Dance Styles:

1910: The Argentine Tango:

The exact origins of the Argentinian Tango are unknown but many believe that it came about from the African slaves who were brought to Argentina in the 1800s. Whatever its origin, the word "tango" came to represent where African slaves and free blacks gathered to dance. Argentina was undergoing a massive immigration during the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1869, Buenos Aires (Argentinas capital city) had a population of 180,000. By 1914, its population was 1.5 million people. These immigrants came from all over the world and as such, the Argentinian culture became very diverse. Music in particular developed using a combination of all these cultures. The Tango most likely emerged in the slums of Argentina, which housed the dance halls, brothels and bars. It was here that the African rhythms met the Argentine milonga music and soon new steps were invented that developed into the tango. The elite in the Argentinian society looked down on the vulgar dance, but many of the sons frequented these clubs for fun and soon the Tango was a well know dance and music culture. This dance was extremely scandalous during a time where the only touching during dance was the irregular meeting of the hands and bodies that were as separate as possible while still maintaining contact. The Tango was a dance that included very close bodily contact, caresses and romance, and back then was considered a prelude to further romantic relations. There was also another aspect of this dance that was at the time, extremely abstract, this was when men got together and practiced dance moves with each other as no woman with a good reputation would participate in the Tango. Groups of men would get together and create dance moves to use at the next Tango event. The worldwide spread of the tango came in the early 1900s when wealthy sons of Argentine society made their way to Paris and introduced the tango to societies around the world who were eager for change. By 1913, the tango had become an international phenomenon in Paris, London and New York. From the dance there emerged the Tango culture, The Argentinian Tango is an improvisational dance mainly made up of walking, turning, stopping and embellished movement. Women and men bring their own styles and embellishments to the dance which contributes to the excitement and unpredictability of the dance. The Argentine tango is danced counter clockwise around the dance space and is different from other ballroom dances as both partners contribute rather than only the man leading.

1920: The Charleston

The Charleston was a dance that became huge in the 1920s, when jazz music was extremely popular and influential. The Charleston was a fast paced dance done to the tune of ragtime music and had a 4/4 rhythm. This very energetic dance was in many ways a representation of the enthusiasm of the younger generations of this time. It is believed that the Charleston dance originated from earlier styles of dance such as the black bottom and was first danced by the black population on the coast of South Carolina in a place called Charleston. The Charleston dance had been performed in black communities since 1903, but did not become internationally popular until the musical debuted in 1923. Even though it is most likely that this dance was around before the 1920s it became an absolute craze with the release of the Broadway show Running Wild which first featured the Charleston dance to the song of the same name The Charleston Before the Charleston dance, dances of this era rarely involved movement of the upper body and arms. The Charleston changes all this and this dance with its very liberal movements was regarded as decadent. One of the strongest characteristics of this dance was the strong flapping of the arms that resembled the movements of a bird, the flapping of the wings. Which was how the nickname Flappers came about as the female dancers of the Charleston made these movements famous. This dance was especially popular with these young women who were seen as rebellious teens as they were renowned for their scandalous behaviour, which included wearing short dresses, bobbing their hair and listening to jazz music. The Charleston dance uses both swaying arms and the fast movement of the feet. To begin the dance, one first moves the right foot back one step and then kicks backwards with the left foot while the right arm moves forward. Then both feet and arms are replaced to the start position and the right foot kicks forwards while the right arm moves backwards. This is done with a little hop in between steps.

1930: Burlesque Fan Dance Fan dancing is a popular form of dance that has a historical Asian background dating back hundreds of years. The dance is now popular around the world and became famous in America in the early to mid 1900s. In Japan, the fan played a significant part in Japanese culture. Originally the handheld fans were created to induce airflow to the aristocrats for cooling off. These fans symbolized friendship and respect towards one another until a new purpose for these fans emerged, dancing. Several hundred years ago during the reign of Emperor Jimmu, the Japanese fan dance was choreographed for private performances. Originally the steps of the choreographed dance were slow, deliberate and suggestive.

Fan dancing became popular in America during the 1930s when the acrobatic dancer Sally Rand performed this dance at the Chicagos Century of Progress exposition in 1933. This brought the style of Burlesque dancing to America and started a craze