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Background.The Bolero, a Spanish dance somewhat resembling the Rumba, dates back to the early 19th century. The original dance was invented in about 1780 by Sebastian Cerezo, a celebrated dancer of Cadiz. It was danced singly or in couples, the dancers exhibiting complex and intricate movements, while maintaining a steady rattle with their castanets. The modern Bolero, danced to a slow-quick-quick rhythm, is slow cadenced and stately. The dance is characterized by long, sweeping steps to the side on the slow beat, followed by a rock step, either forward or backward, on the quick-quick beats. Many of the moves employed in the Cuban Rumba have slower, more measured counterparts in the Bolero. Perhaps the most famous musical example of Bolero is French composer Maurice Ravel's orchestral Bolero (1928).The Dance.The Bolero is danced in a slow-quick-quick rhythm with the slow step taken to the side, and the quick-quick steps taken as rock steps, either forward or backward. Because the rhythm of the Bolero is much slower than that of the Rumba, the slow sideward steps are taken with a flowing glide across the floor. The moving foot skims the surface of the floor on the first beat, taking full body weight on the second. As an option, Cuban hip motion may be added to the dance to give it a Latin flavor. Tablature.We use a special tablature to explain the dance figures. Each figure will be depicted in a table of five rows, one each for count, tempo, foot, direction, and notes; and two columns, one for the man and one for the woman. The notes will cover topics such as amount of turn, arm movements, and change of direction. To make the tables compact, the following abbreviations will be used within the table cells:
Tempo: S-Slow, Q-Quick
Foot: L-Left, R-Right
Direction: F-Forward, B-Back, S-Side, C-Close, I-In Place,
Xf-Cross in front, Xb-Cross in back
Figures.We will introduce fifteen Bolero figures, building gradually from basic steps into rather complex amalgamations. The first group of figures covers basic box patterns with variations. The second group covers a variety of breaks--cross-over, fifth-position, forward and backward offsets. The third group covers passes--cross-body leads and right side passes with variations. The fourth group covers Rumba moves--hand changes, twinkles, walks and rocks. The fifth group covers parallel breaks.The basic hold for Bolero is ballroom closed position with the man's left hand held somewhat higher. Motion is through the lower half of the body, the upper torso remaining stationary and preserving good tone. Unless noted otherwise, all steps are taken ball-flat. In open positions, the man's left hand holds the woman's right hand, or vice versa. The free hand may be placed on the hip, stretched out to the side, or held out to the side at 90 degrees. If stretched or held out to the side, the free hand should be slightly if front of the body, somewhere between hip and shoulder level. The fingers should be kept together with the palm facing the floor. For more flamboyant styling, the free hand may be raised above the head with the arm curved either inward or outward and the fingers splayed to create a dramatic effect. In parallel positions, the man and the woman step using the same foot (right-right or left-left). Likewise, the man's right hand holds the woman's right hand and/or the man's left hand holds the woman's left hand. In two-handed parallel positions, the man holds one of the woman's arms across the front of his body with his hand at shoulder level. His other arm wraps around in back of the woman and holds her other hand, which may be held above the woman's shoulder (sweetheart or cuddle position) or placed on her hip (skater's position). Dancers enter and exit parallel positions by adding or removing steps from the basic slow-quick-quick pattern and by changing hands. A tap or rest step (no weight) on a slow will remove a step. Two quick steps on a slow will add a step. The result of adding or removing a step will be to change feet. |
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