Country/western dance, also called Country and Western dance, encompasses many dance forms or styles, which are typically danced to country-western music, and which are stylistically associated with American country and/or western traditions. Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Western United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American West or simply the West &mdashtraditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost
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Dances
Country western dances can be placed into two basic categories:
- Partner dances include those that are mostly lead and follow, and pattern partner dances. Partner dances are the Dances whose basic choreography involves coordinated dancing of two partners as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually Lead and follow dances include: Two Step, Waltz, and Polka. Partner pattern dances include: Horseshoe Shuffle, Traveling Cha Cha, Sweetheart Stroll, Schottische, and Cotton Eyed Joe. The Schottische is a partnered Country dance, Bohemian in origin " Cotton-Eye Joe " is a popular American Folk song known at various times throughout the United States and Canada, although today it is most commonly
Western couple dancing is a form of social dance. Group dances are danced by groups of people simultaneously as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually and as opposed to couples dancing together Social dance is a major category or classification of Danceforms or dance styles where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing Many different dances are done to country-western music. These dances include: Two Step, Waltz, cha cha, Polka, shuffle, Western promenade dances, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, and Nightclub Two Step. The waltz is a ballroom and folk Dance in time, performed primarily in Closed position. The polka is a fast lively Central European Dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas Western promenade dances are a form of Partner dance traditionally danced to country-western music, and which are stylistically associated with American East Coast Swing ( ECS) is a form of social Partner dance that evolved from the Lindy Hop with the work of the Arthur Murray dance West Coast Swing ( WCS) is a Partner dance derived from Lindy Hop. Nightclub Two Step ( Nightclub Two-step, NC2S) was initially developed by Buddy Schwimmer in the mid-1960s The Two Step and various Western promenade or pattern couples dances are unique to country western dancing.
Western group dances include the following:
History
From the earliest days, the dances and the music that accompanied them were brought to America by the people of the British Isles, continental Europe, and Africa. A line dance is choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines (British English "rows" without regard Square dance is a Folk dance with four couples (eight dancers arranged in a square with one couple on each side beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going Traditional square dance is a generic term for any style of Square dance other than modern Western. Modern Western square dance (also called Western square dance, contemporary Western square dance, modern American square dance or modern square dance The Virginia Reel, based on the "Sir Roger de Coverly" became popular after the French Revolution. Quadrilles, too, including the cotillon, anglicized as cotillion, were brought to America by French dancing masters. Their influence survives in terms used in square dancing. [1]
The term "jig" has been used to describe various forms of solo dance steps, as well as music, and has not been well defined. Jigs, clogs, hornpipes, and other step dances may have come from some forgotten ethnic past, or nothing more than an individual improvisation. Other early terms used to describe either solo dancing or steps done as part of a circle or square dance were buck-and-wing, flat-footing, double shuffle, hoedown, and breakdown. [2]
"Frolics" were community events often associated with events such as corn shucking, house raising, etc, with a feast and dancing at the end of the labors. A fiddler, often a black man, was the main source of music for dance music. The banjo, too, derived from earlier African instruments, was also important. Reels, square dances, waltzes, polkas and other couple dances were performed with a spirit of freedom and improvisation, "all so mingled that it is a dance without name". [3]
"House parties" featuring music and dancing were common in the South through the 1920s, the dawn of commercialized country music. Popular tunes played by fiddlers such as "Sailor's Hornpipe", or "The Virginia Reel" were increasingly divorced from the dances that bore the same names. ref>Don't Get above Your Raisin' by Bill C. Malone. 2001. University of Illinois Press. page 157. ISBN 0-252-02678-0</ref>
In the late 1930s through the 1950s millions of Americans in the Lower Great Plains danced to Western Swing at roadhouses, county fairs and dance halls in small towns. This article is about the Musical genre. For the popular western swing Steel guitar tuning see E9 tuning. The music was strictly for dancing, and included mostly the simpler one and two step dances with quite a few foxtrots along with both "cowboy" and "Mexican" waltzes. [1]
Cain's Dance Academy opened in 1930 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. People danced to "hot hillbilly music" or "hot string-band music". Bob Wills and Texas Play Boys played Western Swing nightly from 1934 until 1943. James Robert (Bob Wills ( March 6, 1905 &ndash May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician Songwriter This article is about the Musical genre. For the popular western swing Steel guitar tuning see E9 tuning. Crowds at Cain's Ballroom were as large as 6,000 people. Regular shows continued until 1958 with Johnnie Lee Wills as the bandleader. [2]
During the early days of WWII National Guardsmen patrolled the beaches of Venice, California in search of enemy submarines and ships. During the daytime, Venice became a major draw for sailors and soldiers on weekend leave. Country Western and Swing music echoed from the dance halls and casino lounges. [3]
Bands playing Western Swing attracted "people (who) were top-notch jitterbugging, jumping around, cutting loose and going crazy” during the 1940s and into the 1950s. In the Los Angeles area, the Venice Pier Ballroom, the Riverside Rancho in Los Feliz, and the Santa Monica Ballroom were all homes to popular Western Swing bands. [4]
After WWII the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco hosted a syndicated radio show that featured Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. Wills opened the Wills Point nightclub in Sacramento.
400 South Long Beach Boulevard in the suburb of Compton in Los Angeles, California was the site of California's largest barn dance. The Town Hall Barn Dance ran on Friday and Saturday nights from 1951 through 1961. Over 2,000 people paid to attend, and over 1,000 people danced to live performances of popular entertainers. The shows were broadcast both on radio and television. [5][6]
During the 1970s and 1980s Gilley's Club in Pasadena, Texas, with its Texas-size bar and a Texas-size dance floor could hold 6,000 people in its 48,000 square feet, and was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest nightclub. Gilley's is a famed Bar / Honky tonk founded in 1971 by country singer Mickey Gilley in Pasadena Texas. [7]
Clogging
Clogging is a step dance which is usually danced in groups to bluegrass music. Clogging is a type of Folk dance rooted in traditional European dancing from the British Isles, in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel Step dance is the generic term for dance styles where the footwork is the most important part of the dance Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of Country music. It originates from the Appalachian region and is associated with the predecessor to bluegrass — "old-time" music, which is based on Irish and Scots-Irish fiddle tunes. It could be described as a more animated version of Irish step dance or a country version of tap dancing. Irish dances can broadly be divided into Social dance and Performance dances Irish social dancing can be divided further into céilí and set Tap dance was developed in the United States during the nineteenth century and is popular nowadays in many parts of the world There are dance competitions for clogging. Competitive dance is a popular widespread activity in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, Ballet, jazz
Organizations
Country western dance is practiced in country western dance bars, social clubs, dance clubs and ballrooms worldwide.
The United Country Western Dance Council establishes standards and sanctions dance competitions for this form of dancing.
Newest Dance Circuit . . . American Country Dance Association came about in 2003. This new Country Western dance circuit was formed to reflect the changing needs and requests of the country dance community.
On Long Island, New York The Long Island Country Music Association , (a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of country music)offers information on events and lessons for both the novice and advanced country dancer.
See also
' Country dancing' is a loose term for a number of Dance forms such as Clogging, Contradance, Cumbia, Galop, Mazurka, Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic