When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way (Wayne Dyer). Dance is the language of body and through this language body express the emotions along with rhythm of music and involvement of all the body part especially eyes enhance the beauty of expression.

Dance has a very old history, many dances that are popular around the world today have originated in Latin America such as Salsa, Samba, Conga, Bolero, Joropo, Lambada, Macarena, Mambo, Tango, Rueda, Cueca, and Cumbia. Among them the most popular are Samba, Rumba, and Cha Cha Cha and Paso Doble from Europe and Jive from North America are performed all over the world and is popularly known as the Latin American Dance. There are many things which are common in these dances yet they are different from each other. All of these dances are for couples, usually consisting of a man and a lady.

Among the most popular Latin American dance forms are Samba, Rumba, Salsa, Mambo, Tango, Paso Doble, Cha Cha Cha, Lambada and Jive. Description of each dance forms in brief is given below.

1. Samba

Samba dance has its origin in Brazil and it was famous folk dance of the country and now its popularity is around the whole world. It is believed to have brought to Rio De Janeiro by the Africans who came down there during the carnival time. The word “samba” comes from Angola which refers to the touching of navels. Samba is still very popular in Rio. Till date during the carnival time costumed dancers perform samba. In the United States of America, it becomes a very popular ball room dance.

Samba has a very specific rhythm and it has been best characterized by the Brazilian musical instruments. Many of the samba music have originated from the daily life in Rio. The principal characteristic of samba is its rapid steps taken on a quarter of a beat and its outstanding rocking motion and sway of the dancing couple. Because of its speed it is pretty much limited to the experienced ballroom dancers only.

2. Rumba

Rumba is said to be originated in Cuba and it was first seen in the United States in the year 1920. It is a slow, sensuous and romantic dance full of flirtation. The dance based on the theme of “tease and run”. It shows that a lady first flirts and then rejects her partner. It is considered to be the most erotic Latin dance by most dancers.

It has relatively slow rhythm and the hip movement. The bodily expression is Rumba made it very fascinating and the most popular ballroom dances.

3. Salsa

Salsa is a fusion of informal dance styles which has its roots in the Caribbean (especially in Cuba and Puerto Rico), Latin and North America. It is originated as the mixture of the following forms of dance i.e. mambo, Danzon, Cuban Son, Guaguanco and many other dance forms. Salsa dance is performed on a salsa music which has a very strong African influence. The name ‘salsa’ has come from the Spanish word for sauce and which is mean to add a spicy flavor. Salsa is usually couple dance and some steps are danced in groups of couples with frequent exchange of partner.

The most basic steps for salsa starts with a tap left on the first beat, a step forward on the same foot and a back on to the right foot. This sequence is finished by stepping back left to close. There are many variations of the salsa steps and also the salsa music through out the world.

4. Mambo

Mambo dance is believed to be originated in Cuba where there were settlements of Haitians. In Haiti, Mambo is a voodoo priestess. According to the Isabelle Leymarie, a professor at Columbia university mambo was originally a musical instrument from Africa. This type of dance was also carried away in Spain where it was named as ‘contradanza’.

This was then brought to Cuba by Spanish settlers and given the name as ‘danza’. However, the Haitians who were living in Cuba have given their own influence and eventually it resulted in the mambo. It became famous in United States in the year 1943 when it was first introduced in the la Tropicana Night club in Havana, Cuba.

5. Tango

Tango dance originated from Spain where it has started as the solo dance for the women in Spain in the early 1800. Spanish settlers brought tango to South America where it became very popular in Argentina in the mid of 1850s. However, it became a duet dance by then. There were special clothes for men and women while dancing, women wear full skirts and gaucho with boots and spurs for men. Tango is danced with a closed embrace to each other. In some type of Tango the upper portion of the body is touched and the lower portion is comparatively away while in other types it is vice-versa.

It consists of different styles that have developed in different regions and eras. Different styles of tango are Tango Argentino, Tango Oriental, Tango Canyengue, Tango Liso, Tango Salon, Tango Orillero, Tango Milonguero, Tango Nuevo, Show Tango, Ballroom Tango, Finnish Tango, and Filipino Tango.

6. Paso Doble

Paso Doble is also a Spanish pair dance but it is also assigned to Latin-American dances. This dance is being characterized by its easy marching steps. In Spain the dance was played during the Torero’s arrival in the bullring.

Because of the characteristic of Torero’s boldness, the dance expressed the main features of the masters. Paso Doble is rarely seen in any public dance floor now a day. In the closed pose of the dance the partner’s body has been in contact from chest to thigh. This dance is full of energy and power.

7. Cha cha cha

Cha cha cha dance is basically a triple rhythm Mambo. This dance was introduced by the British Dance teacher Pierre Leville who noticed that the Mambo was occasionally danced with a couple of extra steps. He then started playing Danzon with a new beat which sounded like a slow mambo.

The Cha cha and Rumba are related to the mambo Dance. It became more popular in the year 1954. The dance consists of three quick steps and two slower steps on the one beat and two beat.

8. Lambada

This is famous dance form of Brazil and it gained international acknowledgment in 1980 particularly in North America. Arched legs, steps from side to side, shaky movement of hips are few common movements of Lambada. Since 1980, different people used different styles of clothes while practicing this form of dance and most popular dress code that became popular for Lambada was short skirts (women) and long trousers (men).

9. Jive

The last dance form which we are going to discuss is Jive, this dance form has US origin and it came into existence in 1930. Jive is among the famous Latin dances and when people practice this form in competition it is judged as 176 beats/minute and in some situations 128 or 60 beats/seconds. It means one need to be quick, sharp and perfect while performing this dance form.

Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor (Jackson Brown), no matter which form of dance you use just enjoy yourself and enjoy it at heart. Latin forms of dance are most popular among people who love to dance. Marilyn Vos Savant once said, “Learn at least two classic ballroom dances, at least one of them Latin.”