|
Balboa
The dance spread out in the 1920's. In
the early 1930's it became known enough to be given a name. The "Balboa"
got its name from the Balboa Peninsula at Newport Beach, located on the
coast about 40 miles south of Los Angeles in California. The dance was
first danced at the beach Pavilion and then latterly at the famous
Rendezvous Ballroom.
It is hard to get a consensus view
regarding the origins of Balboa. Many dance historians state that the
dance was a derivation of Foxtrot; others believe it evolved from the
Charleston or Collegiate Shag. Willie Desatoff an original Balboa dancer
of great distinction believed it came from the Rumba. There were many
different pre-existing dances at the time and several of the old Balboa
masters also knew many of these other dances. Balboa is an 8 count dance
so a connection with other 8 count dances would be consistent. However,
this should not rule out a connection to the 6 count dances, as
evolution is a powerful thing! Although we can not be sure of the exact
roots origins, it does seem likely that early Balboa dancers were
probably influenced by their knowledge of other dances around at that
time.
There are 2 different types of Balboa:
- Pure Balboa (Original pure form)
Danced completely in closed
position, pure Balboa evolved in conservative dance halls where space
was limited. Some of these dances halls had strict rules or codes of
conduct that prohibited the wild kicks of the Charleston and other
exuberant dances. Pure Balboa is characterised by a fairly upright
posture with both partners standing 'chest to chest' in close intimate
contact. You never break away from your partner, there are no spins or
turns, and you remain completely in contact through the chest at all
times. This does not leave much scope for variations so pure Balboa is
an intrinsically very simple dance. The only possible variations were
changes in direction and a few step variations. Those variations
generally played with the rhythm or change the look and feel (style)
from below the knee downwards. If you part at the chest then you are not
doing pure Balboa!
The dance being simplicity and
economy of movement really suits fast tempo music. This explains why
Balboa is often mistakenly thought of as just a fast dance. Indeed many
of the original dancers could dance at amazing speeds. However, they
also liked to dance on slower music. Some said that pure Balboa was
danced by older dancers who just wanted to meet and dance with women!
- Bal Swing
After a while, some of the original
Balboa dancers got tired of doing just pure Balboa and started to
introduce fancier variations which forced the 'chest to chest'
connection to be broken. In this form every move is possible: spins,
turns, dips, tricks, and even air steps! All these things are allowed
provided the overall style, feeling, and framework remain true, in
spirit with the original dance. In explicit terms it can be said that
these open patterns should be combined with recognisable Balboa footwork.
There are some disputes over exactly when
this form got its 'Bal Swing' name. It is clear though that for some
time many people referred to it as just 'Swing' dancing. Other forms of
swing dancing also existed at that time in different areas: these were
clearly not derived from Balboa. Only real swing dancers in the closer
LA area might have been doing what we now know as Bal Swing.
As for the Boogie and Lindy, the Balboa
can be dance on all kind of Jazz music (Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton,
Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet, Artie Shaw, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby,
Andrew Sisters and more…).
Being on the French Riviera, we are
lucky to held one of the famous French Balboa Festival each year in May:
The Balboa on the Promenade (Cannes or Nice)
Believe us, this dance is amazing and
great; you will see, usually once you have tried it you can not stop it
…
|
