How to dance native american style beginning steps


Native American Dances and Meanings

Native American Dances and Meanings

One of the most beautiful things about Native American culture is the rich forms of art this group has brought to America. Among forms of art such as painting, sculpting and storytelling, the truly unique quality of Native American dance makes it the most awe-inspiring and thought-provoking of them all. To the untrained eye, these Native American dances may look like nothing more than interesting movements designed to match the rhythm of a song. On the contrary, dances in this culture each have a deeper purpose and significance that exemplifies how powerful this medium can be in expressing an idea.

1. Stomp Dance

Practiced by the Chickasaw tribe, the traditional stomp dance begins with an announcement by one of the ground leaders, indicating that he will be leading the song. He then heads toward the ceremonial fire with a shell shaker, or rattle, in hand, leading the rest of the people behind him. Women and men traditionally alternate in this line, with the women wearing rattles around their ankles and maintaining the rhythm of the song. Tribe members walk clockwise around the fire. The lead singer then calls out to the Creator, with the men responding as if the Creator is speaking through them. Legend says that whatever the lead singer requests from the Creator during this ceremony will be brought to fruition within four days. These types of performances can be seen at The Chickasaw Cultural Center, in Sulphur, Okla.

2. Ghost Dance

The ghost dance is performed to symbolize the regeneration of Earth and the spiritual reward of the Earth’s caretakers into a carefree, exalted state of bliss. Unlike other forms of Native American dance, the ghost dance is fairly unstructured, asking only that the participants move in a manner to awaken the spirits of their deceased ancestors and communicate with them. This gives the dancers closure and courage despite the death of these loved ones. Unfortunately, the ghost dance has a tragic association, since it was the very one Indians were performing when American soldiers gunned them down at the Battle of Wounded Knee.

3. Sun Dance

The sun dance ceremony symbolizes the eternal continuity of life. This ceremony was practiced by several different tribes and was often considered one of the most important religious ceremonies of Plains Indians in the 19th century. Sun dances were held every year during the summer solstice and lasted four to eight days – beginning and ending at sunset. This not only symbolized the infinite cycle of life, but also its connection to and dependency on nature.

4. Grass Dance

One of the oldest tribal dances known today is the Native American grass dance, which mimics the quiet swaying movements of grass when the wind blows. This movement is emphasized with headdresses, fringes and ribbons on the dancers’ costumes. Another form of the grass dance involves dancing intentionally to flatten the grass and prepare the ground for a tribal ceremony. This grass-flattening technique also symbolizes victory over the enemy.

Native Americans have used dance as a way to connect with each other and honor longstanding traditions. Dance is an important part of socialization, as well as preservation of fascinating and distinct cultures.

This is a guest post by Cassandra Lynne who is an avid traveler and adventure seeker. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending her time outdoors hiking and camping with her pup, Joy. Follow her on Twitter @goodmorningblog.

  • “Native American dance” by Britannica
  • Native American Dance Steps by Bessie Evans

Tags: American History Art Indians Native Americans Religion

Traditional Native American Dances and Their Importance – Tachini Drums

Traditional Native American Dances and Their Importance

">

  • November 30,2020
  • Tachini Drums

To Native Americans, dance is a form of awe-inspiring storytelling that honors their culture, departed ancestors, and more. Most dances are regionally or tribally specific. There are hundreds of them, with variations existing from tribe to tribe. Traditional dances commonly take place in an open field, around a blazing fire or central drum, or in a long structure, such as a longhouse. The steps mimic the movement of people or animals or symbolize simple gestures, whether that’s expressing prayer, victory, or thanks. Some dances are led by specific individuals, while others are a community effort. They can include the entire tribe or be specific to men, women, families, or participants of a certain age. Some dances incorporate nothing but drums and the voices of the singers, while others include instruments like rattles and bells.

Dancing continues to play an important role in Native American culture. Traditional dances can be an ordinary aspect of everyday living, or they can have special significance at cultural or spiritual ceremonies, like powwows. To learn more about traditional Native American dances and their importance, read on.

There’s more than one type of traditional Native American dance, but some are more well-known than others. Listed below are some of the various styles of Native American dance, where they originate, and what they symbolize.

Grass Dance

The Grass Dance is one of the oldest-known tribal dances. Dancers perform this to pay respects to departed ancestors and to ask Mother Earth for strength. Originally performed by men, the dance has evolved to include participants of both genders. The movements of the dance mimic the swaying of grass in a light breeze. The dancers wear headdresses, fringes, and ribbons that sway in tune with their steps.

The Grass Dance originates from the Plains Indians, specifically the Omaha-Ponca and Dakota Sioux. According to legend, its original creator was a disabled child who wanted to dance but couldn’t on account of his injured legs. Saddened by his inability to dance, the boy consulted a Medicine Man, who instructed him to seek inspiration in a big, open field. The swaying grasses of the field inspired the boy to create the Grass Dance, which he shared with the rest of the tribe. Later, the boy miraculously recovered the use of his legs.

Hoop Dance

The Hoop Dance is an exciting, dynamic storytelling dance. It incorporates the use of hoops constructed from either reeds or wood. Since circles have no beginning and no end, the Natives use them to symbolize the never-ending circle of life. During the Hoop Dance, a sole performer swings hoops around in the air to create symbolic shapes, usually of butterflies, turtles, eagles, flowers, and snakes.

The Hoop Dance has multiple origin stories, but the most famous comes from the Anishinaabe tribe. The story tells of an unearthly boy who lived amongst the tribe. He showed no interest in running and hunting and preferred to watch animals instead. Disappointed, his father disowned him. But despite his father’s disapproval, the boy continued to observe the animals and, gradually, learned to move like them. He created the Hoop Dance to teach others about the animals and their way of life. Today, the Hoop Dance is a popular, highly competitive form of Native American dance.

Ghost Dance

The Ghost Dance symbolizes the regeneration of Earth and the joy of humankind. The participants dance to awaken and communicate with their ancestors. The hope is that the dance will give people closure upon the death of their loved ones.

The Ghost Dance originated during the 1880s when conditions on Native American reservations were dismal. Its creator was a Paiute tribesman named Wovoka, who claimed to have vivid dreams of salvation for the Native American people. In his dreams, the Native Americans flew into the sky while a brand-new Earth formed. Once the new planet was complete, they returned alongside the ghosts of their ancestors. The most famous and tragic performance of the Ghost Dance took place at the Battle of Wounded Knee, where American soldiers gunned down countless people from the Lakota tribe.

Gourd Dance

The Gourd Dance originated with the Kiowa tribe but quickly spread to other tribes and societies, including the Comanche and Cheyenne. Traditionally, men perform the dance, but it allows for the inclusion of women, who dance outside the circular arena. A drum sits on the side of or in the center of a circle. Performers gather around it and dance in place, lifting their heels to the beat of the drum and shaking their rattles. The rattles the dancers use aren’t made from gourds but from tin or silver cylinders filled with beads. Meanwhile, their attire is simple and ornamented with long, simple sashes that sweep across the ground. At modern powwows, the Gourd Dance usually takes place before the Grand Entry.

Stomp Dance

The Stomp Dance is a staple of the Chickasaw tribe. However, other Eastern Woodland tribes also perform it, including the Muscogee Creek, Yuchi, Cherokee Choctaw, Ottawa, Peoria, Shawnee, Natchez, and Seneca-Cayuga. The dance begins after dark and continues until dawn of the following day. It begins with a ground leader. Carrying a shell shaker, the leader walks toward a ceremonial fire with the rest of the performers following their lead. Placement of the performers depends on age and skill, with the younger dancers positioned near the back. Men and women alternate in line and walk clockwise around the fire. At some point, the lead singer speaks to the Creator and requests something: either an item or an act. According to legend, the Creator will grant whatever the singer requests within four days.

Sun Dance

The Sun Dance was an important religious ceremony to the Plains Indians throughout the 19th century. Today, multiple tribes still practice it. The ceremony both begins and ends at sunset. It takes place during the summer solstice and can last anywhere from four to eight days. The dance symbolizes the infinite continuity of life and the dependence of life on the continuity of nature. Its purpose is to give thanks to the eagle for bringing harmony between body and spirit and to the buffalo for its role in Native American food, clothing, and shelter. It’s practiced differently depending on the region but shares some common features, like the use of a traditional drum, offerings, fasting, and, in some cases, the ceremonial piercing of skin.

Learning about some of the traditional Native American dances and their importance is crucial to Native Americans’ day-to-day lives and helps them connect with their culture and spirituality.

Drums are an important part of traditional Native American dance. Are you searching for authentic, high-quality Native American drums for sale? Tachini Drums carries drums, rattles, and other drum accessories that can help you connect with the heartbeat of Mother Earth.

An evening of classical Indian Dance was held at ISIISI - Institute of Contemporary Art

... With her tiny legs, the dancer takes her first steps on rice flour. She still has a long way to go. ... And today, students and teachers of the Institute of Contemporary Art were lucky to look at the real mystery of Indian dance and at the dancers following this path.

On Friday, May 20, the Nritya Sabha Foundation for the Study of the Cultural Heritage of India and the Institute of Contemporary Art held an evening of Indian classical dance in the Bharatanatyam style - "Natya Veda". The program was attended by students and soloists of the dance studio led by Irina Iskorostenskaya.

The Nritya Sabha Foundation is a unique and the only creative association in Russia of talented performers of various styles of Indian classical dance, educated at leading Indian cultural institutions. Training in Indian dance art is one of the main activities of the Foundation. The teachers of the Foundation conduct regular classes in five styles of Indian classical dance: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam. So, Irina Iskorostenskaya, Nadezhda Kovriga and Dmitry Zmeev conduct classes in the Bharatanatyam style.

The Foundation promotes and popularizes the musical and dance art of India, strengthens Russian-Indian cultural ties, and its members are active in concert and teaching activities in Russia and abroad. The activities of the Nritya Sabha Foundation are also known for organizing exhibitions, festivals, seminars, conferences, etc.

There is an interesting history of Indian classical dance, which until the beginning of the 20th century was performed exclusively in temples. There is no temple cult as such now, but the rituals of that time have been preserved in the traditions of dance art. One of them is a prayer that is always read before the start of the sacrament of the Dance. There is always a deity on the stage - Shiva Nataraja. This is one of the most popular iconographic images of Shiva, familiar to many people - a dancing figure with four arms. The word "nataraja" comes from Narta-rajan IAST - the king of dance, which goes back to the ancient Sanskrit verb nar-IAST - "to dance".

The second tradition - the concert traditionally begins with the lighting of the lamp. This honor was entrusted today to the vice-rector for scientific work of the ISI - Yuri Evgenievich Sokolov, a longtime and passionate fan of Indian dance.

The lamp is lit - and not a single impure force can enter the stage. The stage is a sacred space, and the dance is divine: it connects heaven and earth.

The performance of the dancers was accompanied by explanations by Irina Iskorostenskaya, turning the concert into a synthesis of art and an educational lecture at the same time. In addition to the actual dance - nritta, Natya includes singing and abhinaya - the art of facial expressions. With the help of sign language - mudra - the performer has the opportunity not only to express his emotions, but also to tell the viewer a story, to convey certain, including abstract concepts.

Classical Indian dance is based on a spiritual force that disciplines the performer, gives support and stability, turning art into a path of spiritual perfection, helping the individual gain integrity, develop aesthetic taste and open his heart.

Indian dance is more than a dance. He has always been and is a means of communication between people with each other and with God. Any movement of the body and eyes has its own deep meaning. The language of Indian classical dance is much richer and more expressive than ordinary human speech. Over several millennia of its existence, Indian dance has not lost its attractiveness and appeal, continuing to amaze the minds of many people with its perfection.

Jive training. How to start learning jive dance? Everyone dances, dances everywhere

Fundamentals contemporary sports dance

Introduction.

How many exist teachers, there are so many variations of the basic step in jive and right turn in slow waltz. The point is that everyone trainer, in addition to the knowledge gained from your coach, and seminars, from video cassettes and other sources, there are a couple more or high-level couples that he like more. teaching the teacher imagines some perfect pair like on those that he likes, and with that technique that a couple should have, according to the teacher.

If absolutely accurate, then there is some ideal, or imaginary or concrete (Hilton, Baricci, Newberry, Burns, Watson, Happalainen), to whom a certain number of pairs strives, directly or through your teacher.

But there are shortcuts, and there are long, with some roads lead to a dead end.

There are different methods teaching the basic step in any dance depending on class, and the higher the class trainees, the more developed the story can be heard. But at full story of all equipment for class E pairs there is a danger lose a couple for dancing. That's why the text below is an attempt basic step descriptions in jive enough for everyone in detail, but chaotically and for any class in the form of questions. If you have there are doubts about the accuracy and the correctness of the description, and it is worth see what it looks like live - buy a video cassette with amateurs, professionals, go to competition in A, B or C class and make sure or the incorrectness of the following reasoning.

Jive. Main step.

1. To jump or not to jump?
Available in two versions main step in jive - swing and jump. Somewhere in 1995 swing version first time ventured to dance Burns on the Dutch Championship, it seems, and received one second place. Since he stopped dancing this variation, but all teachers began to convince that jive is a swing dance a huge number of studios have become teach this option. But do not forget that Burns then lost the jive (only according to one judge) Watson, who always jumped like crazy. AT 1997 first half a year jive Thornsberg won, and beat in this dance and Watson and Happalainen, so now a bunch steam dancing "train" (when partner puts his partner's hand on shoulder and they jump further), crawling under the arm of a partner with wave, jumps to each other and back and a lot of other movements. Not to mention Nikovsky Davydova.
Exact answer (as of 01/21/99): When the music fast, dancing hopping option when slow - swing, and pairs of high classes should be able to change the nature of their dance depending on the nature of the music and sometimes the chorus can be slow, and the verses are in tune fast.
Primary source information: Pair - finalist of the championships of Russia professionals.
Comments: Are there many such couples? Not I know, I don't know... I definitely saw one. Most often, the couple knows how to dance only one option and it dancing to any music. Especially crooked swing version looks to fast music when the couple is not manages to dance it and... In any case, a couple dancing jump option, looks more dynamic, and choosing from two pairs the same level of judges practically always choose a couple dancing jump option. But if speak objectively, hopping option is physically harder, but easier technically.
2. Basic step accent.
Particular differences in this no question. For children's couples often tell you what you need on the chassis "to hammer nails into the floor." Really during the jive at execution of any the main step you must feel like rubber ball (not ping-pong), repelled from the floor with visible elasticity, but at the same time lightness, which is achieved by fixing the weight upstairs for a moment.
Exact answer (for 01/21/99): accents in jive in all movements, including number on the main step, on even counts two and four.
Primary source information: Practically all teachers.
Comments: fixing problem emphasis in the jumping variant during Chasse time is normal body position (vertical in spine) and normal stable position "above", after a step back (on count two) is the speed fixing the accent. During swing many couples do giant accent on three, no managing then to make the minimum emphasis on four, although emphasis on four should be more.
3. Main step count.
The exact answer (on 21.01.99): Basic the step is danced for one-two, three and four, three and four or - one-two, three and four, five and six.

Jive, a fast sparkling dance, is included in the Latin American program. Very fast and energetic, it is similar to rock 'n' roll but is a variation of swing.

Free Trial Lesson!

Enroll

Origin

The first references date back to the 19th century. (USA), but the direction gained mass popularity in 1940s It used movements from boogie-woogie, rock and roll, swing, jitterbug. Fast rhythm, simple elements and spectacular dance sequences to incendiary music make jive one of the most popular modern dances.

Varieties:

  1. Ballroom (competitive) - spectacular, technically difficult, it requires extreme concentration and sufficient physical preparation from the dancers.
  2. Secular (social) - not so full of elements, but no less beautiful, suitable for everyone, regardless of age and experience.

Enroll in Roman Kovgan's Dance School to learn how to dance jive in a short time! This is the best decision you have ever made in your life. We will help you break out of the vicious circle of work and home everyday life and will have fun in the classroom with you!

Benefits of jive dancing

  1. Gives a load on all types of muscles - in one workout you will burn up to 300-400 kcal.
  2. Forms a beautiful figure and graceful gait.
  3. Increases self-esteem - you no longer suffer from awkwardness and clumsiness.
  4. Increases heart rate.
  5. Raises the mood and makes you forget about everything, surrendering to the music.
  6. Allows you to have a bright time with a partner or spouse.
  7. Expands the circle of acquaintances.
  8. Relieves stress - complete a busy day in our studio!
  9. Gives a sense of freedom.

Jive course for beginners

Dance School specializes in teaching children and adults from scratch. Therefore, even if you have never gone to the dance floor, sign up for a trial lesson - we are sure you will be satisfied! Professional teachers will tell you the basics, help you master the basic elements and put them together in a beautiful combination. We do not guarantee a flawless jive performance in a month of training, but we will do our best to achieve rapid, stable progress.

Fill out an application on the website to sign up for the first lesson. All you need to visit: comfortable clothes and shoes. For visitors there are club cards with unlimited attendance of group trainings.

Modern jive is presented in two styles - international and swing. Often, both styles are intertwined in the performance of the dance, and complex elements of Jaterbug and Rock and Roll are added to them. To understand the full meaning of the modern version of jive, you need to know that these are the basic steps from a fast syncopated chassé. It looks like this:

  • all dance steps start with a toe;
  • body weight is constantly transferred forward with each step;
  • when performing the chasse, the foot (stepping) is raised to the level of the knee of the left leg, which becomes the supporting one;
  • the right limb rises strongly, - similar to the reproduction of "moon steps", due to which a certain illusion of weightlessness of the dancers is created, as if floating above the parquet.

Dancers perform movements at a high and very high pace. The performers score by one-two, twice by three and four, focusing on the two and four. The musical size is 4x4, and the tempo has variations from 40 to 46 measures per minute. Simply put, there are steps of a syncopated chassé left and right, with a transition to a slow step back and a return forward. At the same time, for partners, and jive is a pair dance, obligatory rotation of the hips with a shift in the center of gravity forward is characteristic. Despite the temperament, jive does not need too much space to perform a set of figures, for example, in a disco.

If we are talking about swing jive, then it is based on short but plastic steps and two rhythmic steps with stepping on the spot. If this is a jumping jive, then the main movement in it is a rock-style step with swinging and jumping on each leg - similar to rock and roll. Jive is considered a difficult dance to perform. It is fast, requires the expenditure of strength, and therefore, good physical shape. It is no coincidence that the dance at the competition is put last in the program, and very little time is allotted for its performance - within a minute. This allows the dancers to perform it really with full dedication, showing all the beauty and grace of jive.

Everyone dances, dances everywhere

Jive in his incendiary spirit cannot leave anyone indifferent. And the fact that it can be performed everywhere, since it does not require much space, makes it even more attractive. Therefore, it would be useful to think over what to wear to perform these unusual dances in everyday life. If you know that at a party or in a club you will find the same lovers of hot Latin American dances, that there will be a partner for an incendiary jive, you can dress as always - any clothes from everyday life will do. However, it must be different. And imagine how colorful dresses and skirts of the style of the 50s of the last century will look in the spirit of the heyday of jive. For men, monochrome shoes, hats and stylish shirts are suitable.

Gangster-style costumes are recommended for show performances. Headbands with feathers on the hair, dresses with fringe and fishnet tights are suitable for girls. Men will look irresistible in a vest, shirt with sleeve holders above the elbow, shoes with white inserts and hats. This is really not only extravagant, but also corresponds to the spirit of that time. Special attention to suits for sports jive. Women's dresses with the most open hips and back, and possibly the stomach. The trend is asymmetry, the use of materials imitating a naked body, feathers, sequins and rhinestones. Men's suits are also bright. Characterized by a slit on the chest, trousers, tight-fitting buttocks and decorations on the shirt. Among all the wealth of dances, the most memorable are Latin American ones. They are unusually sensitive and incendiary. They excite, attract. Their rhythms cannot leave anyone indifferent. But, only after trying yourself in them, you can really feel a surge of enthusiasm, energy and passion. Among them is such an unusually bright, inviting and always young jive. At the Casablanca dance school, experienced teachers will teach you all the tricks of modern jive.

Jive originated in the 19th century in the southeastern United States, and some believe that it was Negro, others - that it is a war dance of the Seminole Indians in Florida (around a captured pale-face or his skull). There is a version that blacks danced it back in Africa, and then the Indians began to dance it. The word "Jive" is similar to the South African word "Jev" - "to speak disparagingly". Also, "Jive" has a similar meaning in Negro slang: "deceit, cunning", although it may originate from the English "jibe", in slang - "cheap goods", "marijuana", and "cool sex". It is not known exactly which of these words was the source for the name of the dance, and therefore the original meaning of this dance is not clear. In the 1880s, the dance was already competitive - it was danced by blacks in the southern United States for a prize, which was most often a pie, so the dance was then known as the Cakewalk (Pie Walk). At the same time, the dance consisted of two parts - first a solemn procession of couples, then a groovy dance, which the participants danced in specially tailored costumes. The music accompanying this dance was called Ragtime (rag - rag), perhaps because the participants wore their best "rags" (clothes), or because the music was syncopated and "torn". Music and dance were popular among the black populations of Chicago and New York. This incendiary black dance with energetic music contrasted sharply with the limited and strict dance of the upper white classes in the USA and Great Britain.

With the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, society felt more free and a huge number of simple dances based on the same rhythms became popular among whites: Yankee tangler, Texas rag, fidgeting races, wagging barrel, Squat, Scabies, Threshing and Harvest (the Yankee Tangle, the Texas Rag, the Fanny Bump, the Funky Butt, the Squat, the Itch, the Grind and the Mooche). Some had animal names of a distinctly rural and pantomimic nature: lame duck, galloping horse, grizzly bear, crab step, eagle rock, flying noose, Turkish step, kangaroo jump, fish step, and rabbit gallops (Lame Duck, Horse Trot, Grizzly Bear, Crab Step, Eagle Rock, Buzzard Lope, Turkey Trot, Kangaroo Dip, Fishwalk and Bunny Hug). Modern jive still has the Bunny Hug as one of its main moves. This is the same chasse to the side - when a rabbit or a hare gets scared, he jumps to the side from a place. All these dances were performed to ragtime music, with emphasis on beats 2 and 4, in syncopated rhythms. They all used the same elements that are now in jive and other Latin American dances: step, rock, throw, bounce (contraction of the abdominal muscles), sway (stretching the muscles of the body - sides) (couples doing a walk, rock, swoop, bounce or sway). The closed position was considered indecent and sometimes ladies wore special corsets so that they would not accidentally touch the body of a partner.

Significant changes in dance began in 1910, when many individual dances began to be danced in pairs, dancers began to combine figures, dancing them in random order. Each male dancer has become a leader, an instant choreographer. The change came about as a change of interest from steps to rhythm. This coincided with Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1910, which quickly became a worldwide hit. In the twenties, Ragtime transformed into popular swing music. The foxtrot was invented by Harry Fox to perform at a show in New York at 1913 (And the fox has nothing to do with it). Charleston was brought by sailors from the islands of Cape Verde. It was then danced in a circle by Negro dock workers at the Port of Charleston and became popular in white society after it was included in the 1923 show "Running Wild" by Ziegfield Follies after his trip to the USA. Subsequently, this dance became so popular that many well-known dance studios began to include it in their schedule as “PCQ” - “Please Charleston Quietly” (“Please Charleston Quietly”). The Black Bottom dance became popular after being included in the show “ ViterGeorge Whiter`s Scandals". Foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and various animal steps were combined into the Lindy Hop dance (Lindy Hop, Lindy Flight) at 1927. This dance was named after Charles Lindbergh, who made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight. Dancers, like Lindbergh, spend a lot of time in the air. In 1934, Cab Calloway described a dance he saw in Harlem and called it the frenzy of jittering bugs, this variation of the dance became known as Jitterbug (dzheteberg), which was especially popular in America in the forties. The modern version of jive has basic steps made up of a fast syncopated chasse (step, prefix, step) left and right (vice versa for the partner), along with a slower back and forward step. The hips are brought to the "and" count after each step, the weight is strongly forward on all steps, and all steps are taken from the toe. During the chasse (for example, to the left), the foot of the leg from which the step is taken (left) rises to the level of the knee of the supporting leg, while then the right leg rises just as much and an optical illusion of “moonwalk” (moon steps) is created, while the dancers seem weightless. At the very beginning, at 1927, the dance was only youth. Older dancers disapproved of him and tried to ban him on the grounds that he was unprogressive: he danced on the spot, which interfered with other dancers moving along the line of dance. The dance remained youthful and subsequently, changing into swing, boogie-woogie, be-bop, rock, twist, disco and hustle (Swing, Boogie-Woogie, Be-Bop, Rock, Twist, Disco and Hustle). In this competition dance, the dancers try to show that after four dances they are not tired, and yet the jive is the last dance, and quite difficult to perform. Jive is very different in character and technique from other dances of the Latin American program, often couples who dance well the first four dances dance weaker jive, while others do the opposite. The basic technique of Latin American dances, unlike European ones, was first streamlined and described by Walter Laird.

Jive

During the performance of the dance, the partners transfer energy to each other and share it with the audience, giving a sense of celebration.

Dance Jive originated in the late 19th century in the American Southeast as a social dance. It was passed down from generation to generation.


Learn more

.