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+ View Older Messages

Re: International vs. American
Posted by dheun
6/16/2011  7:58:00 AM
You can see a good example of what anymouse refers to here when watching America's Ballroom Challenge out of Columbus, Ohio. The names and countries of origin of the competitors, as well as their current home bases, shows where the international influence is. Plus, during the actual dances of all styles, the commentators will point out the differences between styles. The original poster should check out her PBS listings or the ballroom challenge website and watch as much as possible.
Re: International vs. American
Posted by dave
4/8/2012  6:38:00 AM
The advantage of learning international style is that it is easy to switch to American style later, but the reverse is not so.
Re: International vs. American
Posted by waynelee
4/8/2012  8:16:00 AM
The comments here are about the "smooth" versus "standard" dances. For the fast dances, there are definite differences between American Rhythm and International Latin. Latin rumba starts on the two beat, American on the one beat. I may not describe this right: there is minimal hip action in Latin, while American emphasizes hip action through bent leg movement. Multiple dance championships in Latin include rumba, chacha, samba, paso doble and jive, while American is chacha, rumba, east coast swing, bolero and mambo.
Re: International vs. American
Posted by OZ.
4/8/2012  3:59:00 PM
If you had been trained in the International Style of Ballroom Dancing you could arrive in Japan , not being able to speak one word of that language, go to a studio teaching in that style. You would know exactly what they were teaching and they would know what you were about. whether it be Modern or Latin. This actualy happenede to me last week. I was sitting with some Chinese people at a Social dance. I had noticed that sitting some distance away was a young lady who I had seen was an acomplished dancer and obviously was trained in the International Style. She couldn't speak one word of English and I no Chinese. After a couple of dances I went back to the group I was sitting with. One of them said I didn't know you spoke Mandarine. He thought I was talking the young lady into what steps I was doing. This could be with anyone in or from Europe or Asia or anywhere else in the world. The same cannot be said about American Smooth or Australian New Vogue.
Re: International vs. American
Posted by Billy
12/14/2012  12:21:00 PM
Similar situation in South Africa. I estimate about 5% American smooth ballroom and Rhythm Latin versus 95% International standard Ballroom and Latin. Furthermore, most American orientated studios are Pro-Am (solo), which means that you make use of the instructor to dance and compete with - and that is very expensive. Nearly all the International based studios concentrate on amateur partners. Consequently it is much easier to find a dance partner in the International standards when you're at a social ballroom event, and for every American competition you'll find at least 10 International competitions available to you (and your partner). However, I have yet to see a nice non-boring ballroom dance show where the American influence is not visible. Just check out the shows of the various world champions. I agree with the previous correspondant that it is easier to switch from International to American - International teaches the basics (posture, poise, technique, etc) much better. If you start with American, you'll probably pick up some disturbing bad habits w.r.t. your basics, and it may take longer before you look good on the dance floor.
Re: International vs. American
Posted by anonymous
12/15/2012  10:38:00 PM
waynelee: "Latin rumba starts on the two beat, American on the one beat."

AFAIK, int'l Rumba starts on the four beat.
Re: International vs. American
Posted by anymouse
12/17/2012  1:11:00 PM
"AFAIK, int'l Rumba starts on the four beat."

When something is cyclic, where the cycle "starts" is not really very relevant. What continues to matter is the relationship of steps to music.

For an international rumba, the forward or backward step (in situations where there is only one) is on the 2nd beat.

Contrastingly, in American style the forward or backward step would be on the 1st or 3rd beat (there are two traditions). Additionally, the pattern of steps would often be different from in international style, the tempo would likely be a litte faster, and the character of the music would ideally have a different flavor.

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