Lindy Hop
Synonym: Jitterbug
Music: Swing
Origin: Harlem 1930
Characteristic: Free, improvised couple dance with a great emphasis on rhythmical variations and groove. Heavy, close to the floor, slow and sassy or fast and raw.
Disciplines
Boogie Woogie
Synonym: Rock n´ Roll of the 50´s, Jive
Music: Boogie Woogie, Jump Blues, Rhythm `n´ Blues, Rock `n´Roll and Rockabilly
Origin: Europe 1950
Characteristic: Playful, improvised couple dance with a smooth and fast footwork with its emphasis on music interpretation.Balboa
Synonym: Balboa, Bal-swing, Jitterbug, Swing
Music: Swing
Origin: Southern California 1920's
Characteristic: This type of Dance would be best described as the look of a typical "Jitterbug" during the Swing era as seen in Cartoons. This style of dancing is based heavily on it's rhythm, with a focus on improvisation.
Although this style of dancing was done at all tempo's, today it's most commonly known for extremely fast closed position footwork, with the addition of spins, drops and lifts.Charleston
Music: Early jazz music from the 20’s and 30’s.
Origin: America, 1920.
Characteristic: Close couple dance and solo dance with an emphasis on sweeping leg movements with lots of energy. Up tempo, crazy and delicate at the same time with a light spring in feet and legs.
Anecdote: The Charleston has a characteristic beat that is said to originate from dockworkers in Charleston.Authentic Jazz
Synonym: American vernacular dances
Music: Swing, jazz
Origin: Harlem 1930
Characteristic: Dance performed on your own. No matter if it is improvised or choreographed it is rhythmical and playful. It is a dance full of character and you have to add a bit of your personality to make it complete. Jazz steps are the foundation of routines like the Big Apple, Trunkey Doo and Shim Sham Shimmy with traditional steps like Suzy-Q, Shorty George and Camel Walk.Tap
Music: Jazz music and other styles of music
Origin: United States, 19th century
Characteristic: Rhythms, percussion instrument
Anecdote: Danced primarily by enslaved Africans in the southern United States in the early 19th Century, usually done in leather-sole shoes. By 1925 the metal taps were attached to the shoes to produce a more pronounced sound. Hollywood popularized tap dancing worldwide with films featuring Fred Astaire, the Nicholas Brothers, Eleanor Powell, Bill Robinson and many others.African Dance
Music: Live music of djembe, doundoun and congas
Origin: West Africa
Characteristic: Energetic, strong and powerful dances with its roots in Guinea, Mali and Senegal.
Anecdote: In the West African tradition the drum is the sign of life. The power of the drum is said to touch the souls of those who hear its rhythms. The drum brings people together with its beat, the beat of the heart. Creates belonging and solidarity.