Vacation & Cruise Dance (Bossa Nova & Merengue)

Like Reggae music or getting ready for a cruise/Caribbean vacation? Learn the dance of Jamaica, featuring the music of Bob Marley. The music is a combination of American and Brazilian Jazz. The dance is commonly referred to as a lazy man’s Samba. Easy to learn for beginner dancers. Want to be sure you are ready to dance the night away during your summer vacation? Merengue, an easy and lively dance perfect for all levels of experience, is the national dance of the Dominican Republic. The music has a constant “scratching” sound in the background and should inspire a marching feeling.

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Allenna Shellenberger

Polka is a social dance commonly used at parties and weddings. It draws its background from German and Polish music. Although there are many ethnic variations, most involve triple steps in a continuous forward movement combined with side by side patterns. Polka music is evenly accented on all 4 beats.

June 23, 6:00 - 8:00 PM: As a special treat, our friends and local Polka band Rosie & The Jammers will be coming for our final class to provide music for a Polka dance party!

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Allenna Shellenberger

Tired of slow dancing like you are still in high school? Try this class and make your slow dancing more fun, exciting, and enjoyable. One of the most useful and versatile social dances, the Slow Dance can be danced over a large area or over a small area. It is most often used with contemporary love songs. Slow Dance is a combination of Foxtrot, Tango, Bossa Nova, and Samba movements. Slow Dance music should feel very slow and romantic. Enjoy your time with a special someone in this class.

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Allenna Shellenberger

This concentrated class will give students a fantastic variety of waltz and foxtrot, two of the three smooth dances of ballroom. The Waltz was the first music to be written in 3/4 timing. Most Waltzes were originally written for the church. The three beats in a measure were to represent the Holy Trinity. The Foxtrot originated in the summer of 1914 by Vaudeville actor Harry Fox. The New York Theater was converted into a movie house, and the theater’s management decided to try Vaudeville acts between the shows. Harry Fox was doing trotting steps to ragtime music, and that is how Fox’s Trot was born.

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructors: Allenna Shellenberger

The history of Swing dates back to the 1920’s when the African American community, while dancing to contemporary Jazz music, discovered the Charleston. This evolved into several other styles of dance including the Lindy Hop and the Jitterbug. In the 1930’s and during World War II, Swing music came into being with the music of Benny Goodman leading the way. Today, Swing styles include: Savoy Swing, Lindy, West Coast Swing, Carolina Shag, East Coast Swing, Jitterbug and Jive.

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Angela R. Godin

The word Rumba is a generic term for a type of West Indes music or dancing. There are two sources of the dance: one Spanish and the African. Although the main growth was in Cuba, there were similar dance developments which took place in other Caribbean islands and Latin America generally. Typical Rumba music sounds very sensual and contains a constant tapping or a clave rhythm. Interestingly, this dance works beautifully across many genres of Latin music, as well as country and classic rock.

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Allenna Shellenberger

Like disco music? Learn the dance created in the night clubs of New York to fit the music. The Hustle is believed to have originated in New York in 1970. It went through many variations in the seventies, with line dances for groups of people, solo movements that came and went, and partnership dances. These partnership dances include the Basic Hustle, Latin Hustle, Spanish Hustle, and Tango Hustle.

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Angela R. Godin

The Cha Cha is on of the main five Latin dances in ballroom and is defined by its sharp angles and precise foot placements. The dance moves through two tracks on the floor. One track moves in a precise sideward direction and the other track moves in a precise forward and back direction. Cha Cha music crosses many genres and generations, from traditional Latin sounds to 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s, and current music.

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Allenna Shellenberger

West Coast Swing is currently danced with a very sultry, sensual feeling with flirtatious wraps and turns. West Coast Swing music, like East Coast Swing, is accented on beats 2 & 4. However, the music is typically more gritty and “bluesy.”

Level:  ★★ & Up

Instructor: Angela R. Godin