Monday 11 January 2010


Z

Zambra

Zambra is a Spanish flamenco dance, performed exclusively by women. The Zambra, also known as the Zambra Mora is a flamenco dance performed by the Romani people (Gitanos) of Granada which is believed to have evolved from earlier Moorish dances and has some similarities to belly dancing. In Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Morocco, zambra means "party". The Zambra dance forms part of the wedding ceremonies at Gitano weddings, and gypsies perform it for tourists in the Andalucian Sacromonte Caves and Hills. It was outlawed at one time in history and became known as the "Forbidden Dance". In modern times it has been espoused by flamenco dancers Carmen Amaya, La Chunga, Pilar Lopez and Puela Lunaris. It is danced barefoot with finger cymbals, the blouse is tied under the bust and the skirt is tight around the hips, then flares out and has a ruffle at the end.

Y

Yoruba

This is the dance of the Yoruba, one of the largest ethnic groups of south western Nigeria, in Africa. Characteristics of the dance are a controlled body, a calm, expressionless face and a motionless head.

X

Xtoles

Xtoles is the Mayan Warriors Dance of Mexico.


W

Waltz

The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in 3/4 time, performed primarily in closed position. In the waltz, dancers seem to glide across the floor effortlessly, in smooth flowing movements.

V

Viennese Waltz

Viennese Waltz (German: Wiener Walzer) is the genre of a ballroom dance. What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the waltz and the first ballroom dance in the closed hold or "waltz" position. The Viennese Waltz is a rotary dance where the dancers are constantly turning either toward their right (natural) or toward their left (reverse), interspersed with non-rotating change steps to switch between the direction of rotation. A true Viennese waltz consists only of turns and change steps. Other moves such as the fleckerls, American-style figures and side sway or underarm turns are modern inventions and are not normally danced at the annual balls in Vienna. Furthermore, in a properly danced Viennese Waltz, couples do not pass, but turn continuously left and right while travelling counterclockwise around the floor following each other.
Today the Viennese Waltz is a ballroom and partner dance that is part of the International Standard division of contemporary ballroom dance.

U

Ungkulatem

The Ungkulatem is a round dance of the Yakut people (from Siberia). The dancers hold hands and move in a circle, taking a step to the left and leaning slightly forward, then leaning backwards as the right foot closes next to the other. The dance can go on for hours!

T

Tango

Tango is a musical genre and its associated dance forms that originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, and spread to the rest of the world soon after.
Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine Tango, Uruguayan Tango, Ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango and vintage tangos. What many consider to be the authentic tango is that closest to that originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay, though other types of tango have developed into mature dances in their own right.
In 2009, the Tango was declared a world heritage of humanity by UNESCO.

S

Salsa

Salsa is a syncretic dance genre created by Spanish-speaking people from the Caribbean. Salsa dancing mixes African and European dance influences through the music and dance fusions that are the roots of Salsa.
Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms, line dancing (suelta), and Rueda de Casino where groups of couples exchange partners in a circle. Salsa can be improvised or performed with a set routine.
Salsa is popular throughout Latin America, and also in the United States, Spain, Japan, Portugal, France, and Italy.
The name "Salsa" is the Spanish word for sauce, connoting (in American Spanish) a spicy flavor. Salsa also suggests a "mixture" of ingredients, though this meaning is not found in most stories of the term's origin

R

Rumba

Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance. It originates in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves and Spanish colonizers. It is secular, with no religious connections. The details of how it developed are not fully known.
The term spread in the 1930s and 1940s to the faster popular music of Cuba (the Peanut Vendor was a classic), where it was used as a catch-all term, rather as salsa today. Also, the term is used in the international Latin-American dance syllabus, where it is a misnomer: the music used for this slower dance is the bolero-son.
The term is also used today for various styles of popular music from Spain, as part of the so-called Cantes de ida y vuelta, or music that developed between both sides of the atlantic. Flamenco Rumba in particular is more related to the Guaracha, an ancestor of Cuban Rumba.

Q

Quickstep

Quickstep is an International Style ballroom dance that follows a 2/4 or 4/4 time beat, similar to a fast Foxtrot. An example of a song suitable for the classic quickstep would be Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing". However, while the dance may appear very similar to a fast Foxtrot, its technique and patterns are distinct.

P
Paso Doble

Paso Doble is a typical Spanish march-like musical style as well as the corresponding dance style danced by a couple. It is the type of music typically played in bullfights during the bullfighters' entrance to the ring or during the passes just before the kill. It corresponds to the Paso Doble dance (traditional and ballroom).
Paso Doble (or pasodoble) is a lively style of dance to the duple meter march-like pasodoble music. It actually originated in southern France, but is modeled after the sound, drama, and movement of the Spanish bullfight. Paso doble means "double step" in Spanish.

O

Old Time

The English Old Time dances are sequence dances for couples. In sequence dances, every couple on the dance floor performs the same steps at the same time, and at the end of the sequence, the steps are started again. This makes sequence dances relatively easy to learn, as a beginner can easily copy the movements of adjacent dancers on the floor.