Boléro Dance Styles: A Brief History of Boléro Dancing

Boléro is a slow form of Spanish dance with roots in Spain and Cuba. Contemporary boléro is a hybrid of other Latin and ballroom dances and combines the lilting rise and fall of the waltz, the contra-body movement of tango, and the slow movement and Latin music associated with the rumba. Today, the boléro is popular in dance studios and ballroom dance lessons.

Boléro originated in Spain in the late eighteenth century and has evolved over the centuries:

• Sebastián Carezo: The Spanish dancer Sebastián Carezo is credited with first dancing the boléro as an evolution of the fandango. This version of the boléro was danced in 3/4 time, similar to a waltz.
• Evolution: In the mid-nineteenth century in Santiago de Cuba, the Cuban boléro variation became popular.
• Boléro music: Cuban musician José "Pepe" Sánchez is credited for originating the Cuban trova and boléro dance music, played in 2/4 or 4/4 time signature, that became popular in dance venues.
• Escuela bolera: In the nineteenth century, escuela boleras, or studios teaching boléro dancing, became popular throughout Spain.
• Global appeal: During the twentieth century, Cuban boléro music traveled north from Cuba to Puerto Rico, Mexico, and eventually to the United States.
• Competitive dance: In the 1930s, a version of the Cuban boléro became one of the ballroom dances danced in International Latin Dance competitions under the name “rumba.”Boléro is also now one of the five competition dance styles that make up the American Rhythm dances, along with cha-cha, rumba, East Coast swing, and mambo.
  

The following attributes characterize modern boléro dance:

1. 1. Waltz: The original Spanish boléro was danced in 3/4 time, and the modern boléro in 2/4 or 4/4 time retains that waltz-like quality with the rise and fall movements of the dance.
2. 2. Footwork: The basic boléro step is three steps performed over a four-beat phrase, holding for the second beat, giving the dance a slow-quick-quick rhythm.
3. 3. Cuban motion: Cuban motion is the movement of the dancer's hips in a figure-eight pattern, caused by the bending and straightening of the knees.
4. 4. Bien parado: Bien parado is a pause in the dance in which the partners face one another and hold a graceful attitude.

There are several different styles of boléro performed in various parts of the world. Some of these different dances include:

1. 1. Spanish boléro: The original boléro, which originated around 1780, was a dance performed in 3/4 time as a solo or a duet in which the partners did not touch. Similar to a fandango or flamenco, the dance was accompanied by guitars and castanets.
2. 2. Cuban boléro: The Cuban boléro is danced in 2/4 or 4/4 time and is typically danced at around 120 bpm. There are three steps over four beats of music, the first step taken on the second count, holding on the third, and two steps over the fourth and first count of the following bar.
3. 3. American boléro: This style of boléro is slower than the Cuban, danced between 96 and 104 bpm. The three-step phrase begins on the first count, holds for the second, and finishes on the third and fourth counts.

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