My New Passion: Ballroom Dance (Part I of many…)

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”
(Henry David Thoreau – Walden – chapter 18: Conclusion, paragraph 12).

About a month ago, I started another dance course. This time it is “Ballroom Dance”. The course consists in the practice of several rhythms that can be danced by couples as  Gafieira, Bolero, Salsa , Cha cha cha, Country, Merengue, Lindy Hop, Waltz, and others… So far I have learned some Merengue, Forró and Samba. I shall describe some of them here and in the future, post some more pictures. Below, a description of samba and merengue.

Samba

Brazilian ballroom samba, samba for short (since I am Brazilian and this is about ballroom, when I say samba I mean Brazilian ballroom samba) will be described. How to describe a dance with words? Beginning by the rhythm of the dance (not to be confused with the rhythm of the music) followed by the steps them selves, which are compared to other known dances. Actually, first of all the rhythm of the music itself must be discussed.

The basic ideas of the samba music, the rhythm of the dance and one of its basic steps are covered. This will give an idea of the movement. Very important, but not covered here are the posture, the leading, the musicality and all the little features that give what we call in Portuguese the “ginga” and which may differ very much from other dances. Briefly, take the waltz posture with some more of hugging (quite more indeed) and do not look to opposite sides, but to each other or both to the left side of the gentlemen, cheek to cheek.

Merengue

Hot! Hot! Hot! It’s Merengue, sometimes called the sister dance to Salsa, Merengue originated in the Caribbean around the 1850′s and has grown in popularity as a worldwide dance due in part to the simplicity of the dance. It is a very easy dance for beginners, probably the easiest dance you will ever learn. The Merengue basic is danced as a walking step with a step taken on every beat of music. While hip movement is a must for Merengue, the amount of hip movement varies with personal preference.