How to Dance

Explore the history of Latin dance-from Spanish and Caribbean immigrants to African slaves, Spanish troubadours, and more. Since most of Latin dance evolved in Cuba, you'll learn the knee movements that lead to the hip action known as Cuban motion. With Cuban motion and closed-change foot action, you're ready to learn the individual Latin dances.

Rumba comes from the Cuban Spanish word rumbo, meaning "party"-and that's exactly what the rumba is. It's a passionate dance that is said to embody important elements of life and love. In this lesson, you'll learn the American version of the dance by exploring the rumba box, rumba rocks, crossover breaks, and more.

The mambo is a Latin dance from Cuba that became extremely popular in New York in the 1940s and '50s. In mambo, the dancers keep their feet directly underneath their body weight, not traveling a great deal. Even so, this quick dance can be full of fun twists and turns. Master the mambo basics along with several partner patterns, including open breaks and double turns.

The cha-cha, born in Cuba from the mambo, was one of the most popular dances in the US in the 1950s. Discover how to dance the cha-cha's defining triple step-which differentiates it from the rum-ba and mambo-as well as rock steps, switch turns, crossover breaks, and more. And, both the follower and leader can turn in the cha-cha, making it even more fun to dance and to watch!

The salsa-mixing Cuban mambo with New York jazz-has many local variations. Here, you'll learn how to dance LA salsa, also known as "On 1." While this is a fast dance without a lot of traveling, arm styling and spins add freedom and creativity. You'll discover salsa's circular motion while learning rock steps, spot turns, salsa breaks, twists, and more.

Join in on a Latin dance party. Along with your teachers, you'll enjoy dancing the rumba, mambo, cha-cha, and salsa. The similarities between these four Latin dances will be obvious, both in the dance steps and the musical instrumentation. But watching the styles one right after the other, you'll be able to clearly hear the varying rhythms that make each style unique.

Swing dance is one of the earliest true American dance forms. From the Lindy Hop, known as the grandfather of swing, several subsequent dance styles developed. The majority of swing dances stay in place but rotate in circular motion, with energetic, tight turns. In this lesson, you'll learn the basic rhythm of swing, and the main dance elements-the rock step and the triple step.

Single-time swing might be the first dance style developed specifically for television. The music tempo featured on American Bandstand in the 1950s was too fast for triple-steps and Latin hip motion, which the censors did not want to see on after-school TV, in any case. Explore the solo and partner patterns-including the throw out and the cuddle-of this single-time swing.

East Coast swing includes the triple steps that were removed in single-time swing. It is danced to medium-tempo music, with part of the steps underneath the body weight, and the other part traveling. You'll learn variations on the single-time steps from the previous lesson, as well as how to put some spin in the dance by rotating the triple steps.