Dances We Teach

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Dances We Teach

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Cha Cha

The Cha Cha is the Latin dance where you can relax and let your personality show. In terms of overall Latin dancing, Cha Cha is one of the most popular Latin dances in the U.S. The Cha Cha began as part of the Mambo. It was so easy and so much fun, it became the rage of the early 1950s. Its infectious one-two, one-two-three rhythm demands that sitters become dancers. Everybody can learn the Cha Cha, and they should.

Foxtrot

The Fox Trot is the foundation for your ballroom dancing and, therefore, is often called the “get-acquainted” or “first impression” ballroom dance. In 1913, Harry Fox, a vaudeville comedian, introduced a trot to a ragtime song in the 1913 Ziegfeld Follies that pushed other trots into the background. It became America’s most popular dance and remains to this day as the standard of social dances.

The Hustle

The Hustle dances gives us the fusion of Swing and Disco. The Hustle marked a return to popular dances where couples danced together touching each other. In the early 1970s, Saturday Night Fever made disco dancing, and the Hustle in particular, extremely popular on the floors of New York. The Hustle is still popular today, and is danced to modern “Disco” music based on Rhythm and Blues.

Mambo

The Mambo wild feeling within that has to be released with certain restraint will explode in a harmony of movement in the Mambo. In the 1940s Americans became fascinated by Latin American rhythms. The Mambo combined American Jazz with an Afro-Cuban beat. Arthur Murray® Dance Studios became famous for turning out some of the best Mambo dancers of the era. Today, Latin dancing and the Mambo is exciting to dance and to watch.

Merengue

The Merengue was considered too scandalous when it was introduced to the United States in 1941. Its point of origin is uncertain; both Haiti and the Dominican Republic claim it, and the dance contains elements of both cultures. Today, the exciting rhythms of the Merengue inspire dancers all over the world to move with its intoxicating latin dancing beat.

Quickstep

The Quickstep is a popular ballroom dance that originated in the Charleston and the foxtrot crazes of the 1920s. Faster than the foxtrot, it’s a relatively easy dance to learn but challenging to master, particularly as you progress through the fundamentals. It requires a lot of energy and the ability to dance lightly and gracefully on your feet; the best quickstep dancers often appear as if their feet barely touch the ground.

Rumba

The Rumba sharpens your sense of rhythm, timing, and muscular control. Rumba was the beginning of Cuban and Latin American dance crazes. Danced to music inspired by African rhythms and Spanish melodies, the Americanized Rumba was the basis for Latin dancing, including the Mambo and Cha Cha in the United States. For romantic social ballroom dancing, the Rumba is the dance to know.

Salsa

Salsa is the street version of Mambo. The increased popularity of Latin dancing and music makes the Mambo, Salsa, and Cha Cha the dances to master. These moves from south of the border are sensual as well as invigorating. You’ll be ready to join in the excitement of the latest dance craze and club-hop with the best of them in just a few lessons from one of Arthur Murray®’s talented dance instructors.

Samba

The Samba South American Waltz sparkles, happy and bubbly, and develops effervescence and spontaneity. The national dance of Brazil became the rage of Brazilian society in the 1930s, but began as an exhibition dance in Paris in 1905. Movie star and singer Carmen Miranda is credited with making the dance popular in the U.S. in the early 1940s. It is extremely popular today because it is easily adapted to different tempos. Everybody who lands in Rio must know how to dance the Samba.

Swing

The Swing brings forth a buoyant personality and the sprightliness of the dance becomes contagious. Whether you’re Jump-Jivin’ or doing the Dirty Boogie, Swing dancing is the thing. It’s energetic, alive, and a lot of fun. These dances, popular in the first half of the last century, have become “all the rage” again. Arthur Murray® can teach you to swing in the new millennium in no time at all.

Tango

The Tango Rudolph Valentino single-handedly danced this Latin import into nationwide popularity beginning in 1910. Although widely believed to have originated in Argentina, it actually may have come from Spain. It’s dramatic, exciting and known as the Dancer’s Dance. The Tango, with all its staccato movements, greatly improves a man’s lead or a woman’s ability to follow and develops a strong sense of feeling for music.

Waltz

The Waltz gives dancers the nicest kind of chance to practice balance and to move lightly with ease. Considered the mother of our present ballroom dances, the Waltz began in southern Germany in the 17th century. The popularity of the Waltz grew with the music of Johann Strauss. It eventually blossomed in the 20th century as the Hesitation Waltz. It is the basis for many ballroom dances and is popular today all over the world.