Late 16th and 17th Centuries

A period in the history of dance in Italy, France, and England was pleasantly deep and rich. In the late
Renaissance and the Baroque periods, dancers and personalities exerted remarkable influence as the
builders of ballet. France became the forerunner in dance during this period. With Catherine de Medici’s
transfer to France and the production of Le Ballet Comique de la Reine in 1581, influence on dance
began to transfer from the Italian court to the French court.

With Louis XIII and Louis XIV, dance increased as a court amusement and during the latter’s reign, it
transformed into professional entertainment.

Male dancers played both male and female roles in court ballets. In 1681, Mila La Fontaine, the first
female professional dancer produced by the Academic Royalel de la Musique et de Dance, performed in
Le trimphe de L’Amour, the first ballet in which women took part. She was hailed as the queen of the
dance after the performance.

The most significant ballets produced in the 17th century French court are the following:

Ballet de la Nuit (1653)

Louis XIV portrayed the Sun King, after which he became known by that name.

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670)

This is Molière’s comedy play, which featured music and dance sequences.

Le Triomphe de L’Amour (1681)

A ballet created by Jean-Baptiste Lully, in which the first female dancers appeared.

18th Century

As the century continued, dance in ballroom and in theatrical performance began to separate technically
and aesthetically. The French and English theaters grew as major dance centers, while Austria and
Germany reduced their centers in the court theaters.

With the establishment of the Paris Opera, both male and female professional dancers were given equal
opportunity to take lead roles rather than just character parts. During this period the professional male
dancers or danseurs nobles took the leading roles in the ballets

19th Century

During the romantic era, the female dancers took the lead roles in ballet performances. They appeared
as winged, unearthly beings such as nymphs and fairies. To have an illusion of dancing in points, dancers
stood at the tips of their toes and this became an essential feature of the ballerina's art. Meanwhile
male dancers took the supporting roles in romantic ballets, but offstage they continued as dance
masters and arranged the ballets. Also, during this century, both males and females must strictly follow
the code of etiquette when attending a ball or they will not be admitted. The master of ceremonies
prepared a set of written ballroom guidelines, activities, and written instructions for the dances. Dance
manuals, which included instructions and directions for dances and manners in the ballroom, were also
developed by the dance masters.
Ballroom dances of the 19th century

Cotillion The cotillion, a forerunner of the American square dance, had many figures that required
practice by the group. The complexity of the dance made it a special performance at a ball or a
presentation by a dance master at a recital hall.

Polonaise

The polonaise, which opened a court ball, involved partners dancing side by side behind a lead couple
and moving through various choral figures. Performed in triple time, it had one step that was repeated
throughout the dance. The dancers started with bows, then they proceeded down the center of the
room, creating two columns from which they can change wheel places, from squares or wee around,
and moving forward or back. For the final part of the routine, the dancers were led down the middle of
the hall.

Quadrille

The quadrille was performed in a stately manner and, later on, in an accelerated one. The "Queen of
London Society," Lady Sarah Jersey, introduced the quadrille to English society at Almack's in 1815. The
original figures were determined by the dancers, as in a country dance. In 1818 dancing master Thomas
Wilson explained some 50 movements and wrote instructions on how to combine them into figures in
his book Treatise on Quadrille Dancing.

Waltz

Many scholars believe that the waltz was derived from the German landler and other Southern German
folk dances. It was performed in triple time by single couples in close embrace and featured wild
hopping, stamping, and throwing of the female partner into the air.

Polka

The polka, which may have originated in Poland or the former Czechoslovakia, was a popular social
dance in the first part of the century. This half-step dance in 2/4 time was introduced in the ballrooms of
Prague in the 1830s. Dancing masters brought it to Paris and it reached the stage in 1840. The dance had
five figures on the stage. By 1843 polka already invaded the city and eventually swept Europe and the
United States. The dance entered English ballrooms by 1844.
20th Century

The early part of the 20th century can be best described as a period of "dance fever" wherein the young
and old alike were not limited to express their emotions through dance. With the introduction of
ragtime, people were not afraid to show their energetic movements such as skipping and running
barefoot. Ragtime is a type of music known for its syncopated melodic line and regularly accented
accompaniment played especially on the piano. Scott Joplin, an African-American composer and pianist,
created the influential ragtime piece "Maple Leaf Rag" which made him famous among both black and
white societies.

After the first decade, the collaboration of husband and wife, Vernon and Irene Castle, transformed
social dance from a set structure of steps to a series of figures for couples. The castle walk,
‘accompanied by the song "Castle Rag," was performed in the close dance position with the mm walking
backward and the women moving forward, then repeated in the open position. Despite the criticism
from anti-dance groups, the Castles continued to introduce more steps that imitate animal moves such
as the turkey trot, the fox trot, the bunny hug, and the grizzly bear with scandalous close embraces.
With these fresh moves, people got more interested in dancing. In Buenos Aires, another dance was
developed with mixed cultural elements from African, Native American, and Latin dances and popular
Argentine music. The tango is a highly sensual and erotic dance performed by a couple with close body
contact and direct eye contact. The increasing acceptance for the dance reached Paris, Europe, London,
and New York.

In 1914 another animal dance was developed — the foxtrot. Arthur Carringford's famous two slow
steps followed by four quick steps gained popularity in society and were brought in dance halls. His
stage name was Harry Fox and he performed in New York vaudeville theaters.

During the early 1920s, also known as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, the Charleston, the Black
Bottom, and the Lindy Hop were introduced.

The Charleston, which originated in the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina, was done in 4/4 time
and can be performed solo, with a partner, or with a group. Though it is usually performed in place, it
looks like normal walking. Its simplicity made it easy for performers to improvise.

The Black Bottom originated in New Orleans and has movements similar to the Charleston. "The
Original Black Bottom Dance" was printed in 1919 and the dance became a fad in American society in
the mid-20s.

The Lindy Hop was an American dance that originated in Harlem, New York City. It was a combination of
many dances such as jazz, tap, breakaway, and Charleston. It was sometimes referred to as a street
dance because of its improvisational and social nature.
Latin dance and music have been identified as a fusion of American music styles. Dances such as rumba,
mambo, and cha cha cha from Cuba and samba from Brazil became popular in America during the 1930s
and 1940s, as they were popularized by movie stars.

The rumba is considered the "grandfather of the Latin dances." It is a dance that narrates love and
passion between a tough male lover and a timid, mischievous woman. With its sensual hip action
movements and intense sharp eye contact, it is considered to be the Easiest ballroom dance.

The mambo music comes from a very old tradition of Africa which consisted of multifaceted rhythms.
The word "mambo" was not initially a term for a dance, but simply an Afro-Cuban name for polymetry
or rhythm against rhythm. The mambo is the music of voodoo and the music of the people.

The cha-cha-cha was derived from the mambo and the swing. Like most Latin dances, the dancers' feet
remain close to the floor, the hips are relaxed to allow free movement in the pelvic area, and the upper
body shifts over the supporting foot as the steps are taken.

Meanwhile the samba has a distinct look and feel because of its "samba bounce action," 'a light,
effortless, and carefree movement from the knees and ankles.

In 1950, after World War II, there was a shift from dance bands to concerts in nightclubs. Most
of the movements of the teenagers were varied in steps and style but were still swing-based.

Among the prevalent dances were the jitterbug or swing, the Lindy, the rock n roll, and the boogie-
woogie or Bop. Bop was new then but was usually referred to as Charleston-like steps danced in place,
sometimes without a partner.

The bossa nova also emerged in this decade and earned its popularity in the early 1960s. It is a Latin
dance in 2/4 syncopated time. It is a combination of samba rhythm and jazz, resulting in a Latin mix.
Eydie Gorme recorded the first bossa nova dance music entitled "Blame it on the Bossa Nova."

The boogaloo gained its fame through the songs "Boogaloo Blues" and "I Like It Like That." The dance is
a combination of Latin, African American, rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, and soul music. It lasted only
during the decade but returned the following decade in the West Coast with a funky style flail featured
head and body rolls and unconventional leg movements.

In the early 1960s, Chubby Checker first performed and introduced the twist on American Bandstand.
The dance was accidentally invented while he was drying himself with a towel after taking a shower. The
twist was an expression of individualism—there were no definite roles for men or women. 'The dancers
danced apart, stood in one place and twisted their hips from side to side, pivoting on their feet. The
movements were free and provocative.

The British introduced the Mod dance and it was brought to America in 1963. The "cool" narcissistic
teenagers who rebelled against the emotionalism of rock roll were among the first to perform this
dance. It was a free-flowing and jerky dance that required a partner. Some examples of Mod dances are
the Pony, the Crow, the Monkey, the Boomerang, the Saw, the Freddy, the Jump-Up, the Slop, the
Skate, the Ski, the Jerk, the Kick, and the Let Kiss.

The psychedelic dance was introduced during the widespread use of p 3ychedelic drugs in 1967 at
Haight Ashbury, San Francisco. The dance was experimental and Freeform in nature, affected by drug-
induced exhibitionism. Psychedelic culture and dance aimed at ecsstasy and individual self-absorption,
representing the lifestyle of people who refuse and reject rules established by society.

The 1970s marked the dance bang as the disco clubs progressed from Europe to the United States that
featured African American and Latino artists and Disco jocks created music from jazz, soul, and rhythm
and blues.

In 1975 a Cuban dance that originated in New York City called the hustle became popular and was used
in the movie Saturday Night Fever. Since then it became part of the American pop culture and kept its
popularity for the last two decades.

In the last two decades of the 20th century, choreographers and dancers continued to explore new
directions. Individual statements, revised old themes, and stretching the medium through collaboration
and technology were the main focus. In 1983 "King of Pop" Michael Jackson released his music video of
"Thriller," while Madonna had "Like a Virgin."

In the 1980s there was a continuous innovation in social dances, while western line dances gained their
popularity throughout the 1990s. In 1983 the popularity of disco dance slowly declined; but other
dances were introduced, such as pop-rock, rap, techno, and rhythm and blues. In 1990 disco came back
to be a part of pop and hip-hop dances again and its influence on the said dances can still be seen and
heard today.

The funk music started in the late 60s by James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Earth, Wind and Fire
introduced the 1970s funk rock. Lyrics became more explicit in music synthesizers in the early 80s and
from the mid-80s to the 90s, funk rock and funk metal were popular among rock artists. The era of funk
nostalgia began in the mid-90s.

Popular fad dances emerged in the 80s and the 90s. Village People performed the song YMCA in 1978.
The group used cheerleading arm positions to spell out the letters of the song.

Macarena hit the US 100 song charts for 60 weeks and became the dance craze among the youth with
its arm movements and hip swiveling.

Street dance began in California during the 70s and was performed both in nightclubs and on the
streets. It is associated with funk, breakdancing, and hip-hop. Through the improvisations in movements
and style, the individual expressions are very evidently performed. The vernacular style, which is very
common among the urban communities, became the source of dance battles as a substitute for street
fighting. From this informal dance battle known as jamming, it transformed into a global event, an
annual breakdance competition known as the Battle of the Year.