(Disclaimer: I don't dance international style, though my teachers have gone over a little bit of it with me to satisfy my curiosity. I'm sure someone will jump in and correct this if it's wrong.)

American style is in some ways substantially different from international style. First of all, the dances are different.

American smooth is

• Foxtrot, typically a bit faster tempo than international, and there's a SSQQ timing in addition to the usual SQQ one
  
• Waltz
  
• Viennese waltz, slower tempo than in international (more on that below)
  
• Tango, which doesn't look much like international tango
  
• Peabody, a faster-than-quickstep foxtrot variant, though you don't see it too often
  

American rhythm is

• Cha-cha
  
• Mambo -- if you've seen salsa, you have a pretty good idea of what this one is like
  
• Rumba, slightly slower tempo and a different basic step than international style, as noted elsewhere in this thread
  
• Bolero, an extremely stylish slow rumba variant (I think it's the prettiest-looking and most expressive of the American-style dances in either category)
  
• East coast swing, similar to jive at first glance, but with an emphasis on downward rather than upward movement
  

Some of the stylistic differences are subtle, some are pretty blatant.

American-style Cuban motion involves transferring weight onto a bent leg and straightening, rather than the other way around as in international style. Other than that and some timing differences, an untrained eye would have a hard time distinguishing between American and international cha-cha.

In American smooth, partners aren't required to maintain body contact, the result being that it has a very different feel than standard. There are lots of open and shadow-position patterns that have no equivalents in interational style. Viennese waltz in American style tends to be danced to slightly slower music to allow for that. But foxtrot is often faster in American style, so go figure.

I think tango has a much more distinctive character in American style than in international style, and for my money it's the dance that differs most between American and international style. Lots of dramatic separations and closes. It seems to me that American-style tango is kind of halfway between international and Argentine tango in terms of its feel.

On the other hand, quickstep is much more interesting than Peabody to my eye, lest anyone think I'm being completely provincial here.

Since there's a lot of open work, lead/follow in smooth can't depend on body contact to the degree it does in standard, though that's less true at more advanced levels.

As to which is more difficult, well, I think it's about equally hard to be really good at either style. I think American is easier in the beginning, by design, to get newcomers out on the social dance floor quickly. But by the time you're past the basics, it seems to me you're going to be working on the same kinds of things either way.

Hope that's new info to some of you!

I have purchased several hundred dollars worth of DanceVision tapes and have never been dissatisfied. Ron Montez is my favorite instructor though. I think tapes are good to learn from if you already have the basics of timing and lead and follow. I've learned a ton from these tapes, which is good, because I don't have a studio locally, nor the time and money to take lessons.

You're welcome. Since you're in the UK, should I make a pun on Latin and "protem"? Hmm. Probably not... I hope I didn't give you the impression "international" style is not done in the US; it simply is not the *most* popular. So there's nothing odd about seeing US in a International competition. BTW, if I remember correctly, at least part of my family originally came over from Surrey.

My non-expert reply: American Style developed from social dancing and is a fully recognized competitive style of dance. I know little about International Style; my understanding is that the chief difference is that the man always starts on his left foot in American style. My instructors might add a few differences in the lead-and-follow arena, but I suspect they might be biased. American style is divided into two categories: Smooth and Rhythm, which correspond to International's Standard and Latin. I understand American style is the most common style in the U.S., while International is dominant elsewhere. So, "francann" is probably better off with American Style videos, as she hails from Texas...

Hi,
You have asked the videos..
And everybody advised you the dancevision tapes.
I saw them, but infact the instructors are all champions, they do not talk about the timing "a" . So you learn with 4&1 23, which is sooooo basic. This happens also in the bronz and gold level tapes.I hope dancevision improves the videos by the time, if they really want "the world teaching dance".

If you can find, I advise you the workshop tapes.

Bye.

Somuel

Ralph - genuinely grateful for info. Thank you. Of course International is danced from here thoughout Europe to China and Japan. Very very big in the latter two. I've seen various comps. and championships inc. American pro dancers. All dancing Intl. But not in America - huh?
Recently saw your USA Utah formation team Segueing their routines. Good team - UK is protem v.weak in formation but fair in Ballroom and Latin World comps. Again THANK YOU.

Iv'e seen most all of the videos on the market and dancevision is the best ! Paradigm digital puts out some good country tapes in swing,cha and waltz. Learning from tapes is not the best way to learn, but if it's tapes you want _ GET DANCEVISION

I have several Dancevision tapes, and have also found them to be very worthwhile. They do have their limits, as others have discussed, and are tough on my limited budget. One nice thing is that if you go to their web site (www.dancevision.com), click on their "video" selection in their "danceshop" and scroll down -- they have a section called "FREE Dance Lessons online." Following those links eventually takes you to a few excerpts from various tapes that you can see for free. You can check out how you like their "style" before buying....

But there's one thing that REALLY bugs me about Dancevision -- they use advertizing I find to be deceptive. They tell you how to earn "dancevision dollars" -- but nowhere on their site, or in their catelog, do they tell you a "dancevision dollar" is only worth a dime when you want to redeem them. >

On the other hand, they have a special introductory off er for first-time buyers, and a bunch of things are on sale right now. Good Luck.

The more experienced dancers in my local classes have reccommended the dancevision.com videos to me. While I have not seen any of them, I am told they present many of the moves for bronze level.
Hope this helps! Will be interested to see what videos others are recommending.