From Mazurka in 1750 to Hip Hop
in 2008 (4 of 4)

This is the fourth and final segment in the series. If you missed the first three, you can find them at these website addresses:
www.echoworld.com/B08/B0803/B0803HW2.htm 
(the first segment), www.echoworld.com/B08/B0804/B0804HW.htm
(the second segment) and at http://www.echoworld.com/B08/B0805/B0805hw1.htm
(the third segment).

Herwig Wandschneider

1970 - Present

In spite of the Rock' n Roll acrobatic years, normal social and ballroom dance lessons continued everywhere in the world. As a normal consequence, social Ballroom and Latin dance competitions were and are held everywhere in the world, nationally and internationally.

With the help of the many countries and cultures, different dances arrived on the world scene and continue to be danced today.

1. Social Foxtrot: persisted from its start at the Roseland Ballroom, New York, since 1912
2. Tango: Argentina, started about 1920 when German immigrants brought the little Hand Harmonica to Argentina. After the daily work on the pampas was done the men danced together and developed the Argentinean Tango. The tango arrived in England around 1933 and is no stranger to the dance floor today.
3. Slow or English Waltz started in England in 1933 by the famous Victor Sylvester.
4. Slow Foxtrot: another typical English development with the most difficult beat to dance to.
5. Quickstep: basically a faster social Foxtrot. The dance is a linear dance and should be danced around the dance floor counter clock wise.

… and many more

Alex Moore from Kingston on Thames, south of London, England, wrote the world-famous theory book "The Revised Technique" for 4 standard dances in 1934.

In Germany, the Deutscher Tanzsportverband e.V. (DTV) started in 1921 in Neu-Isenburg. Today it is the Umbrella Organization for all amateur dance and dance-related activity associations and organizes numerous dance competitions. They eventually hired "dancesport trainers from the sport university in Cologne" .

The term "Ballroom Dancing" has in fact progressed in this period to the term "Dancesport" in recognition of the fact that a vigorous rumba, for example, burns up the same calories and requires the same exertion as a bicycle competition or a footrace over a similar period of time according to a University of Freiburg study, which was published in the November 1997 issue of Forbes Magazine. Ballroom Dancing requires physical fitness, stamina, strength, flexibility and above all, muscular control and balance. It is therefore not surprising that Dance Associations around the world today lobby for inclusion of Ballroom Dancing in Olympic competitions.

Also in Germany, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Tanzlehrer Verband (ADTV) started in Enzkloesterle im Schwarzwald in 1936 and covers all professional dance teachers in Germany. The ADTV studios had their own "unified" social dance syllabus" for social dancers of all age groups. This syllabus is meant for the absolute beginners who really do not know left from right. Also part of it is the book on etiquette "Umgangsformen für den Täglichen Gebrauch".

In the 1970s and 80s solo dances found their way to the dance floor, such as "Disco-Dancing", the "Hip Hop" and many others and are actively pursued in local clubs. My opinion is that such dances as the "hip hop" are absolutely useless. They are the downfall of all civilized dancing which had started in 1750.

The Economist (a world-wide weekly magazine originating from England) brings us to the very present with their take on the Latin Dance "Salsa". According to the March 29-April 4, 2008 issue (Vol 386 # 8573 ……. "salsa has become the biggest international dance craze since the advent of Rock'n'roll in the 1950s, and dwarfs even the popularity of tango during the 1920s. It has spawned a new niche for the tourist industry, as stiff-hipped northerners fly south to learn to loosen up". It goes on to say that " Its appeal spread outside the (Caribbean) region in the 1990s, for reasons that are not hard to divine. A fast, intimate couple dance, it allows much contact between partners, generating sexual frisson."

…. "The Dominican Republic is an anomaly. It has produced several top bands but "Salsa" is barely danced except by tourists. The locals prefer 'Merengue', at carwashes equipped with bars. At weekends the forecourt is filled with tables and a live band. Salsa may come, but for now if you want to spend Saturday night at the carwash you'll need to dance 'Merengue'."

To master the fast Salsa, you need to first learn (and be proficient with) the Rumba and Mambo. The Salsa developed from these dances in Cuba and elsewhere in the Caribbean largely because the Rumba and Mambo were considered to be slow and boring for the age 20’s and 30’s crowd. Above all, you need to be in very good physical shape.

Horst Kessler

Note by Herwig Wandschneider::

Herr Kessler began his career in dance in 1950 in Jena, Germany. He received intensive competition training at A.T. Schmucki Dance School in Zurich, Switzerland and passed tests with HC (highly commended). He worked as assistant in Munich. In Canada since 1966 he taught part-time at various clubs and trained instructors at Social Dance Studios, before moving to Kitchener in 1973. He opened Kessler Studio of Dance in 1976. Following his first competition in 1979, he organized 58 Dancesport Festivals, Studio- and semi-annual competitions. He danced in 148 competitions at all levels and has served as judge nationally and internationally. He appeared monthly on the CKCO-TV on the Betty Thompson Show. He is a full member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association and continues to teach and judge. He dreams of setting up a Viennese Ball at Bingeman Park In Kitchener with 200 elegantly dressed couples for the 2008-2009 dance season.

Photos: Herwig Wandschneider