Teachable Dances and Choreographies
By "Teachable Dances" we mean dances that can be taught on the fly, right before dancing the dances.
Music for Dances
Most of these dances are associated with a particular piece of music. There is a reason these dances work, and the music is a part of it. We would encourage you to use the standard music. Or, if you have actually found a piece of music that is better, please let us know. Now, if it's a theme night, like Halloween, and you really want to play something custom, go ahead.Teachable
Cha Cha Slide
Writeup of Cha Cha Slide on wikihow.
This is a well known dance, if you are under thirty! :-). Many people will already know this, and the dance gives instruction as it goes (like the Timewarp). It can just be played, and encourage people to join in. Play all the audio from the official video, it talks people through the dance.
Chaos Mixer
Video of Chaos Mixer at Friday Night Waltz.
The Chaos Mixer is a fun, silly mixer that can be quickly taught.
Heel and Toe Polka Mixer
Music for Heel and Toe Polka Mixer
High-energy and super fun, but tell folks not to clap their partners' hands too hard.
Sir Roger De Coverley
Video of Sir Roger de Coverley
Sir Roger de Coverley, is a very old (1695) but still popular dance. It's even mentioned in Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". This dance is usually taught by the top couple (nearest the DJ). The DJ announces the song, and people will run out to start a set. This is done by placing themselves in the positions of the top couple and raising their right hands.
The DJ usually announces this with "Please take four of five couple sets to learn and dance Sir Roger de Coverley. If you have more than that, the last dancers don't get to participate fully.
One Note: In the video, after "Bow, Right, Left, Both Hands", they do a step in a hammerlock position, where as we just pass around our partner, using no hands.
Strip the Willow Set Dance
New, draft writeup of Strip the Willow
Strip the Willow, is an old English Country Dance, typically danced in sets of four or five couples.
't Smidge
"t Smidge at Friday Night Waltz
Last time we ran this, I believe it took 3 minutes, 40 seconds to teach, and 2:41 to run.
Make sure you know how many beats of intro you have in your music, so you can count people in, it's critical that everyone is on the same beat.
Not Teachable on the Fly
Bohemian National Polka
The Bohemian National Polka is choreographed by Franti?ek Bonu? and Richard Powers.
Writeup of Bohemian National Polka
This is most definitely not teachable on the fly!
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna is a choreographed waltz by John Hertz.
Susan de Guardiola Video of Congress of Vienna
Note that this document is very terse, to make it fit on one page. Please contact Tom Hill for more details, or if you have any questions.
Of course, if you can reach John Hertz, you can get the answer from the source.
The original music can be found here, but you don't want to use that, as is. The original is eight minutes long. Usually we play a version that is about 4:30. Talk to us, if you need a copy.
Cross-step Mixer
Generally, the leaders will need to know the choreography, but the cross-step mixer can be followed by most people who can dance basic cross-step.
Salsa Rueda
Salsa Rueda is a group dance where pairs of leaders and followers dance together in a rueda, or wheel. A designated caller (usually in the rueda itself) calls moves that dancers perform simultaneously, producing beautiful, synchronized patterns. But make no mistake--this is still partner dancing, and many of the moves learned in salsa rueda can be transferred to other dances like Swing and Nightclub Two-Step!
Salsa Rueda is based on Cuban-style salsa, where salsa originated! It has since evolved in many other dialects of salsa, like LA style (on 1) or New York style (on 2). Unlike other forms of salsa dance commonly danced in the US, Cuban-style does not focus on a single "slot" and instead uses a "circular" space around the dancers, resulting in patterns that are markedly different from slot-based dances.
