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| I am surprised to learn that dancers in UK would dance Rumba on beat 1 or 3. As my understanding, UK ballroom dancers do only international style Rumba, therefore would always dance on beat 2. As for myself, after many years of dancing American style Rumba, I have great difficulty dance on beat 2. Regards, Keh Gough |
| I am a trained musician for 20 years (I even played as a guest artist in one local Latin-jazz ensemble) so I can give you part of the reason why '2 3 4-1' is used in International rumba... In most of the old-time rumba songs (take "Cuban
Pete"), and that includes the slow 'guaracha'
(or cha-cha-cha) songs, you often will hear the
bongero (or 'bongo drummer) do a slow slapping
high 'backbeat' on the 2nd beat, and on the
4th beat (the first half and the second), you will hear the bongero do a two-eighth 'secondary backbeat'. To put it simply, 'slap accent' on the 2nd beat, and two low secondary accents on the 4th beat. A good way to practice the basic International
rumba rhythm is to do the Basic Movement this
way: Put on some rumba music (preferably a p r actice number involving only the percussion so that you only hear the bongos); begin to settle (on beat
1), so when you hear the 'slap' on the second
beat, step forward or back, and on the 4th beat,
step forward or back in the opposite direction,
and settle again to go on the next step on 1.
That way, you will feel the accent on the '2' beat. Charles Smith
'The Little Lily Of Ballroom Dancing"
(cjsmith2@uiuc.edu) |
| This question is debated in a slightly different form on all the salsa sites (I.e. mambo/salsa breaking on 1 vs. 2). There is an interesting discussion on this issue in the newsgroup, "rec.arts.dance" under the thread, "Newbie Question - Mambo Count 2." It is generally acknowledged that currently the break step in salsa can be on 1, 2 or 3 depending on where you live, a dancers unique style or based on the music. It seems from this discussion that historically this was also the case. There is anecdotal evidence that in the 40's, mambo was also danced with the break on several different beats depending on the dancer. Whoever documented these dances (IS rumba and mambo) chose the "on-2" version, possibly just to be consistent with cha-cha (pure speculation on my part). Blair |
| Keh -- I expect that an English dancer would be able to give a more definitive answer, but my impression was that dancers in the UK will start with whichever foot is convenient. As long as the man is clear as to which foot he's on and wants the lady's weight to be, it doesn't really matter. OTOH, there's a tendency in the US for the leaders to start with their LF almost all the time which involves a preparation step if the first figure actually starts on the RF. Which foot you start with shouldn't matter as long as you make it clear to your partner which foot she should have free (as noted above). --
James Marshall
marshall@astro.umd.edu
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall |
| Keh I don't think I can answer your question, as the answer will vary too much depending on the circumstances, but hear are some thoughts.. If the dance is announced as a Rumba, then most ladies in the UK will expect to dance IS. The better dancers should be able to match your lead and timing, but some may be tempted to "correct" you.
If the dance is not announced, then most ladies will probably follow you ok. If you dance a box SQQ some more experienced ones may think you are dancing Bossa Nova. In general, in the UK, there is no such thing as social style, just a different level of performance of IS. The extremes range from a toned down competition routine to an almost unrecognisable shuffle, but the basic steps are the same. |
| I assure you that there is at least one dance school in London which teaches American Social. When I go to parties downtown, most of the people there dance international. However, when I get invited, I just tell that I am learning Social. I have seen quite a few good dancers who can do both styles. Sometimes they would add some elements from International, than I try to follow the best I can.  Rumba hybrids included three variations: box step which starts on first beat (proper Social as I learned it), international steps starting from either first or second beats. Perhaps, the second "hybrid" was just a curtesy of advanced dancers who knew that social rumba starts one bit earlier.  |
| I'm more of a standard man myself, but I'll try to help and maybe some other responses will help more. I think cha cha is a little easier to explain. The music does indeed have a strong beat on one, but it also has the characteristic cha cha sound on 4&1. Since you want your feet and dancing to match the music, you do your cha cha steps on the 4&1 and take your forward/back break (say in a basic) on 2. It's a little harder for rumba, I think, and I don't have the new technique book on hand to look at. However, according to the old book, using the correct hip motion gives you a lateral hip swing as you flex the knee of the moving leg on 1 resulting in the foot being placed (the step taken) on 2. According to them, this is supposed to feel natural. Maybe the new book has a better explanation, but I can't remember without checking. I think the music does usually have the feel of stretching/holding the 4-1 and then breaking on 2, but it probably takes some practice to hear/feel that. This may not be a great explanation, so hopefully some other people will reply and provide some more help. James Marshall
marshall@astro.umd.edu
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall |
| you are so right re ......if you learn sequence dancing first then try and learn 2nd beat rumba later it is difficult to say the least, i know thru experience, but as you say we are happy  |
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