Abba med damer was a huge success in both Alta and Hammerfest.  Over 60 ladies from both cities joined forces to create a super choir showcasing songs from the 70s Swedish sensation Abba.  Director Pär Andersson did a fantastic composition that highlighted Abba’s playful lyrics.  L-Jay’s sassy choreography certainly gave the show that extra Disco touch.  The audience was left crying out for more so much so that there were two encores.  The nights both ended all too soon but the crowd left with big smiles on their faces – they had been touched by Abba once again.

Gratulerer til Abba med damer!

Instructing for people who are friends-to-fitness and eager to work hard in class is fantastic.  It means that I can create an extreme workout to help the participants get the most out of their exercise.  I like to get feedback from the class and this time they shouted ‘more speed, more intensity’, which I am very excited about.  However, I always remind the class that you get out what you put in.  Even the most simplest of moves can be highly intense, it all depends on how much work you put into it.

For next season L-Jay is working on some great choreography for Bollywood, Samba and Africana – some favourites of the class.  For more information about Studentsamskipnaden Zumba® class please go to their website.  They have an online booking system for all their fitness classes.  Sign up early as their Zumba® class gets booked out quickly.

L-Jay is a producer for the No Siesta, Fiesta Latin American festival in Norway.  This year she arranged the most northern Samba parade in the world.  With music, dancing and costumes, L-Jay and her band of volunteers worked hard to bring Tromsø a day of Brazilian colour, sound and joy.  The parade marched in the city streets, through ice and snow, cheering and singing and playing make-shift percussion instruments.  The procession assembled inside Nerstranda shopping centre for a Latin inspired showcase from local dance and community groups.  The day was a huge success and a milestone in the Samba parade tradition.

On the first weekend of March, Dans på roser had the opportunity to join the fine people at Bossekop Ungdomslag Alta (BUL) to raise money for new grass for their football pitch.  The two event nights, titled ‘Må vi danse’, featured a ‘Skal vi danse’ competition with local celebrities and International Style dancers.  Dans på roser performed at each opening with a Blues Swing to Mikkel Gaup’s joik.  Argentine tango, belly dancing and folk-swing were some of the other performances on the two nights.

Afterwards, Dans på roser danced the night away to the Vadsø storband with the locals.  During the days, we held Lindy Hop classes to raise money for the cause.  It was certainly exciting to experience the enthusiasm of the Alta-værininger towards Lindy Hop and authentic Swing dance.

ABBA without dancing?  Never!  Dans på roser had the pleasure of working with Per Andersen and the choir to create movements and dance that will certainly take the audience back to the 70s.  Be surprised, be charmed and be dazzled!  You don’t need to Take a Chance on these Dancing Queens as by the end you’ll be cheering Gimme, Gimme, Gimme more!

Tracing the development of social dance isn’t just about the appearance of the dance itself but tracking movement of music and peoples. Dance exists because of sociality of people and the development of music.  The academic word for people influencing each other is ‘contact’.  When people of different cultures make contact a type of blending occurs.  Pieces from each culture merge to create a new form.  Likewise with dance.

If one must pinpoint the start of all social dance then the Waltz is certainly the genetic forefather of modern social dance.

The earliest whispers of Waltz were in the 16th century via a comment by the printer H S Beheim of a ‘sliding or gliding dance’^1. In 1579 a ‘country daunce or rownd’ was first mentioned (OED).  At the Austrian Court in Vienna in the late 17th century (1698) couples got into the position for the Weller and waltzed around the room ¾ to Nach Tanz (after Dance) with gliding steps for Peter the Great³.   In 1781 Thomas Twining in a letter wrote:

I found on inquiry that this was a favourite German dance called a waltz. (OED) ²

This waltz matched the popular fast waltz music of Vienna and later became known as the Viennese Waltz.  The Waltz soon spread throughout Europe to France, Spain, Italy and England.

Before the 1600s in England, country-dance was danced in lines and sequences.  By the middle of the 17th century English country-dances had changed slightly thanks to the introduction of the Waltz.  It became popular to stay connected to one partner for a whole piece of music.  Touring Frenchmen imported English country-dance to France.  The French called these new dances contredanse, which maintained the 3 /4, 2 /4 or 6 /8 timing.  As ballet was also developing as a sophisticated art form in France at the time, the waltz developed with beautiful turns, rise and fall, delicate hands and an elegant sway.  As soon as the Waltz became popular in the French Court thanks to Louis XIV a generous patron of the Arts, these dances spread to Italy and Spain.

This new form of Waltz was not so well received by English aristocrats.  In July of 1816, the waltz was included in a ball given in London by the Prince Regent. A cutting editorial in The Times stated:

“We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last … ⁴

It wasn’t until the 1920s that the waltz began to take on a slower tempo.  In Boston USA, a new waltz developed out of the standard Viennese Waltz.  This slow waltz kept a steady ¾ time and enabled the dancer to take long elegant strides with picture frame poses.  This slow waltz developed into the Modern Waltz we have today.

Swing Dances – Foxtrots, Quicksteps and Swings

At the end of the Ragtime era the structure of the waltz was converted into a 4/4 time by adding a two beat slow count to match the ragtime music and the new developing Swing music.  This new form of dance in 4/4 quickly divided into three other dances.  The first was dubbed as the ‘quickstep’, initially a type of 4/4 quick waltz (Viennese waltz).  By 1914, to cater to the different speeds of Swing music, a slower dance developed from the Quickstep, which became known as the Foxtrot.  This new dance kept the elegance of the waltz.  In 1925, the American Foxtrot was standardized by Arthur Murray, which was greatly influenced by the structure and style of Argentine Tango. The Balboa and Peabody were also popular spin-offs of these new foxtrots.  As the Quickstep, American Foxtrot and English Foxtrot all developed from one another during the Swing era they share similar footwork, timing and technique.

Another dance that developed out of ragtime music was the Charleston.  A combination of solo marches (cakedance 1904, two-step 1909), the structure and holds of the waltz/foxtrot, along with Swing music, developed a 20s partnered version of the Charleston.  Later this Charleston developed into the side-by-side Charleston of the 40s.

By 1920, the dance floors were getting crowded so an on-the-spot fast foxtrot was developed.  The new Lindy Hop combined the structure of the foxtrot, movements of Charleston and was perfect for the faster Swings.  The Lindy Hop is considered the first of all the Swing dances.  A straightforward genealogy can be traced in connection with developing music:

1920s – 1950s – Lindy Hop (8 count quick foxtrot)

1930s – Jitterbug (a 6 count/triple swing of the Lindy Hop)

1940s – Boogie Woogie (a 6 count of the Jitterbug with spot basic)
Eastern/East Coast Swing (6 count from Jitterbug)
Bug (a single swing from the Jitterbug)

1950s – Jive (6 count swing from East coast Swing)
West Coast Swing (8 count Swing from Lindy Hop)
Rockabilly (a 2 step swing from Bug)

1955 – Rock and Roll (a single swing from the Bug)

1970s – Hustle (a single swing from Bug)

1980s – Modern Jive/Cerock (originally Bug brought over to France by US soldiers in 1940s)

Latin Dances – Tangos, Rumbas & Mambos, Sambas

Tango

Argentine Tango developed from the 1890s in Argentina.  However, this dance was first introduced by Spanish settlers.  The dance developed in Spain fusing Arabic (Moroccan) movements with the structure of contra-danse (originally English country-dance).  This tango was both a solo and couple countra-danse in Spain with strong flamenco styling which is still present in the modern Tangos of today.  In the early 20^th century the Tango was introduced to America and by 1913 with influences from Africa and Creole the dance returned to Spain and Europe with new form and style.  Nowadays there are many different varieties of tango around the world.

Rumba

Latin dance has African influences, yes, but the form and structure of Latin dance comes from Europe – waltz/contra-danse.  A slow ¾ contra-danse developed in Spain called the Bolero, which spread across southern Europe. Sebastiano Carezo is credited with inventing the dance in 1780⁵. In the 1790s French colonists fled the Haitian Revolution and brought Bolero/contra-danse to Cuba.  By 1803 a new ‘contradanza’ with ‘bolero-son’, had developed in Havana.  Its romantic 6/8 music evolved into the ‘clave’, criolla and guajira and the dance turned into 2/4 timing.  Because of the spread of the waltz around the world, this new contradanza split into two dances – Danza/Danzón which has similar patterns to the waltz, and Contradanza/Rumba which kept the rocking forward and back movements.  In the last quarter of the 19^th Century Cuban bolero-son had a strong tradition.

Danzón-Rumba was introduced to America and Europe in the 1930s as a romantic 4/4 time box step similar to the waltz.  It was standardized by Arthur Murray and its popularity peaked in the 50s America.  The Contradanza-Rumba was brought to England via the dance teacher Monsieur Pierre.  International Rumba still features the contra-dance rocks however the styling has been greatly modified for performance.

In the 1930s in Havana, a new form of music developed out of rumba – Mambo.  This was largely due to the influence of American Jazz.  Perez Prado, a Havana ‘Mambo’ musician moved to Mexico in 1940 and was ‘discovered’ by the US.  By 1949 Mambo music had spread across America and to Europe.  Along with the introduction of Prados music came his ‘Mambo’ dance.  However, this dance was certainly not a new invention – it was just a faster version of the rumba-dance Prado had seen Cuban dancers do back in Havana.

In the 1970s Salsa developed out of the ‘rediscovery’ of rumba-son with electric instruments. There are three main happenings, all in the US, that created ‘Salsa’ music: in 1973 there was a record label TV special called ‘Salsa’, in 1974 a Latin album with vocalist Junior Gonzalez was released and in 1976 the concert ‘Salsa’ was organized in New York by the label Fania with the Larry Harlow’s orchestra.  Likewise, the mamboised-rumba dance of the American 50s was ‘rediscovered’ being revamped as ‘Salsa’ to enhance this new music scene of North America.  During the 70s New York, Miami and Colombia where the main centers for Salsa.

Cha Cha

It is commonly thought that the Cha Cha (Cha) was developed in Havana and in 1952 the dance instructor Monsieur Pierre introduced it to England while Arthur Murray introduced a standardised form to America.  The actual origin of the 8 count pattern with chasé step is thought to have developed from the dancers in Havana trying to syncopate steps to danzón-mambo music.  The dancers where unsuccessful at this, as Enrique Jorrín (the inventor of Cha Cha music) observed in 1951 who then set out to develop Cha Cha music to make it easier for the dancers to syncopate.

It could be suggested that this new syncopation was a variation of the Rumba-Mambo.  However, this is likely not the case.  Cha Cha was a local version of the imported American Lindy Hop.

From 1902, Havana became know to Americans as the Paris of the Caribbean.  The first Swing and Jazz music hit Cuba in the late 1920s.  The first Cuban big band, Hermanos Castros, started in 1929. International Jazz stars such as Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra performed in Havana.  Cuba became a hot tourist destination and was ahead of Las Vegas with luxury hotels and show casinos.  By the 1950s Havana had 300,000 American tourists a year.  Throughout the years, American tourists brought with them their Swing to dance at the Big Band salons in Havana.  The local Havana dancers mixed with these Swinging Americans and so a ‘contact’ occurred and dances were exchanged – Cuba’s Rumba with the America’s Swing.

The Lindy Hop and the Cha Cha have the same elements – step, step, triple step, step, step, triple step.  Because of the ‘dance swap’ the Cubans are likely to have applied their rumba technique to the Swing steps.  It is also likely that Jorrín saw the Cuban dancers trying to practice the Swing (not a syncopated Mambo) unsuccessfully to Mambo music.  Hence, the birth of Cha Cha music and the accidental invention of the Cha Cha dance.

Samba

Couple Samba is known as Maxixe in Brazil and first made an appearance in 1868.  It was introduced to North America around 1910 and was patterned in a French dance book in 1928.  The Maxixe is actually a lively combination of waltz and tango with an ‘african’ bounce.  It is said that the dance developed from African servants trying to copy their master’s contra-danse.

The Bossa Nova dance is unheard of in Brazil.  When Bossa Nova music reached North America all the dance studios wanted to be the first to have the Bossa Nova dance.  The dance was simple and elegant, but short lived as it did not develop naturally through contact of people like all the other dances here mentioned.

__________________

(English below)

Vi kan med glede melde om at fra og med helgen nærmest Valentinsdag/morsdag i februar starter Dans på roser opp dansekurs i Alta.

Lørdag 13. februar
Bossekop skole i Alta

Til å begynne med har vi tre nybegynnerkurs:

10:30-12:30 East Coast Swing
12:30-14:30 Waltz
15:00-17:00 Cha Cha

Vi har lagd en ny side spesielt for altaværinger – se “Alta” i hovedmenyen. Denne siden gir deg informasjon om kommende kurs og arrangementer, og du finner også et påmeldingsskjema.

Siden Alta er vårt andre hjem, er vi spent på å kunne bidra til det koselige dansemiljøet her. Vi har alltid hatt lyst til å undervise i Alta, men vi syntes det var best å vente til vi kunne gjøre det til et fast opplegg. Nå som vi har slått oss ned i Nord-Norge er vi i stand til å ta et regelmessig danseprogram med oss til Alta. Vi håper dere altaværinger vil gjøre nytte av dansen vi tilbyr og oppleve danseglede med oss!

Ring Erlend på telefon 959 21 633 for mer informasjon, eller besøk Altasida vår for å melde deg på.

We are excited to announce that from this Valentines/Mother’s Day weekend in February Dans på roser is starting dance courses in Alta.

Saturday 13th February
Bossekop skole, Alta

First up we have three beginner courses:
10:30-12:30 East Coast Swing
12:30-14:30 Waltz
15:00-17:00 Cha Cha

Especially for Altaværinger we have added a new section to the website tagged “Alta” under the categories. This page will provide information of up and coming courses and events, included is an online booking sheet.

As Alta is our second home, we are thrilled to be able to contribute to its cosy dance environment. We have always wished to teach dancing in Alta but felt it would be best to wait until we could make a continuous commitment. Now that we are settled in Northern Norway we are able to bring a regular dance program to Alta. We hope that Altaværinger will take good advantage of our dance offers and experience with us the joy of dance.

For more information please contact Erlend on 959 21 633 or visit the Alta page to make a booking.

Below are five proactive ways you can increase your fitness and exercise without increasing workout time.

An Active Lifestyle

Today it is thought that for good physical health an adult needs to work out for 30-45mins, three times a week, with weights and cardio activity. Alas, lifestyle physical activity, recreational fitness, unorganised activity, whatever you like to call it, has been undermined as valuable daily exercise. The health benefits of an active day can improve physical fitness just as much as a structured 60min exercise program.

‘You can actually get as much benefit from daily activity as you can by going to a gym — and maybe more,‘ says Barry A. Franklin, PhD, national spokesman for the American Heart Association.

What’s more, an active lifestyle will actually enhance a structured exercise program – the more your body is active throughout the day, the easier it is to increase activity in a workout.

Franklin says ‘A body at rest tends to remain at rest; a body in motion tends to remain in motion. So the more you move in any given time period, the easier it becomes to keep moving’.

So, to help decrease your workout time and increase your structured exercise intensity, keep your body moving throughout the day.

Rhythm and Movement Variation

One of the reasons a gym workout can frustrate the development of physical health is because of its limited activity.

‘The whole gym environment, especially if it’s machine-based, focuses on very fixed, linear-path movements, but the body doesn’t really work that way in real life,’ says physical trainer Dino Novak, ACES, ACSM.

When the body becomes used to a set rhythm or routine, the easier the activity becomes and the less effective on the body. For the body to use more energy it needs to be forced into unfamiliar rhythms and varying movements. To maximise the benefits of your workout you need to vary your activities constantly.

Colette Bouchez WebMD says:
‘Too often, we get stuck in the rut of doing the same exercise over and over — be it running on a treadmill, doing circuit training or riding a bike. Yet mastering a single workout isn’t necessarily the way to increase fitness. In fact, it might even set you back’.

For greater fitness your body needs unexpected exercise.  To help increase the benefits of your workout time, choose activities that make you change direction – stop, twist, turn, jump, lower and start.  Vary activities regularly – low impact, endurance, cardio, strength, toning, flexibility, limbering and relaxation.

Increase Intensity

It is well known that the less intense a workout the longer it needs to be to get the same benefits of a high intensity fitness program. So to increase fitness without increasing workout time, it is obvious that an increase in intensity is needed.

Bouchez says:
The general rule of thumb: The more vigorous the activity, the less time you need to do it to get optimum results. And the more leisurely your activity, the longer your exercise session should be.

According to Choose To Move, spending 15 minutes climbing stairs, jumping rope, or sprinting a mile will give you results equal to that of playing volleyball or touch football for 45 minutes, walking 1 3/4 mile in 35 minutes, or dancing fast for 30 minutes. And you’ll get the same result from bicycling 4 miles in 15 minutes as from mowing the lawn for 45 minutes.

So, increasing the intensity of your workout will help increase fitness without increasing workout time.

Focus

Focusing on your physical activity will increase exercise benefits. Thinking about your movements, thinking about your pace etc help to perfect technique and effectiveness. Reading while on a treadmill or watching TV will distract and lower exercise intensity.

So, to decrease your workout time you can increase your workout intensity by doing activities that need concentration.

No Rest for the Fit

A good nights sleep is vital for an active body. However, decreasing your rest between exercise will increase fitness without increasing workout time.

‘If you don’t give your body a chance to recover between exercises, it must get in better condition in order to repair itself for the next bout of activity — so you’re automatically getting more out of each workout,” says fitness expert John Ellis Spencer.

So, reducing rest periods will teach the body to recover quicker, therefore increasing fitness without increasing workout time.

And the best activity that will help you increase your fitness without increasing your workout time is… DANCE!

Dance activities are a great way to increase physical activity through lifestyle. Dance is a social activity; it benefits the community and is a performance art.  It is also a structured learning program – exercise for the mind too!

Dance activities are fantastic for varying rhythm and routine. Direction, pace, flexibility, isolation, and unfamiliar movements are all a part of dance practise. In fact, every three minutes, when a new song comes on, all the variables change!

Dance enables activity to be at varying intensities for all fitness levels. When more intensity is needed, faster music can be played with more vigourous dance movements.

Dance exercises the body as well as the mind. Thinking of movement, communicating with your partner through lead/follow and navigating the floor requires an active mind.

Dance is an excellent place to increase fitness through reducing rest periods. In social dance or dance workouts, music is played consecutively enabling you to decrease your rest periods until you can dance continuously for 30mins+ straight.

So, what are you waiting for – get an active lifestyle, change your rhythms, increase intensity, focus and reduce your rests without increasing your workout time – JUST DANCE!

Zumba® er et danseinspirert fitnessprogram som er utformet for å gjøre trening morsomt igjen. Med stilige bevegelser og heftig musikk fra hele verden virker Zumba® på kondisjon, toning og isolering for en komplett trening. Zumba® kommer utvilsomt til å legge god variasjon og fitness til ethvert treningsprogram.

Som godkjent Zumba®-instruktør og medlem av Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN), kan jeg garantere for en morsom og spennende trening som hjelper å utvikle fitness og evner. Nå instruerer jeg i Zumba® for tromsøværinger.  Kom og bli med på festen!

______

As a certified Zumba® fitness instructor and a member of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN), I can guarentee a fun and exciting workout that will develop your fitness and skill.  Currently I am instructing Zumba for the Tromsø crowd.  So come and join in – the party has already started!

This year is the 20th anniversary for the Tromsø International Film Festival (TIFF) and I was asked to arrange a performance for the Grand Opening of TIFF in connection with the premiere screening of the Russian musical Hipsters.

I choreographed a 50s Swing/Lindy Hop routine for seven UiT danseklubb performers.  The performers were dressed in character from the film including special hair and make up.  The performance was held inside the cinema with the presence of the national Culture Minister Anniken Huitfeldt, the City Mayor Arild Hausberg, other local dignitaries and an international audience.  A star from the film, Igor Voynarovsky, was a special guest at the premiere and when he walked passed the Hipster-themed performers he had a little giggle to himself.

The performance was a great success and pictures were splashed over the local and regional newspapers. After the performers and UiT danseklubb students danced the night away at the Hipster after-party as ‘dance-starters’.

Congratulations to UiT danseklubb for a great performance!