social dance. Social dancing: why "got off" is gaining more and more fans

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It is believed that social Latin American dances were finally formed by the end of the 19th century. The rhythms of African drums merged with the sound of the Spanish guitar, giving rise to cha-cha-cha, salsa, bachata, merengue and more. The first foreigners to experience the charm of the new styles were American soldiers who landed in Cuba in 1898 during the War of Independence. And during the days of Prohibition (1919-1933), when alcohol was banned in the States, Americans became frequent guests on the island. This is how Latin American dances turned from a purely Cuban pastime into an international cultural phenomenon associated with drinking and passion. By the way, that is why they are banned in Muslim countries.

“Latin American dances are divided into two camps: ballroom and social,” explains Anastasia Sazonova, teacher at the 5 Life school. “Ballrooms are sports, social ones are complete freedom.” According to Nastya, social latina is good, first of all, because anyone who does not have even minimal physical training can dance it. “These styles are built on pure improvisation,” she explains. “And this means that two strangers can merge into a dance, not really caring which of them dances better.” Nastya Sazonova herself has long ceased to use dance as a way to make new acquaintances: she has been friends with her partner Alexander Shcherbakov for many years. At the same time, she has a school of classical choreography behind her, and Sasha is self-taught. They do not invent new movements, but dance, as best they can, sleep, salsa, merengue, bachata and cha-cha-cha.

Sleep is a kind of improvisation of the African rumba. For this reason, until the 1910s, the white population of Cuba disdained to perform it. Over time, the main advantage of the dance - a rather slow pace and uncomplicated rhythmic pattern - was appreciated by the broad masses. Now it is one of the most popular dances from the social latin family.

SALSA

Salsa means "sauce" in Spanish. In essence, salsa is a sort of mix of different musical and dance genres in Central and Latin America. The cradle of "sauce", however, is New York City, where in the 1960s and 1970s Cuban immigrants took the song dance as a basis and mixed it with jazz. The authorship of the name is attributed to the king of mambo, the famous American percussionist and vibraphonist Tito Puente.

When performing salsa, we must remember that the upper body is always motionless, only the legs work. But the most important thing is to dance with feeling. In truth, it is impossible to remain indifferent here: the partners are literally pressed against each other, and the dance automatically becomes part of a passionate relationship, albeit fleeting (the composition lasts about three minutes).

cha-cha-cha

The origin of this dance still raises questions. According to one version, it is related to the ancient guaracha dance, common among the peoples of the Caribbean, according to another, it is the fruit of the experiments of the Cuban composer Enrique Horrin, who lived in the middle of the last century. According to the third version, the Englishman Pierre Lavelle created this dance by accident in the 1950s: he spied on Cuba how the rumba was danced, and began to teach it in England. However, not really understanding the rumba technique, he taught the English not to her, but to a completely new dance.

Cha-cha-cha is a very energetic dance. The knees should be straightened with each step, accompanied by high-amplitude movements of the hips. If you practice cha-cha-cha at least once a week, after a month the result will be noticeable: the legs will become more slender, and disappear. The ballroom dancing program also has its own cha-cha-cha, but it differs from the social version in more sports technique.

BACHATA

The word bachata in Spanish means "noisy fun." So in the 1930s they called all the holidays indiscriminately in the poor neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. Later, bachata was called a pair dance based on the Spanish bolero and Cuban son and performed to sad songs about unrequited love.

Dancing bachata is much easier than, say, salsa or cha-cha-cha: you just need to rhythmically pace left and right and back and forth. Close contact with a partner is the main goal of the dance. Bachata is performed practically embracing, without opening hands.

MERENGUE

Latin American dance with Negro roots has long been considered bad form in the aristocratic circles of Cuba. In the 19th century, they even tried to ban it. The heyday of merengue was largely facilitated by the dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, who came to power in 1930. For countless sexual relations among the people, he was nicknamed El Chivo, that is, "the goat." Trujillo really liked the merengue, during which no one and nothing prevented him from grabbing his partner by different parts of the body.

There is a saying: “Can you walk? So you can dance the meringue." As in the case with, it is based on one movement - the transfer of body weight from foot to foot. The performance of the dance does not require a large space - a patch of one square meter is enough.

What is "social dancing"? This is a large group of dances, born from a mixture of classical, folk and ballroom dance. Social dance is a dance for relaxation, communication, even flirting, it is completely devoid of a competitive component.

Social dances have long become the property of the whole society, and not just people who have received an elite upbringing. They are good because they are danced all over the world. Wherever you come - to Brazil, England, France, USA, Malaysia, Ukraine or China - you can go to places where people regularly gather to dance from the heart. You don't need an interpreter to understand the dance language. He is one everywhere.

The most famous Latin American group of social dances. It includes the famous salsa, perky merengue, passionate bachata, expressive reggaeton, as well as son, zouk, bolero, boogaloo, cha-cha-cha, tango, mambo, cumbia and a number of other lesser-known dances.

Why do people dance social dances? Everyone has their own reasons, of course. Someone is looking for new friends or girlfriends, someone cannot live without movement, someone is interested in the creative component of dance. For some, social dance becomes a real outlet, allowing them to forget about real life with its problems and difficulties.

Where do social dances take place? In the warm season - in the open air, in the cold - in various cafes and clubs. In such places there is always a festive, joyful atmosphere. You quickly get to know everyone and feel that you are always welcome. It's not even how well you dance, but how open your soul is to positive communication. It doesn't matter what you came to the dance in - not a Lexus or on the subway, it doesn't matter what you are wearing - ripped jeans or a ball gown. It is important to enjoy dancing and communication, and to give joy to other people.

All dances of the Latin American group are pair dances (except, perhaps, reggaeton, which can be danced both in pairs and solo). Therefore, great importance is attached to them. A man always leads a woman, as it was in human nature thousands of years ago. The man rules, the woman obeys. The entire "dialogue" occurs with the help of almost imperceptible movements of the palms and fingers. During the dance, the partners are “turned on” to each other, sometimes living a whole life story in those three or four minutes while the musical composition lasts.

Separately, I would like to mention the group version of salsa - rueda. Rueda is a kind of "round dance", in which two and ... sometimes up to a hundred couples participate. It is controlled by one of the dancers, the cantor, who loudly calls the next bunch. At the end of each bundle, women in a circle move on to new partners. Thus, for the whole dance you have time to dance and get acquainted with all the representatives of the opposite sex. Rueda has an absolutely incredible energy, made up of positive energies and excitement of all its participants.

Of course, both men and women have to learn before entering the dance floor. There are basic principles, steps and links. Having mastered them, you will be able to invent your own movements and even improvise, embellishing a clear line of dance with a variety of additional movements and gestures.

How soon will you be able to dance as a couple? Someone learns quickly, six months or a year is enough for him to feel free, someone needs several years. The important thing is that social dancing allows you to realize your creative potential and get much-needed physical activity at any age - up to retirement.

Milena Gitt

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And what is it?

Social dances - is it something about social security and pensioners?

Of course not.

Now it is customary to call "social" a large group of dances of different origins that dance for communication, relaxation and maintaining social ties.

A feature of paired social dances is that they can be performed by non-professional dancers with any partner. In this case, the problem of improvisation and leading-following is of particular importance.

The term "social dance" (social dance, in the Russian version - "social", sometimes "social") has been used in the works of English-speaking researchers since the 60s of the XX century.

What are dances other than social dances?

• Ritual - most often it is about religion;
• sports - this is about various competitions, including championships in ballroom dancing and acrobatic rock and roll;
• scenic - ballet and numbers on the stage;
• others.

Social dances - what exactly is it and how to understand them?

There are many social dances, so the classifications are different. Most often they are divided

by number of performers.

And then they can be

solo– as, for example, club dances-solo,

paired– like the vast majority of social dances,

collective- rueda de casino, square and others.

by origin dances are different.

European- country dance, waltz, polka, Irish set dances, Spanish flamenco.

North American- west coast swing, lindy hop, street dance, house dance, break dance, hustle, twerk.

Latin American- salsa, bachata, merengue, Cuban types of rumba, Brazilian samba, Argentine tango.

African roots have zouk and kizomba, popular in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Genres are not all listed here.

Milonga. Festival "Tango of the White Nights" in St. Petersburg. Photo from kulturologia.ru

Isn't that ballroom dancing? What's the difference?

In Russia, ballroom dancing is considered a sport. Their peculiarity is clearly developed rules for the implementation of individual elements, the presence of categories that are awarded to athletes depending on the results of the competition and age, as well as a dense grid of tournaments in which you need to constantly participate. The life of a person who is seriously involved in ballroom dancing is similar to the schedule of a tennis player: missing one or more tournaments can lead to the fact that the dancer will fly out of the elite forever.

Teacher-party 2012. Theme party “Counting chickens in autumn”.

At the same time, ballroom dancing studied in the format of a hobby club, that is, not for competitions, but “for oneself”, can be classified as social. But at the same time, one must understand that in the studios where they teach "ballroom Latin", they will study exactly those genres that are provided for by the ballroom program. But salsa, and even more so various American street genres, have never been and are not included in the ballroom program. And, for example, sports tango - on the competitive floor - and social - at milongas parties - looks very different.

The task of the dancer-athlete is to move according to the rules, to demonstrate the speed and amplitude of movements. The task of a social dancer is to enjoy the dance, moving beautifully, safely and competently - so as not to injure yourself and not inflict it on your partner.

In recent years, various competitive forms have appeared in Russia - championships, marathons - in social genres. But when it comes to truly social dancing, such events are one-time and are used for popularization. Such competitions are not at all similar to the tight grid of ballroom tournaments, when competitions are held almost weekly.

In addition, in American street genres (hip-hop, house, breakdance) there is a special competitive form - dance battles - a competition of groups in improvisation with a victory awarded by the decision of the hall. Sometimes they try to hold battles in other dance genres.

dance buttle

You mentioned tango there. How do you tell if it's social or sport?

Place of performance. Competitions or preparation for them means sport. Rest means soul.

In most countries where the tradition of performing social dances is original, it is something like modern folklore. They are danced, if not by all, then by many, more often from childhood. Social dances are danced in cafes, on the streets, at concerts, at special parties.

By the way, who doesn’t remember, there were dance floors in the USSR, and back in the 50s, our grandmothers danced quite massively - in the villages of the square dance, and in the cities - the waltz, and even the tango with the foxtrot.

There are no championships. And what instead of them?

In addition to the usual classes at the dance school, as well as parties, festivals or congresses are organized for social dancing.

A typical dance congress schedule is several days (a weekend or more) of workshops during the day and parties at night. Sometimes parties begin with concerts with live performances of music of the respective genres.

Unlike the usual concerts of classical or pop music, during which the audience passively sits in the hall, at dance festivals people dance to live music.

Information about some Russian dance congresses can be found in articles from the Encyclopedia of Salsa.

When did it all start?

Encyclopedia Britannica uses the term social dance to refer to European court dances (court dances) as well as later Spanish salon dances (los bailes de salon). Thus, the ability to dance, which society etiquette prescribed for the nobility, high-society balls, etc., can also be attributed to social dances.

Is it true that you don't need to learn social dancing?

Alas, it is necessary. Since we are not Spaniards, not Latin Americans and have not danced since childhood, we still have to study.

It remains to rejoice that now is not the old days and we need dances not for balls, where the whole society can discuss “how he gave his hand”, “how she put her foot”, and who does not keep the score.

And then, you know, in Pushkin's time in Moscow there were famous classes of dance master Karl Ivanovich Yogel. And you could study there for ten years.

Okay, agreed. Where can you find a partner?

Is it necessary to search? There are no permanent couples in couple social dancing, and the training is set to teach you how to dance with any partner.

Yes, in some schools, especially in small towns where boys are still reluctant to go to dances, the rule “we enroll in classes as a couple” is preserved, but it is not universal.

If you have not been warned about the need for a couple, just come to school. Even if there are a little more girls, couples in the classroom still periodically change. And sometimes (shhh!) there are even more boys in the classes than girls.

The phrase " social dancing"came into Russian from English ("social dance"), it means all types of dances that are not a sports discipline and are available to everyone, but still have certain rules and accepted movements, unlike, for example, club dances .

Social dances, as a rule, are pair dances and are based on the concept of “leading”, where the partner is the leader in the pair, and the partner is the follower and complements the dance with her movements. The main feature of all social dances is their accessibility. Most types of social dances began to develop actively in the 1980s and 1990s. With the advent of club music and the active development of discos, social dance trends began to develop. Many species of which originate from Latin American destinations.

Now social dances are more popular than ever, many dancers of other directions are happy to study hustle, salsa, bachata, zouk and bring their choreographic skills to them, which gives some refinement and grace to the original street directions.

Modern directions of social dances

The most popular areas of modern social dances include:

• Swing or WCS originated in the 1920s in America. Fast and dynamic, it quickly gained its popularity and subsequently appeared such directions as: lindy hop, bilboa, boogie-woogie and rock and roll. Swing dances are fast and active and are great for young people who want to keep fit through dancing.
• Argentine tango appeared in Argentina and Uruguay at the end of the 19th century. It owes its spread to the brothels that were so popular in this region. Passionate and emotional dance characterizes a rather slow pace with characteristic accelerations and decelerations. The main role in this dance is given to the partner, who makes complex steps, turns and various leg swings.
• Zouk appeared in the Caribbean in the 1980s. The word "zouk" from the language of French settlers is translated as "party" - originally zouk was danced at parties and discos. Unlike most Latin American dances, it is not characterized by overt eroticism and is preferably danced to slow and flowing music. A very plastic and graceful dance, where the interaction between partners plays a key role.
• Hustle dance has gained particular popularity in Russia. Its distinctive feature is complete freedom of action. Hustle is danced to any music, mostly modern, which you can easily hear on the radio. It originated in America in the 80s, since then it has been actively developing and has become not only a social, but also a competitive direction. Now the Hustle and Discofox championships are gaining up to several thousand participants.
• Latin American dances: salsa, bachata, merengue, reggaeton. Each of these dances has its own characteristics, however, they can be divided into one category of social Latin American dances. They got their origins thanks to the national rhythms of Cuba and the Caribbean countries. Their distinguishing feature is a fairly close contact between partners, passion and rhythm. They are common in special Latin American discos and are very popular among young people.

Social dances: how to choose?

1. The level of physical fitness and the desire to dance more sportily or plastically
2. Music that you like to dance to
3. The prevalence of this social direction in your city or region
4. Proximity of contact with a dance partner

Social dances are now called pair dances, in which the main thing is communication between partners. In fact, this is another language in which you can talk to each other - not with words, but with the help of movement.

Initially, at its inception, all dances were social in one way or another - even those that now belong to. So there is no impenetrable border between them, especially since social dances are now hosting and arranging shows from pre-prepared dance numbers.

But still, first of all social dance is a dance not for the audience, but for oneself, born spontaneously and sometimes even unexpectedly, as a way to relax and express yourself, enjoy music, movement and communication with each other.

social couple dancing

Social dances are usually easy enough to start dancing - you just need to learn the basic step and basic movements, although if you wish, you can continue to improve all your life: they never get bored, because they never repeat.

Even the same set of movements, but performed with a different partner and to different music, will give rise to a new dance that is not like all the others.

Apparently, all this taken together contributed to the great popularity of social pair dances.
Over the past hundred years, a huge number of styles, directions and forms of social pair dances have been born.

What is common between different areas of social pair dancing?
• all of them are created primarily for the enjoyment of partners from a joint dance;
• they are danced at any holidays, discos, parties and in general in any place where suitable music sounds;
• they can be danced with any partner trained in this style (and sometimes even with an untrained partner);
• the dance is based on improvisation from the existing set of elements;
• dance can arise spontaneously and exists only "here and now", for this partner, to this music, with this mood;
• this dance cannot be repeated.

What is different in different areas of social pair dances?
• music;
• history of occurrence;
• the main step and the constituent elements of the dance;
• the character of the dance and the social context.

social couple dancing

social dancing on the island

You can go to one group or several, take only a basic course or study all the time - in general, any path to the world of social dances that you choose is open to you.

But since social dancing is not only dancing, but also communication - then your stay on the "Island" will certainly not be limited to classes: after all, there are also trips to clubs and discos,