Balbo and shag tempoes

[Flat Shoes]

Follow up to what became a discussion about Balboa tempoes in the Salsa forum.
Original thread is here: http://dance-forums.com/showthread.php?t=32239
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Yes, and I can "dance " Salsa to Cumbia music ... and what the vids show is NOT pure Balboa, its a hybrid Swing /Balboa, hence the musical style . Its like saying Jive and Lindy are the same dances.

If you're dancin bal-swing, and dropping the break-away patterns, it becomes pure-bal. So if you can dance bal-swing to the music, you can dance pure-bal as well. If you don't believe me, just close your eyes whenever you see the couples breaking away from closed position.

Pure bal is danced to much the same music as bal-swing. Even though balboa can be danced to much slower music, it is very common to dance at these high tempoes, both for bal and shag. I know this well, and it is confirmed by numerous clips on youtube.

From wikipedia:

Balboa is danced to a wide variety of tempos. Because the basic step takes up such a small space, Balboa can be danced to fast music (over 300 beats per minute). Balboa is also danced to slow music (under 100 beats per minute), which allows more time for intricate footwork and variations.

 

[Steve Pastor]

One thing to note about anything in Wikipedia is whether or not there are references, and what those references are. Note the big tag at the beginning of the article.

If you are interested in this, and care at all what people actually danced to back in the day, you could look here http://dancehistory.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=103

If you want a project to do, you could get copies of those songs (original versions) and see what speed they are. Of course that doesn't mean you can't dance to a really fast song. And maybe what people actually danced to when the dance was first danced doesn't matter. I think it does.

I actually did this for West Coast Swing aka Western Swing, but that doesn't mean that people didn't dance to other songs or speeds.

 

[Flat Shoes]

I see the tag, but you can say something similar about any source. And I doubt there will ever be thorough scientifically research on the speed of contemporary balboa music. So if we don't believe anyone we have nothing.

Anyway, wikipedia is only on source. Youtube is another.

What people danced to originally is something I know nothing about. Only what is common today. And fast music is quite common.

 

[bjp22tango]

I have a Swing World video put out by Marcus and Baerbl on Balboa and Bal Swing. They did interviews with several of the older generation about how Balboa was danced and how it has changed. One of the women interviewed stated that she and another well known swing dancer had danced to White Heat when they were young. It has a very fast tempo. I'll review the clip and give a verbatim quote sometime tomorrow.

Pure bal moves so little that you can dance to quite fast tempos with very little effort. Since the big bands had several songs that pushed the envelope on tempo, I would bet all the better bal dancers were dancing that fast back in the day.

After all, if Frankie Manning could choreograph all that he did for Hellzapoppin at that blazing speed, dancing bal would feel like sleepwalking.

 

[tangotime]

Pure bal moves so little that you can dance to quite fast tempos with very little effort.

I would bet all the better bal dancers were dancing that fast back in the day.

I was there teaching it " back in the day " and as i stated, med. fast tempo was very common by the " better " dancers( some very high profile Pros in LA like Barbara Paul and Ruth Silvey for e.g. ) as you put it.. and, Im not saying that it cannot be danced to up tempo songs, but slower tempi, as in all dance forms takes much more control and allows for much more interpretation( as it does in Salsa )..

And of course style changes do take place, but one has to be careful that the core concepts do not get lost in paradigm shifts .( its happened in all the " latin " dances )

 

[internet-music]

good info