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| internet source: Modern Jive Dancing |
Then dance was becoming
even more loose as dancers dancing in clubs and watchers learnt by
merely watching and finally dancing themselves. At the time when
there were no official teacher and qualified training organization,
people with an urge to dance started to teach whatever they knew,
thus it set the heart of Modern Jive- no footwork and just have fun.
Despite of different
claims, LeRoc or Ceroc was not originated in French. The only
relation to 'French' came from the change of timing of Le Bop (the
French version of Rock n Roll, a tempo dance with completely
different timings from today's Modern Jive) by Michel Ange Lau, in
London in the 1980s (but the term Modern Jive was originally coined
by Christine Keeble in 1990). Of course at the time the change of
music style was the primary reason for the birth of Modern Jive,
however, Michel and his team did play a main role in the
transformation of LeBop to LeRoc.
Due to its particular
background the dance has no footwork which also means restriction, it
is the simplest of all partner dances. It can be an advantage as
complete beginners can also dance to the biggest chart within
minutes; however it is also a disadvantage when beginners get used to
the loose footwork, it is quite hard to learn other social dances
which almost all common basic footwork, for example the basic rule of
boys move LF first and girls go for RF first.
As the dance developed,
dance clubs emerged, LeRoc, Ceroc, MoJive... also appeared. They all
have their own teachers' training and set manuals. Through years, the
dance has been influenced by and adapted moves from other dances,
like West Coast Swing, Salsa, Ballroom & Latin; however, a Modern
Jiver would struggle dancing Modern Jive with dancers dancing these
styles. Modern Jivers dance better among themselves, even though
there are many variations and keeps evolving, dancers of these
variants can accommodate one another. Just like all the other dances,
the key to dance well with dancers at different level is to understand the basics, which are called beginner moves.
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| * how can I not posting this pic? it's Kandykane@cerochk! |
Although Modern Jive
claims to have no footwork and can be danced to all music, it is
actually not. Advanced dancers need footwork so as to perform the
advanced moves. Also, Modern Jivers tend to favour 4/4 but never 3/4,
and prefer music around 120 to 150 beats per minute.
Learn more about the other dance styles? Check here.
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Learn more about the other dance styles? Check here.
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