Balboa (dance)

The Balboa is a swing dance that originated in Southern California during the 1920s (though it may have started as early as 1915) and enjoyed huge popularity during the 1930s and 1940s. The term Balboa originally referred to a dance characterized by its close embrace and full body connection. It emphasizes rhythmic weight shifts and lead-follow partnership. Different dancers in the same region at the same time also danced "swing," a dance characterized by twists, turns, and open-position movement. Over time, these two dances merged and became collectively known as Balboa. The original Balboa dance is now referred to as Pure Balboa, and the original "Swing" dance is now referred to as Bal-Swing or L.A. Swing to differentiate it from other types of swing. Because of its emphasis on subtlety and partnering rather than flashy tricks, Balboa (Pure Balboa in particular) is considered more of a "dancer's dance" than a "spectator's dance."

Balboa is danced to swing music, primarily big-band swing music of the 1930s and 1940s to artists such as Chick Webb, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington at tempos of about 180 to 250 beats per minute. It is also danced to other types of swing music, including small combos and gypsy jazz (e.g., Django Reinhardt). Because the basic step takes up such a small space, Balboa can also be danced to fast music (over 300 beats per minute). The dance can also be drawn out and danced to slower tempos, when it is known as slow Balboa. In the modern swing dancing era, thousands of dancers continue to enjoy Balboa alongside other swing dances such as Lindy Hop and Charleston, and lessons and dances are available in cities around the world.

Forms

Designed to take up only a small space, Balboa involves chaining two-step movements together into groups of eight count patterns with two sets of four steps each while shuffling the feet on the floor.

The dance was originally a response to overcrowded ballrooms where the swing-out or breakaway (a move popular in Lindy Hop at the time) was often difficult, if not actually banned by the venue. Balboa is often perceived as a restrained or introverted dance, with most movement occurring below the knees; however, part of its appeal is its variations on turns and twirls that allow the lead to show off his partner's legs—an effect that is heightened when the follow is wearing an effective skirt and high heels.

Modern Balboa dancers sometimes distinguish between two types of Balboa, "Pure Balboa" and "Bal-Swing." In Pure Balboa, dancers stay in close embrace for almost the entire time, their torsos touching, doing variations based on footwork, turning as a couple and moving as a couple. Bal-Swing, in contrast, incorporates movements in which there is more space between the partners and thus more latitude for dynamic movements, including turns for one or both partners, and so forth.

Bal-Swing was originally known as just "Swing", or sometimes "Randy Swing" in newspaper articles of the time. Unlike Pure Balboa, Bal-Swing allows for improvisation. The Bal-Swing dance style came from Charleston, and its earliest known use was a contest in Venice Beach in 1932. Heaton described two Bal-Swing figures in 1967.[1]

History

Balboa came from Southern California during the 1920s and increased in popularity until World War II. Balboa is named after the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California, where the dance was invented.[2]

Alma Heaton included two pages on Balboa in his 1954 book "Ballroom Dance Rhythms",[3] and a page of instruction in "Techniques of Teaching Ballroom Dance".[4]

A small, active Balboa community has always existed in the Los Angeles area. Today, Balboa is resurgent worldwide due in part to the efforts of Jonathan Bixby and Sylvia Sykes.

Comparisons to Lindy Hop

Balboa is a contemporary of Lindy Hop, so comparisons are hard to avoid.

Description

Body position

Communication through subtle weight shifts and body language is essential. The dancers stand close, touching upper front outer sides of torsos along outer edge of pectoral muscle and ribcage. Sometimes the connection extends down to knees, depending on the degree of room needed for specific variations within pure balboa. Height difference between partners can cause the connection to vary considerably. They are offset by about 1/4 of their body width, creating a slight "V" between their torsos and allowing the feet and legs to offset to a greater degree than in ballroom styles. The balboa follower often dances in heels to get the proper "forward" connection. This can be misinterpreted however. The follower still has her own weight. Foot balance is neutral with slightly more pressure on the ball of the feet for the follow, but generally across the entire foot for the lead.

Body lead

There are many variations on how dancers move during the Basic step. Each variation looks different. Each variation communicates movement to the follower differently. Dancers can do all of the following (from the lead's point of view):

Regardless of basic variation, the "Basic" is done in place without any traveling on the floor.

Basic footwork

The Maxie Basic is performed to 8 counts of the music, with typical footwork as follows (assuming both dancers shift forward and back between two positions on the floor 4 to 8 inches or 10 to 20 cm apart):

Lead:

  1. Step back with left foot.
  2. Step back with right foot, bringing feet together.
  3. Slide left foot forward.
  4. Slide left foot back beside right foot.
  5. Step forward with right foot.
  6. Step forward with left foot, bringing feet together.
  7. Slide right foot back, bringing heel off the ground.
  8. Slide right foot forward beside left foot.

Follow:

  1. Step forward with right foot.
  2. Step forward with left foot, bringing feet together.
  3. Slide right foot backward, bringing heel off the ground.
  4. Slide right foot forward beside left foot.
  5. Step back with left foot.
  6. Step back with right foot, bringing feet together.
  7. Slide left foot forward.
  8. Slide left foot back beside right foot.

Note that the lead and follow footwork is identical, although offset by four beats. That is, both perform the same footwork when moving backwards and forwards.

In the Original Balboa the dancers do the same or similar footwork utilizing the same rhythm, however it's done in place. To do so easily, the dancers shuffle their feet and avoid stepping,or bouncing.

Also note that some people might argue that the Balboa basic is just "step-step" and any "upholds" (the slide-slide is an uphold variation) are already variations to change direction and/or feet. Not getting too attached to this 8-count basic pattern helps when learning Ad-libs (a.k.a. "one-steps") and moves that do not fit into the 8-count scheme, since it is then more natural how to sync back to the music. The follower must be aware that this pattern is just the most common pattern, and needs to feel the lead leading them into doing the upholds.

Footwork variations

Dancers vary their footwork, to respond to the music or their partner.

Many footwork variations can be done independently of the partner. The three most common footwork variations are single, double, and triple time.

Some footwork patterns require cooperation with the partner.

Main variations

Five loose categories of variations are pure, throwouts, lollies, crossovers, and fancy. Variations done in closed position are called "Pure Balboa", and moves done in open position are called "Bal-Swing". Bal-swing also borrows moves from other dances, especially Charleston and features moves in open position.

Most of the following moves would be done strictly in Bal-Swing. However, these moves can be seen sometimes in Balboa if they are done very small, with feet on floor and no travelling.

Transitions between moves are often made on the slow (3-4 or 7-8) counts, but many moves can begin on 1 or be longer than 8 beats.

References

  1. ↑ Ballroom Dance Rhythms. Alma Heaton. 1967. Brigham Young University Press. pages 75, 76
  2. ↑ "History". Balboapavilion.com. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  3. ↑ Ballroom Dance Rhythms. Alma Heaton. 1954. Brigham Young University Press. pages 35, 36
  4. ↑ Techniques of Teaching Ballroom Dance. Alma Heaton. 1965. Brigham Young University Press. Third Edition. pages 161,162
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