Beguine (dance)

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For the semi-monastic community of women known as béguines (or begijnen), see Beguines and Beghards.

The beguine is a dance and music form, similar to a slow rumba, that was popular in the 1930s, coming from the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, where in local Creole Beke or Begue means a White person, and Beguine is the female form. It is a combination of Latin folk dance and French ballroom dance, and is a spirited but slow, close dance with a roll of the hips.[citation needed]

After Cole Porter wrote the song "Begin the Beguine", the dance became more widely known beyond the Caribbean. The song was introduced in Porter's Jubilee (1935). Artie Shaw's extended swing orchestral version was a hit in 1938, and after its appearance in the musical Broadway Melody of 1940, it became a big band staple and eventually a pop standard by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

Elvis Presley co-wrote and recorded his 1962 version of the Cole Porter song, and entitled it "You'll Be Gone".

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