The following descriptions from three different regions sound very similar. Shall we conclude that they basically describe the same phenomenon?
There are a couple of different dance forms which go by this name. (At least three that I know of.) The most common form is a choreographed ballroom dance. Round dance clubs have a "cuer" who uses a microphone to tell dancers what to do, much like a square dance caller, but instead of a square dance, they are doing a pre-choreographed ballroom dance routine.
Pros: You don't have to worry about leading as much;, in many cases the dances have been choreographed to very carefully fit the music and take advantage of interesting spots; you learn the names of all the moves you're doing; you can usually transfer the moves (and good sequences) to the ballroom dance floor; and lessons are much cheaper.
Cons: You don't _get_ to lead; except for styling you can't really put your inventiveness into the dance routine; you can't do the routines outside a round dance club (no normal round dancer memorizes these routines, although you can carry pieces of them to the ballroom floor); you have to find a round dance club in your area; and to get to the good stuff you have to put up with introductory lessons where you concentrate on hokey two-step dances (IMHO), :-) [Darrah Chavey]
Sequence Dancing is popular in the UK at social dances. Sequence dances are based on the standard ballroom and latin dances, plus some old-time or classical dances such as saunters, blues and swings (not to be compared with any US styles) and the occasional gavotte.
In theory everyone dances the same 16 bar routine together. This allows more couples to dance on a given floor area without having to worry too much about floorcraft. The dance steps are all standardised and often at gold medal standard, but because the same routine is being done by everyone they become quite easy and enjoyable. The music is phrased to suit the sixteen bars sequences and is often played on an organ. The Hammond organ style is not to my taste but there is lots of better music around. I hope to put some sound-bites on my web page soon.
Before a dance is released and the script is published it must win one of the inventive dance competitions organised by various dance organisations in the UK. There are about 30 to 40 new dances issued each year. Sequence dance clubs lap these up and rush to learn each new dance as soon as it is published, but only a handful of dances remain popular outside these clubs. Sequence dancing has been around for some 50 years so there have been quite a few dances published.
Unfortunately sequence dancing has gained a reputation as being for senior citizens to shuffle round the floor. This can be true, but equally if danced properly with appropriate style it can look good and can complement traditional ballroom. With floorcraft minimised, dancers can concentrate on style although lead and follow can get sloppy.
Australia and New Zealand have a variation on sequence which they refer to as New Vogue.
You can get scripts for Mambo Magic, or is it Magic Mambo, and most other sequence dances of the past 50 years from Brockbank-Lane, PO Box 2341, Weymouth, Dorset, tel:01305 770157. I think they charge around 75p plus postage but there is a minimum order of around a fiver so you might care to get a few others.
Whilst it is possible to learn sequences by watching someone you need to be careful who you choose to watch. They may have learnt it the same way by watching someone who saw somone else do it almost correctly etc. It can get a bit like chinese whispers. If you can, learn it from a teacher or the script. The scripts use some shorthand which you may need to think about for a while but do include details of timing, direction, footwork etc which is often lost when copying other people.
It is common practice at sequence club dances for the leaders to dance the first sequence as a solo demonstration to refresh everyones memory . This isn't usually done when sequence dances are included in a general social dance. Around here [Suffolk, on the east coast of England, about 70 miles north east of London] most social dances are advertised as 50/50 which means they are half sequence and half traditional ballroom and latin. Even the strict ballroom sessions may slip in the odd popular sequence as a party type dance.
I think round dances tend to be choreographed around a particular tune
and may use more than one sub-sequence, eg X-X-Y-X-Z. Our dances are simple
repeats of the basic sequence. They are often danced to the same tune that
was used in the competition but then people cannot dance them to any other.
If I am playing the music (on CD I hasten to add) then I try to vary the
tunes.[Howard Spurr]
New Vogue originated from both Old Time and Ballroom. Old time are "sequence" dances. New Vogue uses the same type of music and everyone dance the same routine of steps. They are allowed to vary hand styling to suit their personality. New Vogues absorbes some of the styles from ballroom dances.
My teacher maintained that New Vogue is just an Australian way of calling English old time dancing. He is so Australian, but he insisted that New Vogues dances are essentially old time dances invented in Australia in modern time. I find new Vogue so much easier to learn comparing to ballroom because there is a fixed sequence of steps that people do. It is harder at first to pick up all the 30+ steps required, but after that it simply flows into styling and enjoyment.
The other thing is that there is no longer a restriction on special music for New Vogue dances. These days we use any music we find appropriate instead of the classy music specially composed for sequence dance.
New Vogue is very popular in Australia and New Zealand and is included in all dancing competitions both amateur and professional. It is danced to all sorts of music. The foxtrot new vogue dances include - Merilyn, Charmaine, Carousel, Excelsior. The tangos are the Tangoette, La Bomba, Tango Terrific (a new addition). Waltzes danced to VW style of music include the Swing Waltz, Tracey Leigh Waltz, the Lucielle. There are also marches included - the Evening Three Step, The Gypsy Tap, Militare, Imperial Two Step. There are also some modern waltz ones which are only done socially - the Serenade, the Dream Waltz are probably the most popular. There are also cha chas and rumbas done in New Vogue style only socially as well.
There are about 350 or so different New Vogue sequence dances that have been invented over the years. Some fade away never to be seen again.
The majority are 32 bars long and because they are sequence dances they are very easy to teach. Some of the more simple dances are 16 bars long. As for the patterns they change quite dramatically from one style to the next and from one dance to the next.
[Gayle Martin G.Martin@ITC.GU.EDU.AU ]. [Van Dao Mai mai@wumpus.cc.uow.edu.au ]
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Last modified on: 2000, Thursday March 16.