Rock and Roll (dance)
| Genre | Lindy Hop |
|---|---|
| Time signature | 4/4 |
| Year | 1955 |
Acrobatic Rock'n'Roll is a very athletic, competitive form of partner dance that originated from lindy hop. Unlike lindy hop, however, it is a choreographed dance designed for performance. It is danced by both couples (usually of mixed gender) and groups, either all-female or four to eight couples together. This is normally a very fast and physically demanding dance.
During the development of the musical genre rock and roll, dances to go with the music were also created. From swing, which came into being around 1920, Lindy Hop emerged, the first partner dance ever to feature acrobatic elements. Lindy Hop was modified around 1940 to suit faster music, creating the style known as boogie woogie.
A 1959 dance book describes "Rock 'n' Roll" as "performed without undue tension, the body and legs being flexible, so that there may be a physical rhythmic expression of co-ordination with the beats of music." "...a dance which leaves much scope for personal expression and interpretation in style, movement, rhythm, and even in the manner in which the figures are constructed." The basic rhythm is Quick, Quick, Slow, Slow. The Slow steps "will be taken first on to the ball of the foot, the heel then lowering".
Like other forms of dance, Rock and Roll has evolved around the world over time. Depending on your location, the basic kick step style starts with the Basic 6 step:
Leader starts with left foot kick ball change, kick step (left), kick step (right)
Follower starts with right foot kick ball change, kick step (right), kick step (left)
There is another form of tap step basic footwork that is quite easy to learn:
Leader starts with their left foot and does a back step, then a tap step (left), tap step (right)
Follower starts with the right foot and does a back step, then a tap step(right), tap step(left)
The most obvious feature of the Acrobatic rock and roll dance are its kicks (into thin air) and its acrobatic elements like lifts, jumps, throws and flips. Today's rock and roll is focused on show and competition dance and - with the exception of its name - has nearly nothing in common with the former rock and roll movement. It is danced in pairs or in formation and can even be danced with one male and two females simultaneously which is called "triples". Over the years rock and roll dancing has experienced several important changes: the former 6-basic step was converted into the modern tournament's 9-basic step with its typical kick ball change. Other characteristics are techniques such as the man's body wave movement, that he uses to fling his partner from a sitting position upwards, and the throwing basic movement, where she steps onto his hands and is catapulted upwards into neck breaking jumps. Because of its demanding technique, high speed, and acrobatics, Rock and Roll is a straining high-performance dance and is most often performed by young dancers.
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