Style ballroom**


  Contemporary ballroom dancing comes in two major styles, American style
  and international style. American style was developed by the major U.S.
  studio chains, Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire, and by the independent
  U.S. studios. International style was developed by the British,
  particularly through the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD)
  and the [can't remember] (IDTA). While most of the world uses int'l
  style exclusively, both styles are popular in North America.(HN) 

**American Smooth/International Standard**


  Although American style smooth and international style standard
  (formerly `modern') are taught very differently, the styles are very
  similar. The most obvious difference is that int'l standard includes
  quickstep, which is not part of American smooth. The other major
  difference is that int'l style permits figures in closed position only,
  while American style allows open positions and even solo actions.
  Beyond that, the main differences between the two styles are in
  emphasis rather than result, and except for quickstep it's reasonable
  to think of int'l standard as a subset of American smooth. 

**American Rhythm/International Latin (or Latin American)**


  Compared to smooth/standard, rhythm/Latin has relatively little
  overlap. While each category has cha cha, rumba and a swing dance,
  int'l has samba and paso doble, while American has bolero -- another,
  slower rumba dance -- and mambo. The rumba dances are dissimilar, even
  in their basic counts, with steps on counts 1, 3, 4 for American and 2,
  3, 4 for int'l. Most importantly, the hip motion differs: in American
  style, one steps onto a bent leg; in int'l style, onto a straight leg.
  (HN) 

**Salsa, Mambo**


  Where did the term Salsa come from? I read in Latin Beat magazine that
  Chano Pozo and some of the others used to call out Salsa (which means
  sauce as in hot sauce) during the really hot jams. Another story is
  that like a good sauce, they added more and more ingredients from the
  jazz influence that it mutated the danzon roots) Remember this stuff
  was called latin jazz in the 40's & 50's. When Latin music underwent a
  resurgence, in the 80's rather than reviving a dead horse, the movers
  and shakers gave it the term Salsa and the dance caught fire. 

  In theory Salsa and Mambo are really the same dance. They are both
  based on the Clave beat, yet the feel is totally different. Musically
  it's still Mambo yet mutated. When you hear the Salsa bands they are
  usually playing slower than the bands of 10 years ago. Listen to El
  Gran Combo (the #1 Puerto Rican band for decades) their stuff is really
  fast. Listen to Niche, Oscar DLeon, Hansel Martinez. They will
  occasionally play something fast but usually its slower than Mambo. 

  What's the difference step wise? Primarily, which country's style you
  are doing. Columbians though Salvadorans dance more side to side like
  an off time Samba whisk which is because of the Cumbia influence.
  Cubans and Puerto Ricans dance more forward & back which comes from the
  Mambo influence. All the young Salsa kids in the clubs are doing more
  of a nightclub twostep (yes Buddy Schwimmer's) version than anything
  else. Why? Because Salsa is a street dance, the best dancer in a club
  sets the style, creates the moves and everyone copies them. 1) Mambo
  originated in Cuba but it was discovered in Mexico where Perez Prado
  made it famous. 2) The best dancers dance Mambo on the 2 beat not
  because the beat is there but because they dance their hips on the 1
  and fall into the 2 on a forward beat. The salsa dancers still use the
  body but not in the same fashion as one would in Mambo. 3) Most Cubans
  dance on 2, and from what I have heard most Puerto Ricans do as well.
  Those that break on one are usually untrained dancers or what many
  people call foot dancers. Puerto Rican style looks different from Cuban
  style with a lowered shoulder into the break while Cuban dancers dance
  more upright, but otherwise pattern wise they still do the fwd-back
  Mambo pattern. 

  Having trained in both Mambo and Salsa, I dance Mambo when the music
  has an edge to it. Mambo steps are cut. By that I mean Mambo has a
  quick feet-hold feeling while Salsa has a undulating feeling more like
  an ocean wave. While mambo is a stop in the middle dance, many salsa
  dancers close feet on the end of the pattern (where most mambo dancers
  would rock fwd or back). An advanced salsa basic is close, fwd, fwd
  pause, close back back pause. the feet have much less tone, foot arch,
  but the feet are much more active because they are always either
  flicking or dragging the slow. 

  Salsa dancers invariably break on 1 or 3. Untrained dancers hear the
  strong beat on 1 and step on it. The more latin they are, the more they
  break on 3. Why? They usually hear it as SQQ because of the dead 2
  beat. If you are dancing SQQ, to dance a slow you don't do Q,hold2,QQ -
  you would move through the 1, landing on 2, which makes it a slow, and
  then do QQ on 34. (Yes that puts the feet on 2,3,4). (EC) 

**Tango and Argentine Tango**


  The forms of Tango are like stages of a marriage. The American Tango is
  like the beginning of a love affair, when you are both very romantic
  and on your best behaviour. The Argentine Tango is when you are in the
  heat of things and all kinds of emotions are flying: passion, anger,
  humor. The International Tango is like the end of the marriage, when
  you are staying together for the sake of the children. (Barbara Garvey
  in the Smithsonian Magazine.) 

**East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing**


  These are the most popular types of swing. East Coast Swing has a
  rotating character, where the couple has no fixed relation to the room.
  In West Coast Swing the follower stays in a narrow slot on the floor;
  the leader stays in the center of the slot and steps out of the way to
  let the follower pass. Additionally, in WCS it is more common to have
  eight-count (or even longer) moves than ECS. (VE) 

  West Coast Swing is a dance art form which imposes only a few dance
  structures while allowing and even encouraging each dancer to express
  his or her own unique personal interpreta- tion of this sexy and
  soulful dance. You can make this dance a vehicle for your self
  expression. The degree of magic, excite- ment and wonder you create is
  up to you.(TH) 

**Eastern Swing, East Coast Swing, Western Swing, West Coast Swing**


  Eastern Swing is occasionally used as a synonym for East Coast Swing.
  The name was originally used by the Arthur Murray studios. Western
  Swing was the name originally given in the late'40s to what is now
  called West Coast Swing. The name change came about to avoid confusion
  with country and western, in particular Western Swing, a style of music
  related to both country and jazz, which was popular under that name
  already in the'40s. (The star then was Bob Wills, current examples of
  Western Swing are Asleep at the Wheel.) (VE) 

**East Coast Swing, Lindy, Jitterbug, Jive**


  Lindy Hop is the precursor of other styles of swing. It came up in the
  Savoy ballroom in Harlem, and is presumably named after Charles
  Lindbergh, whose nickname was Lindy. The basic pattern in the Lindy is
  8 counts long, but there are many 6 count patterns. The Jitterbug is a
  slightly later variant, named after a Cab Calloway song of 1934. The
  word jive comes from jazz music, but the dance of this name is the
  British codification of the Jitterbug. It is the swing dance in the
  International ballroom style. (VE) 

**West Coast Swing, Whip, Push**


  Styles of WCS differ, depending on where you are, or what kind of music
  you dance to. It could be said that Houston Whip and Dallas Push are in
  that respect the Texas interpretations of the WCS. 

  Texans do distinguish between Whip and Push. However, there is as much
  or more variation from teacher to teacher or studio to studio within
  one city as there is between the cities. 

  The *primary* difference is that traditional Houston Whip uses the
  hesitation frequently on 1, whereas Push usually does not. Once again,
  this is a generalization and can not be considered a universal truth. 

  The other main difference is that in Houston Whip, the hip motion is
  more circular, created by the hooking of the left foot on beat 5, also
  known as a loop triple, whereas in Push, the emphasis is on a more
  straight-line body motion (the rock step). Once again, this is a
  generalization. 

  One thing you will find about traditional Whip/Push is that it is VERY
  conservative of the man's motions. Nothing is extra. The man basically
  only moves his arm as much as is necessary to produce the lead - no
  more. 

  Here are some points where WCS and Push/Whip differ. 

  The Push and Whip put more emphasis on complicated patterns, where WCS
  accents more footwork and body motion. WCS usually sticks to 6 and
  8-count patterns, where Push/Whip can have patterns of arbitrary
  lengths, for instance 12-count whip patterns created by repeating a
  middle section of a normal 8-count whip. Also, Push/Whip utilizes a
  large number of 4-beat double spin patterns (Walk-walk, spin-spin),
  which are not part of traditional WCS, although most national-level
  competitors have adopted these patterns. 

  Also, some people claim that in WCS the follower is allowed to do a
  rock (back) step coming out of closed position moves such as the
  starter step, where Push/Whip always has the follower stepping forward. 

  Furthermore, in WCS the leader and follower share the slot, whereas in
  Push/Whip the leader moves across the slot. This is most clear in the
  basic closed whip, where Push/Whip uses a'J-lead' that has the leader
  stepping to the side.(SA,VE) 

**Two-step, Texas two-step, Rhythm two-step, Double two-step, Triple two-step, Nightclub two-step, Disco two-step**


  Two-step and Texas Two-step usually refer to the Quick-Quick Slow-Slow
  Two-step, done to fairly fast music (at least 170bpm). 

  The terms Double Two-step and Triple Two-step are both applied to a
  progressive dance with the Triple-step Triple-step Walk-walk rhythm.
  This is sometimes called Progressive Swing because it is like a
  traveling East Coast Swing; the names Houston Shuffle, Swing on the
  Move, and Norfolk are also used for it. This dance is mostly done from
  Kansas to Texas with some of the surrounding states, music is slower
  than for Texas Two-step: typically 120bpm. 

  The Rhythm Two-step is almost stationary: the rhythm is Step forward,
  Touch, Step backward, Touch, Walk Walk. It is almost exclusively done
  in Arizona. Its music is in tempo between Triple Two-step and Texas
  Two-step. 

  Nightclub two-step (also called California two-step, or Disco two-step)
  has nothing to do with any of the above two-steps. It is a dance with a
  4-count pattern, done to slow pop music. You can find a good
  description on
  <ftp://ftp.std.com/customers/nonprofits/dance/topics/nightclub-2step.txt>.

  Quite confusingly, among certain swing and hustle dancers, this dance
  is simply known as'two-step'. 

**Schottische and Southern-style or `Sweetheart' Schottische**


  Several dances carry the name Schottische. The original Scottish folk
  dances have an 8 or 16 count basic pattern. The country/western variant
  of the Schottische has a 32-count pattern (6 grapevines followed by 4
  scoot/hops) and is done with partners on opposite feet, even though the
  basic position is side by side. Occasionally the man syncopates to get
  on the same foot as the woman. The Southern-style Schottische has a
  26-count pattern (4 grapevines, 2 step/scoots, 2 walks, 2 step/scoots),
  and is done with the partners on the same foot. It is probably an
  invented dance, but the origin is obscure. Linda DeFord denies doing
  it. 

**Foxtrot, Slow Fox, Disco Fox**


  Slow Fox is used in Europe as synonym for Foxtrot. Disco Fox is used in
  Germany as another name for Hustle. Slowfox is quite different from
  American Style (=Magic Rhythm or Bronze level) Foxtrot, which is
  (rhythmwise and stepwise) a lot closer to Quickstep than Slowfox is.
  Slowfox, on the other hand, is closer to Silver and Gold level American
  Foxtrot. 

**Waltz, English waltz, Viennese waltz, Slow waltz**


  Waltz is being done in many types of dancing, and there are differences
  between each type, mostly in tempo and style. In Ballroom dancing the
  waltz is a relatively slow dance with a tempo around 100bpm. It is
  sometimes called English or slow waltz. The Country waltz is similar to
  American style ballroom waltz in tempo and figures. It adheres very
  strictly to the line of dance. In Ballroom there is also the Viennese
  waltz, which is much faster. Folk-type waltzes are usually fast too,
  and the character of their moves is different. For instance, the
  originally Finnish Humppa is a fast waltz with a bouncy character. 

**St Louis Shag, Carolina Shag**


  These dances have abolutely nothing to do with each other. St Louis
  Shag is an old swing dance with an 8-count basic. It is related to
  Lindy and Charleston. Carolina Shag is a later development; it
  resembles a slotted East Coast Swing. Carolina Shag dancers (who call
  their dance simply'Shag') mostly don't consider themselves swing
  dancers. St Louis Shag has some popularity among West Coast Swing
  dancers, who call this dance simply'Shag'. 


What is a State Dance? (5.3)
----------------------------

  Various states in the US have adopted a dance as their official State
  Dance. In California it is the West Coast Swing, in Texas the Two-Step
  (known as Texas Two-Step), in Wisconsin the Polka, and in South
  Carolina the Carolina Shag. Modern Western Square Dancing is the State
  Dance of Maryland. 

What is the right speed for dance X? (5.4)
------------------------------------------

  It is not the speed, but the feel of the music that counts. Still, most
  dances feel most comfortable in a certain tempo range. This is counted
  in Measures Per Minute (mpm) or in Beats Per Minute (bpm). A measure
  contains two beats for Samba, Polka and (in most cases) Paso Doble,
  three for Waltz (both slow and Viennese), and four for the rest of the
  dances. 

  Counting bpm and mpm speeds is discussed in section (5.5). 

  For ballroom competition, the current officially sanctioned tempi (in
  mpm) are: 

  Type:              | International | American | Pro-Am |
  according to:      |  NDCA   IDCB  |          | Bronze |
  -------------------+---------------+----------+--------+
  Waltz              |  28-31   30   |  28-30   | 30-32  |
  Viennese Waltz     |  56-60   60   |  54-56   | 54-58  |
  Tango              |  32-34   33   |  30-32   | 30-32  |
  Foxtrot            |  28-30   28   |  30-32   | 30-34  |
  Quickstep          |  50-52   52   |          |        |
  Peabody            |               |  60-62   | 60-62  |
  Cha Cha            |  32-34   32   |  28-30   | 30-32  |
  Samba              |  48-50   50   |  54-56   | 54-56  |
  Paso Doble         |  60-62   62   |  58-60   | 58-60  |
  Rumba              |  27-29   27   |    32**  | 32-36**|
  Bolero             |               |    24    | 24-26  |
  Mambo              |               |    47    | 48-51  |
  Merengue           |               |  29-32   | 29-32  |
  Jive               |  44-52** 44   |          |        |
  East Coast Swing   |               |  36-40   | 34-36  |
  West Coast Swing   |               |  28-32   | 28-32  |
  Polka              |               |  60-62   | 60-62  |
  Hustle             |               |  28-30   | 28-30  |
  Nightclub Two-Step |               |  16-22*  |        |

  Nightclub two-step is not currently danced in competition; the tempo
  range is a recommendation. These tempi are generally considered to be
  high. 

  For country/western, here are the tempo ranges, as can be found in the
  1995 rules of the UCWDC <http://www.cais.com/ucwdc/rules.html>: 

  Universal dance categories: 

  Two Step         180-212
  Waltz....         90-112
  Polka....        116-136
  Cha cha...        92-116
  West coast swing.108-136
  East coast swing.140-164

  Regional dance categories: 

  Shuffle...          124-148
  Southwest shuffle.  100-128
  Triple two step.    108-132
  Schottische         120-144
  Southern style Sch. 140-164
  Rhythm two step     140-168
  Pony swing          208-236


How do you count bpms? (5.5)
----------------------------

  Some people count the beats in 15 seconds, and multiply that by 4. This
  method is quite inaccurate, because you're likely to start and end
  somewhere in the middle of a beat. In the worst case, your count can be
  almost 8 beats per minute off. Therefore it is better to count for a
  whole minute. The only problem with this is that some songs have breaks
  that may not be in the rhythm. Another technique is to take a metronome
  and synchronise that with the music. This gives problems with some
  older music that was recorded without a click-track, making the tempo
  uneven. 

  With a stopwatch and a calculator you can do the following. Start the
  stopwatch on the first beat of a measure and count to 40 beats (that
  is, stop timing on the start of the 41st beat). Take that total and
  divide 2400 by it (including the decimal point) and the answer is the
  bpm down to the tenths. 

  40 beats=18.91 secs. 2400 divided by 18.91=126.9 bpm 

  If counting to forty is too much for you, count eleven beats (that is,
  a ten-beat gap), and divide this time into 600, i.e., 4.61 seconds
  gives 600/4.61=130 bpm. 

  Instead of using a calculator, you can also precalculate a table. For
  instance, you compute the times for 29.5 and 30.5 measures per minute,
  and every time that falls in between will count as 30mpm. This can also
  be done for bpm, of course. 

  The problem with the calculator methods is that they depend on how
  precise you can click the stopwatch on the beat. A better solution
  would be to record a number of clicks, and draw a least-square fit
  through them. 

  Here are two bpm counters for the Apple Macintosh: 

  ftp://math.ucla.edu/pub/eijkhout/dance/bpm.hqx
  ftp://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive/Archive/app/mac-bpm/212.hqx 

  (BC,GL,MG,VE) 

What's this about Cha-Cha breaking on '2'? (5.6)
------------------------------------------------

  If you listen carefully to authentic Cha-Cha music, you will hear clear
  accents (played on the congas) on the four-and-one beats. (Note:
  nowadays Cha-Cha is sometimes danced to disco or country music, where
  such accents do not occur.) This is where you do the cha-cha-cha steps,
  and that places the break (or rockstep) on the second beat of every
  measure. This beat is weak, unaccented, and correspondingly the break
  is not a strong step. 

  Also read
  <ftp://ftp.std.com/nonprofits/dance/latin-dance/chacha-rhythm.txt>. 

Aren't Rumba's supposed to be slow? (5.7)
-----------------------------------------

  Rumba, as taught in ballroom studios, is a slow dance. For
  instance,'Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps', on the Strictly Ballroom
  soundtrack, is 102bpm. But the same song executed by Xavier Cugat is
  132bpm, Cuban Pete claims to be'the king of the rumba beat' at mambo
  tempo. 

  Here is a partial explanation of this confusion. 

  The word rumba comes from the spanish word rumbear which means to
  party. The rumba as we know it is more directly related to the bolero
  or even more directly to the Cuban danzon which was slow. If you see
  the movies of the'30s and'40s that featured rumba (I remember one with
  Carmen Miranda), you would be surprised to see how fast Rumba was. A
  Cuban musicologist once explained that there were actually 7 primary
  forms of rumba. Each one being not only different rhythmically but
  tempo wise. If memory serves me, Danzon, bolero, guajira, guaracha,
  son, rumba, and beguine. Many dance albums of the'50s and'60s list
  these rhythms after the song titles. 

  Arthur Murray watered down the rumba for the masses. In his or his
  wife's autobiography I remember the story explained how Arthur didn't
  believe HONKYS would ever want to move their hips (or could) like
  latinos therefore the box version was created. (Which just happened to
  fit his interrelated system of teaching.) (EC) 

How do you count Hustle? (5.8)
------------------------------

  Hustle is taught with two different counts: "one two-and three", or
  "and-one two three". Either way is taught by reputable teachers, and
  basically there is no difference once you get moving. However, there
  are a few arguments why the 12&3 method is slightly better to start off
  the dance. (1) You start on the beat of the music, instead of before
  it. (2) The &1 motion takes the form of some sort of rockstep for the
  follower. This is deceptive since, once you're moving, there is no
  rockstep for the follower. In fact the 3&1 motion is a coaster step,
  requiring much less of a lead than bringing the follower forward in
  West Coast Swing. (3) With an 123& count, the leader starts on the
  right foot, and the follower on the left, which is unusual. (VE) 

What is swing rhythm? Shuffle rhythm? Jive rhythm? (5.9)
--------------------------------------------------------

  All three terms, swing, shuffle, and jive, come from jazz music. They
  refer to the subdivision of the basic beat in two unequal parts.
  Whereas early jazz (ragtime and dixieland) used a division in straight
  eighth notes, the music of the so-called Swing Era (basically the
  thirties; for the perfect example of such music, listen to Benny
  Goodman's Live at Carnegie Hall 1938) used a subdivision that was in
  the ratio of 2:1. 

  The fact that such a division can be viewed as two notes out of a
  triplet does not mean that the exact triplet division was the basis for
  this rhythm. Rather, it is the swing feel that is essential, and melody
  instruments will occasionally achieve this feel more through phrasing
  and accenting notes, rather than through the exact positioning.
  Conversely, a drummer will often play a division that is closer to a
  3:1 ratio, although this one too is not necessarily played precisely.
  It is mostly the rhythm section (bass and drums, maybe other percussion
  instruments, and maybe augmented by guitar or piano) that define the
  swing feel for as far as dancing is concerned. 

  Another way of seeing that no exact division is implied, is by noting
  that melody and rhythm instruments rarely fill in the intermediate
  subdivisions of the beat. When they do so, they mostly play a triplet. 

  Confusing the matter is that most swing music was never precisely
  notated. Lead sheets were either written with a straight eighths
  division (and sometimes the confusing note was added that this was to
  be played with'triplet feel'), or as the combination of a dotted eighth
  and a sixteenth note. None of these interpretations is the sole truth. 

  After the swing era, the matter of subdivision of the beat becomes much
  more complicated. However, the 2:1 division persists in what musicians
  call the shuffle (or'rock shuffle') rhythm. Again, the drum often plays
  a slightly more pronounced rhythm, if not quite a 3:1 division. The
  melody instruments do stick fairly closely to the 2:1 division. At slow
  tempos (for instance in blues music, but also in songs such as'Stuck
  With You' by Huey Lewis), there is often a tendency to fill in the
  intermediate division. Many guitar riffs in blues music (for instance
  the famous'Dust my Broom' by Elmore James) really use a 12/8 rhythm. At
  high tempos (160-180 bpm) such music is used for the International
  style swing dance, the Jive. 

  Music with a shuffle division of the beat often feels faster than music
  with straight eighth notes of the same bpm count. (VE) 

  It is often claimed that music used for Jive has a rhythm consisting of
  a dotted eigth followed by a sixteenth. This is refuted by John Patillo
  in the article "Giving birth to Triplets" in Dance Beat of June 1995. 

  Another story about the exact nature of swing rhythm can be found in
  <http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Info/People/aswin/SwingDancing/swing_definition.html>.


I thought this song was an X-rhythm. Someone just called it a Y-rhythm! (5.10)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Many songs are recorded by different artists, who can play them in
  vastly different ways. The best recent example in pop music is Eric
  Clapton's cover of his own 197? song "Layla:" the original version was
  a fast rock song -- not appropriate for any current partner dance --
  while his 199? cover is a *very* slow, bluesy west coast swing. Other
  notable examples include the Columbia Orchestra's tango cover of
  Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean," Madonna's 199? hustle cover of the
  blues standard "Fever," the samba version of the Champs' "Tequila" on
  the "Strictly Ballroom" soundtrack, and Wilson Pickett's west coast
  swing version of the Christmas standard "Silver Bells," which is
  usually a waltz. (HN) 

What is New Vogue? (5.11)
-------------------------

  New Vogue originated from both Old Time and Ballroom. Old time are
  "sequence" dances. New Vogue uses the same type of music and everyone
  dance the same routine of steps. They are allowed to vary hand styling
  to suit their personality. New Vogues absorbes some of the styles from
  ballroom dances. 

  My teacher maintained that New Vogue is just an Australian way of
  calling English old time dancing. He is so Australian, but he insisted
  that New Vogues dances are essentially old time dances invented in
  Australia in modern time. I find new Vogue so much easier to learn
  comparing to ballroom because there is a fixed sequence of steps that
  people do. It is harder at first to pick up all the 30+ steps required,
  but after that it simply flows into styling and enjoyment. 

  The other thing is that there is no longer a restriction on special
  music for New Vogue dances. These days we use any music we find
  appropriate instead of the classy music specially composed for sequence
  dance. 

  New Vogue is very popular in Australia and New Zealand and is included
  in all dancing competitions both amateur and professional. It is danced
  to all sorts of music. The foxtrot new vogue dances include - Merilyn,
  Charmaine, Carousel, Excelsior. The tangos are the Tangoette, La Bomba,
  Tango Terrific (a new addition). Waltzes danced to VW style of music
  include the Swing Waltz, Tracey Leigh Waltz, the Lucielle. There are
  also marches included - the Evening Three Step, The Gypsy Tap,
  Militare, Imperial Two Step. There are also some modern waltz ones
  which are only done socially - the Serenade, the Dream Waltz are
  probably the most popular. There are also cha chas and rumbas done in
  New Vogue style only socially as well. 

  There are about 350 or so different New Vogue sequence dances that have
  been invented over the years. Some fade away never to be seen again. 

  The majority are 32 bars long and because they are sequence dances they
  are very easy to teach. Some of the more simple dances are 16 bars
  long. As for the patterns they change quite dramatically from one style
  to the next and from one dance to the next. (GM,VDM) 

Who does "Love Potion #9"? (5.12)
---------------------------------

  The version of "Love Potion #9" that is currently very popular with
  both swing and ballroom dancers, is by Hansel Martinez, and it is on
  his album "Latino Americano" (Sony Discos 1992, cassette label number
  is DIC-80806, other media unknown). 

  Now for the confusing part. Martinez' nickname "El Gato" is mentioned
  rather prominently on the album cover. Also, there is an album, by
  Martinez, called "El Gato", but this does emphatically not contain
  "Love Potion #9". Furthermore, it seems that through a cataloguing
  error of Sony you can actually get the "El Gato" album when you order
  "Latino Americano". The buyer beware. (HN) 

How old is that dance? (5.13)
-----------------------------

  The origins of many dances are unclear, and often there aren't really
  any origins: dances often grow out of each other. This section is
  pieced together from anecdotal material by still living dance teachers,
  and'The Complete Book of Ballroom Dancing', Stephenson & Iaccarino,
  Double Day, New York 1980. 

**Foxtrot**


  It is fairly certain that this dance dates to 1914, when Harry Fox
  invented it for a stage routine. It became so popular that he started
  teaching it as a social dance. The main difference with respect to
  earlier dances was its alternation of quick and slow steps. 

**Polka**


  The Polka is originally a Czech peasant dance. There is a story that it
  was invented by a peasant girl, one Sunday. By 1833 it had reached
  Prague, and from there it went on to Paris, the rest of the continent
  and the US. In England it never became very popular. After the second
  world war, Polish immigrants in the US adopted the dance, although the
  name has nothing to do with Poland: Pulka is Czech for'half-step'. In
  states such as Minnesota polka is still very popular. 

**Swing**


  The precise origins of swing are not clear. In the 1910s there was a
  dance called the Texas Tommy, that according to Craig Hutchinson was
  the precursor of it all. After that, there is the Lindy Hop which
  originated in the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. The name refers to Charles
  Lindbergh's "hop" across the ocean in 1927. From this evolved the
  Jitterbug. This name appears in a Cab Calloway song of the early 1930s.
  Lindy and Jitterbug evolved into East Coast Swing and Jive. Where
  exactly West Coast Swing became a separate dance is not exactly clear,
  but happened somewhere in the 1940s. Skippy Blair was teaching what was
  essentially WCS (albeit called Western Swing) in the 50s. 

**Tango**


  The tango originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the nineteenth
  century. A form of this tango was introduced in Spain and France at the
  end of the 19th century, and in England at the start of the 20th.
  Maurice Mouvet, a New Yorker of Belgian descent, learned this tango in
  Paris, and introduced it in New York in 1911, where it became an
  instant hit. 

**Texas Two-Step**


  Traditionally, cowboy dancing seems to have used a triple-step rhythm,
  or rather, step-close-step, which makes two steps. This is the same
  two-step that was popular as a ballroom dance already in the end of the
  19th century. The current QQSS two-step seems to have originated in
  Houston, Texas, where a former ballroom teacher (who seems to have been
  a considerably better businessman than dance teacher) started a fad of
  dancing foxtrot patterns to country music. This happened around 1980,
  and the resulting dance scene was captured in the movie Urban Cowboy
  (John Travolta). [This story is told by various people, among others
  Dave Getty.] 

**Waltz**


  The waltz was originally an Austrian peasant dance, and it was already
  danced at the Hapsburg court in the 17th century. The current waltz
  grew out of a figure in the contredance. By the start of the nineteenth
  century it was becoming accepted in high society, though not without
  opposition from dance masters, clergy, and other guardians of public
  morals. 

I need dance music for a wedding. Any suggestions? (5.14)
---------------------------------------------------------

  The traditional first dance of the newly-wed couple is a waltz.
  However, if you think a waltz'is not really you', then there are plenty
  other possibilities. An extensive list of waltzes and other
  appropriately romantic songs can be found at 

  ftp://ftp.std.com/nonprofits/dance/music/wedding-music.txt
  http://www.math.ucla.edu/~eijkhout/text/wedding.txt
  ftp://math.ucla.edu/pub/eijkhout/dance/wedding.txt 

APPENDIX (6.0)
--------------

  This section tries to explain a few of the ways you can access net
  resources. If you want to learn more, consult a book about the
  Internet. For novices to the Internet, the following are a good
  introduction:'The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog' by Ed Krol,
  published by O'Reilly & Asscociates, and'The Internet Companion' by
  Tracy LaQuey, published by Addison-Wesley. 

Mailing lists (6.1)
-------------------

  Any message you send to the list gets resent to everyone who subscribes
  to the list. If you answer to such a message, your answer is likely to
  go to everyone on the list too. Make sure that you do not send
  administrative messages such as `unsubscribe me' to the list: usually
  there is another address (for instance the listserver) where that has
  to be sent. 

ftp (6.2)
---------

  Some computers allow you to connect to them anonymously. You then have
  a limited set of commands available, mostly for transferring files to
  your own computer. Take for example the Dancers' Archive; section
  (2.6). You type on your machine `ftp ftp.std.com'. You will get a
  prompt for your name (type `anonymous') and a password (type your full
  electronic address `yourname@yourmachine.wherever'). You can then find
  the files in some standard location, that you go to by typing, in this
  case `cd /ftp/nonprofits/dance'. Typing `help' will give you the
  available commands, which are pretty much a subset of Unix. You get
  files with the command `get'. 

FTP by email (6.3)
------------------

  (Quoted from <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/faq>) 

  It is possible to get files from a site by using a general mail server.
  Many sites have their own servers. If you're on BITNET, ask your
  sysadmin or technical support group about PUCC (or send mail with a
  body of'help' (no quotes, and nothing else) to BITFTP@PUCC,
  BITFTP@PLEARN or BITFTP@DEARN (known on the Internet as
  bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu, bitftp@plearn.edu.pl and bitftp@vm.gmd.de
  respectively) 

  For non-BITNET sites, try using DEC's mail server. Send mail to
  ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com with'help' (no quotes) in the body of the
  letter. You should NOT send a blank letter, commands are not optional. 

  Other servers that might be closer and provide the same service are: 

  - ftpmail@cs.uow.edu.au (Australia)
  - ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de (Germany)
  - ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr (France)
  - ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk (Great Britain)
  - ftpmail@ieunet.ie (Ireland)
  - ftpmail@lth.se (Sweden)
  - ftpmail@sunsite.unc.edu (USA)
  - ftpmail@ftp.uu.net (USA, message relayed to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com)
  - ftpmail@gallifrey.ucs.uoknor.edu (USA)
  - ftpmail@seds.lpl.arizona.edu (USA)

  Actually, you are urged to use one of the above instead of
  decwrl.dec.com. That machine is very overloaded as it is the most
  widely known ftpmailer. So, lift the burden and use (faster!) closer
  machines!!! 

  Requests for the ftpmail servers are of the form: 

  open <site>
  cd <directory>
  dir                              # To obtain a directory listing
  get <file>                       # To retrieve a file
  quit

  Example: 

  open rtfm.mit.edu
  cd pub/usenet/news.answers/ftp-list
  get faq
  quit

The World Wide Web (6.4)
------------------------

  If you have a good net connection, and a Hypertext browser program,
  such Mosaic, you can access so-called `web sites' or `web pages'. The
  locations of these pages look something like 
  ftp://ftp.std.com/ftp/nonprofits/dance/

  This is called an URL, and they are explained next. You can use Mosaic
  or NetScape (or Lynx or MacWeb or...) to access web sites. 

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) (6.5)
--------------------------------------

  This section reprinted (and slightly edited) with permission from
  TidBITS#260/23-Jan-95. Author is Adam C. Engst. TidBITS is an
  electronic newsletter for Macintosh users. Email info@tidbits.com for
  more information. 

  URL generally stands for Uniform Resource Locator, although some people
  switch "uniform" for "universal." Despite what I've heard from one
  source, I have never heard anyone pronounce URL as "earl;" instead,
  everyone I've talked to spells out the letters. 

  URLs constitute the most common and efficient method of telling people
  where to find objects available via FTP, the World-Wide Web, and other
  Internet services. I say "objects" because you can specify URLs not
  only for files and Web pages, but also for stranger things, such as
  email addresses, Telnet sessions, and Usenet news postings. 

  A URL uniquely specifies the location of an object on the Internet,
  using the three main bits of information that must be used in order to
  access any given object. First is the type of server making the object
  available, be it an FTP, Gopher, or World-Wide Web server. Second comes
  the machine on which the resource lives. Third and finally, there's the
  full pathname to the object. This description is a slight
  oversimplification, but the point I want to make is that URLs are an
  attempt to provide a consistent way to reference objects on the
  Internet. 

**Client/Server**


  If you see a URL that starts with "ftp" you know the file specified in
  the rest of the URL is available via an FTP server, which means you
  could use an FTP client, such as Anarchie or Fetch, to retrieve it. If
  the URL starts with "gopher", a Gopher client like TurboGopher could
  access the file on the Gopher server in question. If the URL starts
  with "http", it's on a Web server, so you might use a Web browser like
  Mosaic, MacWeb or Netscape. Other server types used in URLs include
  "news", "mailto", "telnet", and "wais", although they're less common
  than FTP and Web URLs. 

  You can use a Web browser to access most of the URL types above,
  although Web browsers are not necessarily ideal for anything but
  information on the World-Wide Web itself. Web browsers work pretty well
  for accessing files on Gopher servers, and via gateways to WAIS
  databases, but FTP via a Web browser is clumsy (and may fail entirely
  with certain types of files, such as self-extracting archives). 

**Machine**


  After the URL type comes a colon (:) and two slashes (//). These
  characters separate the server type from the second part of common
  URLs. This second part is the name of the Internet machine that
  contains the object you're seeking. In some rare circumstances, you may
  need to use a username and password in the URL as well. A URL with a
  username and password might look like this:
  ftp://username:password@domain.name/pub/ 

**Path**


  The last part of the URL gives the path to the directory of the object
  you're looking for, and it may also give the name of a specific file.
  This is separated from the machine name by a slash (/). When used with
  WAIS or various other protocols that don't simply point at files, the
  path may specify other types of information. You don't have to specify
  the path with some URLs, such as FTP or Gopher URLs, if you're only
  connecting to the top level of the site. 

  If an FTP or Gopher URL ends with a slash, that means it points at a
  directory and not a file. If it doesn't end with a slash, it may or may
  not point at a directory. If it's not obvious from the last part of the
  path, there's no good way of telling until you go there. Since most Web
  servers enable the creation of some sort of default.html or index.html
  file to be served in the absence of a specific file in the URL, it's a
  bit less important for Web users to realize whether or not they're
  specifying a file or a directory. 

**Using URLs**


  All of these details aside, how do you use URLs? Your mileage may vary,
  but I use them in three basic ways. First, if I see them in email or in
  a Usenet posting, I often copy and paste them into Anarchie (if they're
  FTP URLs) or Netscape or MacWeb (if they are other types). I do this
  because copying the URL into the appropriate client is the easiest way
  to retrieve a file or connect to a site with a MacTCP-based Internet
  connection. In NewsWatcher 2.0b24 (and InterNews for FTP), you can
  simplify the process by command-clicking URLs to have them resolved by
  the appropriate FTP (Anarchie or Fetch), Gopher (TurboGopher 2.0b7), or
  Web (MacWeb 1.00A3 or Netscape 1.0N) client program. MacWeb 1.00A3 can
  also use other programs to resolve URLs more appropriately, and
  finally, the next version of Eudora (perhaps only the commercial
  version) will sport this feature as well. 

  Sometimes I manually decode the URL to figure out which program to use
  and where to go. This method takes more work, but sometimes pays off in
  the end. You can put a screw in the wall with a hammer, but it's not
  the best tool for the job. 

  Third and finally (and this is where you come in), when I want to point
  someone at a specific Internet resource or file, I provide a URL. URLs
  are unambiguous, and although a bit ugly in running text, easier to use
  than attempting to spell out what they mean. 

  Consider the example below: 

  ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/tidbits/issues/1995/TidBITS#260_23-Jan-95.etx

  To verbally explain the information in that URL, I would have to say
  something like: "Using an FTP client program, connect to the anonymous
  FTP site <ftp.tidbits.com>. Change directories into the
  /pub/tidbits/issues/1995/ directory, and once you're there, retrieve
  the file TidBITS#260_23-Jan-95.etx." 

  The URL enables me to avoid the convoluted (and boring) language above;
  frankly, URLs are in such common use on the Internet you might as well
  get used to seeing them now. And for those of you who recommend files
  to get via FTP or sites to browse with a Web browser, please use URLs
  since they make life easier for everyone. 

  If you try to retrieve a file or connect to a Web site and are
  unsuccessful, chances are either you've typed the URL slightly wrong,
  the server is down temporarily, or the file no longer exists. If an FTP
  URL doesn't work, try removing the file name from the last part of the
  URL and look in the directory that the original file lived in for an
  updated file. 

  If, after all this, you'd like to learn more about the technical
  details behind the URL specifications, check out:
  http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/Addressing/URL/Overview.html 

  I find that URLs don't always work well for files stored on Gopher
  servers, since Gopher allows spaces and other characters that URLs
  don't accept. Thus, spaces are encoded in Gopher URLs with %20 to
  indicate that there's a space there. Similarly, WAIS sources usually
  are easier to refer to by name - using a WAIS client such as MacWAIS
  makes it easy to use sources without worrying about all the additional
  information in a URL. 


setext (6.6)
------------

  This document can be viewed in setext format. For more information on
  setext, the structure-enhanced text format contact Ian Feldman directly
  ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/mac/tidbits/setext/setext_concepts_Aug92.etx via
  anonymous FTP or by sending'Subject: setext', EMPTY message body, no
  quotes, to the TidBITS <fileserver@tidbits.com> 

  Further information about Setext can be found at 

  http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~csstddm/setext.html 

  or by contacting <David.Martland@brunel.ac.uk> directly. 

Back matter (7.0)
-----------------

  Stuff that didn't fit elsewhere. 

Acknowledgements for this FAQ list (7.1)
----------------------------------------

  Contributions (roughly in the order of the creation of this document)
  from 


  Jon Leech leech@cs.unc.edu 


  .Victor Eijkhout eijkhout@math.ucla.edu 


  Henry Neeman hneeman@ncsa.uiuc.edu 


  Tom Lathrop <tgl@ssd.Kodak.Com> 

  .<li> Andrew Arthur Bouman abouman@uclink.berkeley.edu 


  .Ann Detsch ann_detsch@maillink.berkeley.edu 

  .<li> Eileen Bauer ecb@world.std.com 

  .<li> Jeff Shepherd jeff@trg.saic.com 


  .Shahrukh Merchant merchant@anuxv.att.com 

  .<li> Lani Bertino QueenCoins@aol.com 


  .Enio Cordoba ProDnzr@aol.com 


  Gayle Martin G.Martin@ITC.GU.EDU.AU 


  Van Dao Mai mai@wumpus.cc.uow.edu.au 


  Brian Clayton boxer@cyberspace.com 

  .<li> Graham Lewin glewis@magenta.demon.co.uk 


  Michael Gengenbach gengenba@forwiss.uni-passau.de 


  Wogdoc@aol.com 

  .<li> Kathie Sindt kas4e@virginia.edu 


  .Ron Larkin r-larkin@uiuc.edu 

  .<li Terry Horiuchi wcswing@netcom.com 


  .Mark Balzer m-balzer@students.uiuc.edu 


  .Scott Allen sallen@windexpt.com 


  are gratefully acknowledged. 

Index (7.2)
-----------


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 

  What is the right speed for dance X? 


  Does anyone archive this group? 

  So much stuff! Is there a'best of' this group? 


  Aren't Rumba's supposed to be slow? 


  So much stuff! Is there a'best of' this group? 

  How can I learn more about dance? Books? Videos? 


  What is the right speed for dance X? 

  How do you count bpms? 


  What's this about Cha-Cha breaking on'2'? 


  What dance organisations are on line? 

  Where can I buy dance supplies? 

  When and where does Championship Ballroom Dancing air? 

  What is the right speed for dance X? 


  Aren't Rumba's supposed to be slow? 


  So much stuff! Is there a'best of' this group? 

  I want to put a dance floor in my house! Any tips? 


  How old is that dance? 


  ftp 

  FTP by email 


  How do you count Hustle? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 

  What is the right speed for dance X? 


  What is swing rhythm? Shuffle rhythm? Jive rhythm? 


  Does anyone have line dance steps for me? 


  How can I keep up with what's happening? 


  What about mailing lists? 

  Mailing lists 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 


  What is the right speed for dance X? 

  How do you count bpms? 


  Where do I find dance music? 


  What is New Vogue? 


  What other dance-related newsgroups exist? 


  Are there ways of notating dance steps? 


  I have this neat scanned cartoon. Want me to post it? 

  Does anyone have dance-related clip art for me? 


  How old is that dance? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 


  Aren't Rumba's supposed to be slow? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 


  So much stuff! Is there a'best of' this group? 


  Where can I buy dance supplies? 


  What can be done about perspiration? 


  What is swing rhythm? Shuffle rhythm? Jive rhythm? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 

  How old is that dance? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 

  How old is that dance? 


  What dance organisations are on line? 


  URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) 


  What dance organisations are on line? 


  So much stuff! Is there a'best of' this group? 

  How can I learn more about dance? Books? Videos? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 

  How old is that dance? 


  The World Wide Web 

  URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) 


  I need dance music for a wedding. Any suggestions? 


  What is the relation between dance X and dance Y? 


  Is there dancing on the World Wide Web? 

  The World Wide Web 

  URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) 


  This file is part of the FAQ list about Rec.Arts.Dance, copyright 1995
  Victor Eijkhout. 
  Individual portions may be copyright of their contributors. You may
  make copies for private use in any form, but reproduction in any means,
  including book or CDROM, is not allowed without permission from the
  copyright holder. 
-- 
Victor Eijkhout
405 Hilgard Ave ........................... `A former Mousketeer [..] is suing
Department of Mathematics, UCLA ................ Disneyland [..], claiming her
Los Angeles CA 90024 ................ grandchildren were traumatized when they
phone: +1 310 825 2173 / 9036 ......... ...... were [..] allowed to see Disney
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~eijkhout/ ................ characters disrobe.' [AP]
