Why is the Jive considered a Latin dance?

Question

On Dancing with the Stars tonight, Laila and Maks did the Jive during the Latin portion. How is that a Latin dance?

Answer 1

In ballroom, there are only 2 styles, Latin and Standard (or Rhythm and Smooth, respectively, in case of American style). All the dances that are competed in ballroom have to be assigned to one of those 2 categories. We can't really say that Jive is more like Waltz or Foxtrot. It is more like Cha-Cha or Samba. This is why it is in the same category with Latin dances. Same deal with Tango that is historically a dance of latin origin but it doesn't look like other dances in Latin category, so it is considered Standard or Smooth. There is no better category to put it in.

More on Jive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jive_%28dance%29

I wonder, what part in Jive strikes you as it doesn't belong in Latin category? As a competitor myself, it is sincerely hard for me to see why not. Like many other Latin dances, it is danced in place, there is a lot of separation in the body, a lot of hip movement... (Star Dancers on TV are a bit too stiff to demonstrate it.) Although historically I agree - it's not exactly of Latin origin.

The reason that Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba, Jive and Paso Doble were chosen to be 5 Latin dances in a dance competition are purely historical. I don't see why any one of them couldn't have been replaced with Mambo or some other Latin dance for that matter.

Answer 2

Jive Latin Dance

Answer 3

It would be nice if we still had guys like Victor Silvester to answer these things for us, but my understanding is that the categories were already there before some of the dances. Jive got put in that half because it made more sense than putting it in Standard. I dance mostly American style, and we have mambo as one of our major rhythm dances, and salsa is more or less a mambo variant. Likewise, in International style even mambo is considered just a variant (a fast one!) of rumba, and it's a perfectly respectable social dance, just not one of the big ten. I'd like to see somebody write a good concise history on the subject myself. Cha cha cha is just over fifty years old, for instance, not as old as ballroom competitions, and it would be nice to know a bit more of how the Carioca done by Fred & Ginger in "Flying Down to Rio" developed into the currently competed samba. Back to the rumba, if I could, I think competitive dancing can be criticised for being too choreographed, because one essentially never sees basic school figures in rumba at advanced levels, and certainly nothing that looks much like salsa but slower. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen, though.

Answer 4

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The steps are taken on the ball of the foot (no heel leads) and it isn't in close, continuous contact. So it's Latin, for technical reasons, even though it doesn't originate in Latin America. Likewise, tango is danced in closed hold and has heel leads, so it's a Standard dance, despite its origins.

Answer 5

That's an interesting question!

Answer 6

Why are all the answers so short these days?

Answer 7

Can you elaborate?