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America's Ballroom Challenge
America's Ballroom Challenge is a competitive ballroom dance television series that aired on Public Broadcasting Service in the United States between 2006 and 2009. It is part of the annual Ohio Star Ball, a festival of DanceSport in Columbus, Ohio. Each season typically consists of competitions in five categories, with the first four categories devoted to each of the major styles of competitive ballroom dance: * American Smooth: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz * American Rhythm: Cha Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Bolero, Mambo * International Standard: Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep * International Latin: Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive The last category is a "Grand Finale" with the four champion couples competing for the title of "America's Best" dancers. Episode guide Season 1 (2006) Hosted by Marilu Henner and Tony Meredith. Season 2 (2007) Hosted by Marilu Henner and Tony Meredith. Season 3 (2008) Hosted by Jasmine Guy and Ron Monte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Meredith
Tony Meredith is an American professional ballroom dancer, choreographer and United States Professional Latin Champion. Biography Tony Meredith, who is of Mexican and Samoan descent, was born in San Diego, California, US, discovered ballroom dancing after replying to a newspaper advertisement seeking dance teachers. His cousin taught him how to Hustle in the garage which ignited his love of dancing. Meredith currently serves as the Dance Director at Danceville, U.S.A. in Columbus, Ohio. He is the co-organizer of Chicago Crystal Ball, Aloha Ball, and founded ICON DanceSport, a one-day industry awards event in Columbus, Ohio making its debut in October 2015. Dance career Meredith met Melanie LaPatin in 1981. They formed a professional partnership, traveling the world representing the United States twelve times in the Professional World Latin-American Dance Championships, and eventually moved to New York City to train and open a studio. They had married in 1989, but divorced amicab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viennese Waltz
Viennese waltz (german: Wiener Walzer) is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing, danced to the music of Viennese waltz. What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the waltz. It was the first ballroom dance performed in the closed hold or "waltz" position. The dance that is popularly known as the waltz is actually the English or slow waltz, danced at approximately 90 beats per minute with 3 beats to the bar (the international standard of 30 measures per minute), while the Viennese waltz is danced at about 180 beats (58-60 measures) per minute. To this day however, in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, and France, the words (German), (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish), and (French) still implicitly refer to the original dance and not the slow waltz. The Viennese waltz is a rotary dan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joanna Zacharewicz
Joanna Zacharewicz (b. in Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...) is a professional ballroom dancer based out of New York City. She won the U.S. National Dancesport Champions (Professional Rhythm) with her partner, Jose DeCamps, each year from 2007 to 2010. She began dancing at the age of 8 in Poland, studying the International Latin and International Standard dances. Her early coaching included Latin champion Allan Tornsberg. She first began competing in the American Rhythm division with Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine, a fellow instructor at Stepping Out Dance Studio in New York. The two garnered the title of World Professional Mambo Champions in 2005, and placed 2nd in the rhythm division at the 2006 U.S. National Dancesport Championships. They were also featured on PB ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jose DeCamps
Jose Decamps (born in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is a professional ballroom dancer based in New York City. He is perhaps best known as the 2007 U.S. National Dancesport Champions (Professional Rhythm) with his partner, Joanna Zacharewicz. Decamps began his competition dance career in 1991 as both a Latin and ballroom dancer, competing with Jami Josephson. The two won numerous titles, including 2nd place in the U.S. Professional Open Rhythm Championship in 1997, the Heritage Classic Championships in 1996, and 1st in the Sabado Gigante Contest in 1998. The pair also produced their own series of salsa instructional videos for the company Dancevision. Decamps was featured as the principal dancer in the video for Debelah Morgan's 2000 single " Dance with Me". Decamps briefly paired with Viktoriya Drubetskaya in 1999, competing in the International Latin division, before partnering with Cheryl Burke Cheryl Burke (born May 3, 1984) is an American dancer, model, and television h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elena Grinenko
Elena Grinenko is a professional ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor. She is best known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series ''Dancing with the Stars (U.S. TV series), Dancing with the Stars''. Biography Grinenko was born in Moscow, Russia, USSR, on December 14, 1976 and has been dancing since she was seven years old. She has been trained in ballroom dancing, ballet and Russian folk dancing. She worked with the Ballroom Formation Team of Russia, and when she reached her third year as a competitive professional dancer, she became a Soviet Union Finalist. In 1994, she emerged as the Latin Division winner at both the Moscow and National Championships. She graduated from high school in 1995, and from there went on to study various kinds of dances at the Art Academy of Russia. In 1998, she moved to the United States, where she became one of the fastest rising stars in the dancing industry. On August 17, 2012, she married model and acto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Dovolani
Driton Dovolani (born July 17, 1973), commonly known as Tony Dovolani is an Albanian-American professional ballroom dancer, instructor and judge. He is known for his involvement in the American version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' on ABC. Dovolani also portrayed Slick Willy in the hit film '' Shall We Dance?'' and spent time coaching actress Jennifer Lopez. Early life Dovolani was born in Pristina, Kosovo to Albanian parents from Debar. He began folk dancing at the age of three. At the age of fifteen, his family moved to Stamford, Connecticut. He got the opportunity to attend classes at a Fred Astaire Dance Academy. ''Dancing with the Stars'' Dovolani joined the show in its second season and was partnered with professional wrestler Stacy Keibler; they made it to the finals and finished in third place. In Season 3, he was partnered with country music star Sara Evans. Midway through the season, Evans withdrew from the competition for personal reasons. He returned to the show on M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jive (dance)
The jive is a dance style that originated in the United States from the African Americans in the early 1930s. The name of the dance comes from the name of a form of African-American vernacular slang, popularized in the 1930s by the publication of a dictionary by Cab Calloway, the famous jazz bandleader and singer. In competition ballroom dancing, the jive is often grouped with the Latin-inspired ballroom dances, though its roots are based on swing dancing and not Latin dancing. History To the players of swing music in the 1930s and 1940s, "jive" was an expression denoting glib or foolish talk. American soldiers brought Lindy Hop/jitterbug to Europe around 1940, where this dance swiftly found a following among the young. In the United States, "swing" became the most common word for the dance, and the term "jive" was adopted in the UK. Variations in technique led to styles such as boogie-woogie and swing boogie, with "jive" gradually emerging as the generic term in the UK.Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paso Doble
Pasodoble (Spanish language, Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military march gave rise recently to a modern Spanish dance, a musical genre including both voice and instruments, and a genre of instrumental music often played during Bullfighting, bullfight. Both the dance and the non martial compositions are also called pasodoble. Structure All pasodobles have binary rhythm. Its musical structure consists of an introduction based on the dominant chord of the piece, followed by a first fragment based on the main tone and a second part, called "the trío", based on the sub-dominant note, based yet again on the dominant chord. Each change is preceded by a brieph. The last segment of the pasodoble is usually "the trío" strongly played. The different types of pasodoble- popular, taurino, militar- can vary in rhy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samba (ballroom)
The international ballroom version of samba is a lively, rhythmical dance with elements from Brazilian samba. It differs considerably from the original samba styles of Brazil; in particular, it differs from Samba de Gafieira, a partner type of Samba in that country. Technique As a ballroom dance, the samba is a partner dance. Ballroom samba, even more than other ballroom dances, is very disconnected from the origins and evolution of the music and dance that gives it its name. Most steps are danced with a slight downward bouncing or dropping action. This action is created through the bending and straightening of the knees, with bending occurring on the beats of 1 and 2, and the straightening occurring between. However, unlike the bouncing of, e.g., Polka, there is no considerable bobbing. Also, Samba has a specific hip action, different from that in other ballroom Latin dances (Rumba and Cha-Cha-Cha). The ballroom samba is danced to music in or time. It uses several differe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quickstep
The quickstep is a light-hearted dance of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal and informal events. Quickstep was developed in the 1920s in New York City and was first danced by Black Americans. Its origins are in combination of slow foxtrot combined with the Charleston (dance), Charleston, a dance which was one of the precursors to what today is called swing dancing. History The quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the foxtrot, Charleston (dance), Charleston, Collegiate shag (dance), shag, Peabody (dance), peabody, and One-Step, one-step. The dance is English in origin and was standardized in 1927. While it evolved from the foxtrot, the quickstep now is quite separate. Unlike the modern foxtrot, the lead and follow, leader often closes his feet, and syncopated steps are regular occurrences (as was the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mambo (dance)
Mambo is a Latin dance of Cuba which was developed in the 1940s when the music genre of the same name became popular throughout Latin America. The original ballroom dance which emerged in Cuba and Mexico was related to the danzón, albeit faster and less rigid. In the United States, it replaced rhumba as the most fashionable Latin dance. Later on, with the advent of salsa and its more sophisticated dance, a new type of mambo dance including breaking steps was popularized in New York. This form received the name of "salsa on 2", "mambo on 2" or "modern mambo". History The origins In the mid-1940s, bandleaders devised a dance for a new form of music known as mambo (music), taking its name from the 1938 song Mambo, a charanga composed by Orestes Lopez which had popularized a new form of danzon which later was known as danzon mambo. This style was a syncopated, less rigid form of the danzón which allowed the dancers to more freely express themselves during the last section, kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolero
Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has been called the "quintessential Latin American romantic song of the twentieth century". Unlike the simpler, thematically diverse ''canción'', bolero did not stem directly from the European lyrical tradition, which included Italian opera and canzone, popular in urban centers like Havana at the time. Instead, it was born as a form of romantic folk poetry cultivated by a new breed of troubadour from Santiago de Cuba, the ''trovadores''. Pepe Sánchez is considered the father of this movement and the author of the first bolero, "Tristezas", written in 1883. Originally, boleros were sung by individual ''trovadores'' while playing guitar. Over time, it became common for trovadores to play in groups as ''dúos'', ''tríos'', ''cuartetos'', etc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
