All about Latin Partner Dancing
Introduction & Overview
Latin dances are often fun and energetic dance styles, danced to music and rhythms originating from Latin America and the Caribbean. Broadly speaking, what sets Latin dancing apart from other dance styles (like West Coast swing / rock ‘n roll etc) is the use and emphasis of movement in the hips, particularly for the female. This hip action is called cuban hip action (or sometimes Merengue hip action). Many of the various Latin dance styles add their own subtleties, but cuban hip action is the most essential feature of practically all Latin dance and is one way to help identify Latin dancing from other styles.
Along with a pronounced hip action, professional Latin dancing is also characterised with turn out in the feet when stepping, and a disciplined leg action with fast and precise movements across the floor. Latin dancing also often exhibits the contrast between both extensive movement and isolation in the upper body, along with expressive arm movements which are coordinated with the footwork.
Today in the modern world, Latin dancing has split into broadly two categories of dances which are taught almost entirely independent of one another. One category is known as the freestyle (a.k.a. street or improvisation) group of dances, which includes dances like Salsa and Bachata. The other category is the Ballroom Latin American dances (a.k.a. International Latin style), which includes dances like the Cha Cha Cha and the Rumba. The Ballroom Latin American genre is more focused on dancing set sequences or pre-learnt segments of choreography strictly adhering to the rhythm of the dance. The freestyle category is more focused on dancing in the moment and improvising moves whilst adhering to a basic set of rules or framework.
One benefit of freestyle dancing is to allow the dance figures to be spontaneous which can more closely reflect and mimic the melodies or percussive elements in the music. A great Salsa dancer can often embellish musical breaks or interesting melodic items with their own movements. This can be quite impressive and showcase the mastery of musicality within one’s body.
Ballroom Latin American styles tend to place more emphasis on dancing precisely to the rhythm, with less room for improvisation. At times, the pre-learnt sequence or choreography may not entirely suit the piece of music being played in competition, with their set sequence of moves perhaps not aligning well with the melodic line of the music. Because of this, much more focus is placed on perfecting the beauty of the movements in of themselves, dancing rhythmically and precisely.
In competitive Ballroom dancing, you traditionally learn a choreography with only the knowledge of the genre and tempo of the songs to be played. The actual song could be one you have never heard before, but you will still dance the same sequence of steps you have learnt. The mindset required for freestyle dancing and Ballroom dancing is quite different. We believe to be a well rounded dancer you should be skilled in the execution of both.
I have tried to provide more details below, due to being personally involved in both categories of dancing myself. However, please note, this is still just a very brief summary, as a comprehensive description and explanation of Latin Dancing would require an entire book.
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Freestyle/Street Latin Partner Dancing
This category includes dances like Merengue, Salsa, Bachata, Zouk and Kizomba, plus many more we will not mention. Street dancing is a category of dancing that is a true lead and follow dance, in which the leader (who is traditionally the man) initiates the movement, and the follower (who is traditionally the female) completes the movement, depending on the signals or gestures in the lead. Depending on the move or figure, there may be a little assistance or counter balance from the leader to complete the move, but it is always gentle in nature and never forceful.
With all freestyle dances, once someone is acquainted with the basics and framework of the dance they can easily dance with other people. This makes it a great option for social dancing. This is one reason Salsa's popularity has exploded, for it is a great way to have fun without requiring a dedicated dance partner as you can dance freely with anyone who knows the basics.
There is no world governing organisation recognised for freestyle/street dancing, and each dance itself can have many variants or styles around the world. Salsa for instance has 4 main styles; “Linear salsa on 1”, “Linear salsa on 2” along with “Cuban salsa” and finally “Cali style”. Even these subcategories have noticeable differences in different parts of the world. Some styles are named from the geographic region in which they are quite popular, such as L.A. (Los Angeles) style salsa, and N.Y. (New York) style salsa.
Because there is no governing body or universally agreed technique book it can sometimes lead to difficulties in deciding what style you wish to learn, and also how to reconcile the differences in competitions with mixed styles. One advantage of freestyle dance forms is that they can develop organically. For example, Salsa has heavily borrowed from many other dance styles with a richness almost unparalleled – it’s main influence stretching all the way from the earthly Afro-Cuban movements through to polished Ballroom Latin figures.
Street Latin partner dancing requires only a modest investment of time to become reasonably skilled at social dancing. Once the basics are well understood, students are able to dance anywhere in the world at a social dance night or congress / convention because of it being a true lead and follow dance style. I have found, that on average, the stepping patterns and body action in Street Latin (as opposed to Ballroom Latin American) are also easier to learn and a little more accessible for adult learners that are limited with the time they can spend dancing or rehearsing.
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At Con Caruso Dance we teach Linear Salsa on 1 – this is one of the most popular salsa dance styles in the world. The techniques taught are based on all the world class instruction Con & Anita have received, along with their application of general dance principles & theory.
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Ballroom Latin American Partner Dancing
Ballroom Latin American dancing most commonly found in Australasia encompasses 5 internationally recognised dance styles. This group of dances is known as International Latin and these are the dance styles as used in competitive ballroom dancing here.
Alternatively, the large Ballroom franchises in America also have a somewhat similar related group of Latin dances called American Rhythm, however these are generally only danced in American Ballrooms and not as popular worldwide so we will not mention them further.
These 5 dances in International Latin are the Cha Cha Cha, the Samba, the Rumba, the Paso Doble and the Jive. It’s interesting that the Jive and Paso Doble were included in this grouping of Latin dances within the Ballroom community, as the character of Jive is an American swing or Jazz dance and Paso Doble is a Spanish / French inspired bullfighting dance with really only European heritage.
To progress in Ballroom dancing, each of the 5 dance style’s mentioned has a number of levels that are traditionally taught. Each encompass a somewhat universally agreed list of dance figures. Bronze level is the lowest level, followed by Silver level and then onto Gold level. Alongside learning the figures in a structured way, most students are also encouraged to attend competitive Ballroom dancing in the Latin American genre. This usually entails finding a dedicated dance partner with a similar technical level – much easier said than done!
The main world governing bodies of this style of dancing are the WDSF (World Dance Sport Federation) and the (WDC) World Dance Council. Each country has it’s own regional bodies, in NZ to my knowledge, we have two main bodies; the NZFDT (New Zealand Federation of Dance Teachers) and the NZFADT (New Zealand Federal Association of Teachers of Dance) – kind of confusing huh!
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Ballroom Latin American Partner Dancing vs Freestyle/Street Partner Dancing
Whilst I personally really enjoy Ballroom Latin American dancing and the attention to detail it requires, I have noticed that the scene has been shrinking in the competitive adult grades. Well over a decade ago, when I was in competitive ballroom dancing, it was really quite popular and had a good base here in Christchurch. I can only surmise that it’s become difficult to compete with the huge diversity of freestyle dances that are now on offer. Furthermore, most of these freestyle dance styles are more relatable to the average adult who may have never danced before or taken much interest in Latin music prior to dancing.
For adults, there are other obstacles to learning Latin American in traditional Ballroom studios. One being that you generally require a dedicated dance partner to move past the lower levels, and the only way to access good tuition in a smaller region (well almost everywhere now) is by private lessons, often many times a week. This can be time and cost prohibitive for some. I know some absolutely phenomenal Ballroom Latin American dancers that have simply given up because they have no available dedicated partner in their city. It’s really sad to lose talent out of the dance scene this way.
We have taken some of this into account in formulating our classes, and this is why we only offer core courses from the Ballroom Latin American genre in the Cha Cha Cha and Rumba syllabus. We believe these are the two most accessible styles to the average person who may be learning dance as an adult for the first time.
Con and Anita rely on their vast experience in freestyle dancing to help communicate how these Latin American dance figures can also be led spontaneously on the dance floor, placing less reliance on pre-rehearsed sequences and choreography.
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At the end of the day, both the street/freestyle Latin dancing and Ballroom Latin American are beautiful in their own ways, showcasing mastery of different types of skills. To become a well rounded dancer I encourage you to explore the dance forms that you find interesting and inspiring. Participating in Ballroom Latin American was one of the factors that improved my freestyle/street style dancing a great deal and it could well do the same for you.
My message for you, is that everyone’s dance journey is unique. Having some experience in varied dance styles will enhance your overall dance ability, confidence and musicality.
Congratulation if you made it all the way to the end of this article, see you in class ! - Con Caruso