BALLROOM DANCE ARTISTS

Ballroom Dance Music comes ALIVE with the sounds of a live band playing at your event, but finding the right band can sometimes be a challenge!

SeaSoundStudio Director, J. Patrice Kaluza, understands your needs.  As an accomplished, professional musician, she understands the importance of timing, rhythm and distinct dance styles that ballroom dancers prefer. Having performed for many ballroom dance groups, Patrice can help you to select the right music and band for your event.

Certain musicians are highlighted below, but contact SeaSoundStudio with your specific entertainment need because we have access to a large network of musicians in addition to those identified on this page.

Recognized as one of the premier dance bands in North Carolina, Lady & the Tramps is in great demand by dance clubs, restaurants, and dance studios that require precise tempos and rhythms for their skilled dance couples.  Featuring male and female vocals backed by keyboards, bass, guitar, percussion and optional woodwind and brass instruments, the band can be configured for your specific needs--from three to six professional musicians.

Lady & The Tramps plays a popular blend of dance music, including the following:  Foxtrot, Swing, Cha-Cha, Tango, Meringue, Mambo, Samba, Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Rumba, Beach, Shag, Boogie and Rock & Roll.  With advance notice, the group will prepare specific songs requested by the dance club, restaurant or dance studio.

To ensure that your members and guests will enjoy the music while being able to converse without shouting, Lady & The Tramps engages a dedicated sound engineer for every performance to ensure optimal sound quality and volume during the band's performance.  Lady & the Tramps has energized the dance floor at several regional venues on a regular basis, including Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Raleigh, NC the Shoe & Slipper Dance Club of Henderson, North Carolina and the Irregardless Cafe of Raleigh, NC.  For more information on Lady & The Tramps, click here.

The word "ballroom" denotes a room where balls may be held, or simply, formal social dances. The word "ball" derives from the Latin "balare" meaning "to dance". This is also the origin of the related words ballet, ballerina, ballad, etc. The figures in the modern ballroom dances have now been standardized and categorized into various levels for teaching, with internationally agreed vocabularies, techniques, rhythms and tempos.  For background information on the traditional ballroom dances and other popular dances for which Lady & The Tramps frequently plays, click on the appropriate dance type: ,Viennese Waltz, Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Meringue, Samba, Rumba, Boogie-Woogie, Swing, Mambo, Cha-Cha, Rock & Roll, Beach and Shag.

Viennese Waltz
The origins of Viennese Waltz date back to the 12th and13th centuries and found in the dance called "Nachtanz." The Viennese waltz originally comes from Bavaria and used to be called the "German." However, other people question this origin of the Viennese waltz. An article which appeared in the Paris magazine "La Patrie" (The Fatherland) on 17 January 1882, claimed that the waltz was first danced in Paris in 1178, not under the name waltz but as the Volta from the Province. Presumably this is a dance in 3/4 rhythm, which the French regard as the forerunner of the Viennese waltz.

The first waltz melodies date from 1770. It was introduced in Paris in 1775, but it took some time before it became popular. In 1813 Mr. Byron condemned the waltz as being unchaste. In 1816 the waltz was also accepted in England. But the struggle against it was not over yet. In 1833, a "good behavior" book was published by Miss Celbart and according to it, although it was allowed for married ladies to perform this dance, she called it "a dance of too loose in character for maidens to perform."

Waltz
The forerunner of waltz was Boston, a dance imported from the USA and introduced in England by a very influential "Boston Club" around 1874. However, only after 1922 did this dance become as fashionable as the tango. The strange thing about Boston was that couples danced next to each other, nothing like what we do now. In 1921 it was decided that the basic movement should be: step, step, close. In 1922, when Victor Sylvester won the championship, the English waltz program consisted of not more than a right turn, a left turn and change of direction (less than what is learned by a beginner nowadays). In 1926/1927 the waltz was improved considerably. The basic movement was changed into step-side-close. As a result of this, many more variations became possible. They have been standardized by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). Many of them are still dancing.


Tango
Tango was first danced in Europe before World War I, in 36 bars per minute tempo. It originates from Buenos Aires, Argentina where it was first danced in "Barria de Las Ranas," the ghetto of Buenos Aires. It was then known under the name of "Baile con Corte" (dance with a rest). The "dandies" of Buenos Aires changed the dance in two ways. First they changed the so-called "polka rhythm" into the "Habanere rhythm" and secondly they called it tango. From 1900 onward, several amateurs tried to introduce the dance from Argentina to Paris without success. Being rather an exotic dance, a sensuous creation of Southern nations, the tango initially did not become accepted by the European social establishment. It was however still danced in the suburban areas and gaining more and more popularity. Tango's breakthrough came in a dance competition on the French Riviera. The dance was so well presented by a group of its enthusiasts that it gained immediate recognition in Paris and then the rest of Europe.


Foxtrot
The foxtrot, a dance born in the twenties, was named after an American performer Harry Fox. Initially it was danced at 48 bars per minute tempo. The tempo issue led to the breakaway of quickstep at about 50 to 52 bars per minute and the continued slowing down of pure Foxtrot to 32 bars per minute by the end of the twenties. At the end of World War I the slow-foxtrot consisted of walks, three-steps, a slow walk and a sort of a spin turn. At the end of 1918 the wave arose, then known as the "jazz-roll." The American Morgan introduced a sort of open spin turn, the "Morgan-turn," in 1919. In 1920 Mr. G.K. Anderson introduced the feather step and the change of direction, figures you cannot imagine today's foxtrot without. The thirties had become the golden age for this dance. That is when Foxtrot tunes became the standards of its tempo. The great fascination of Foxtrot is the amazing variety of interpretations there can be of what is basically such a simple dance. From swingers to trotters, from smoothies to ripples, from the military to the delicate steppers and more.

Quickstep
Developed during the World War I in suburban New York, initially performed by Caribbean and African dancers. It eventually made its debut on the stage of American music halls and immediately became popular in the ballrooms. Foxtrot and quickstep have a common origin. In the twenties many bands played the slow foxtrot too fast, which gave rise to many complaints. Eventually they developed into two different dances, slow foxtrot tempo has been slowed down and quickstep became clearly the fast version of foxtrot, danced at 48 bars per minute tempo. The Charleston had a lot of influence on the development of Quickstep.

Meringue
Meringue is a combination of two dances, the African and the French Minuet, from the late 1700's - early 1800's. The black slaves saw the ballroom dances in the Big Houses and when they had their own festivities started mimicking the "masters' dances".  But the Europeans dances were not fun, they were very boring and staid, so over time, the slaves added a special upbeat (provided by the drums), this was a slight skip or a hop. The original Meringue was not danced by individual couples, but was a circle dance, each man and woman faced each other and holding hands - at arm's length. They did not hold each other closely and the original movements of this dance were only the shaking of the shoulders and swift movement of the feet. There was no blatant movement of the hips like there is today, as native African dances do not move the hips. In fact, African dances, as well as other Indigenous dances throughout the world, consist of complicated steps and arm movements. Tribal dancing does not have "primitive" shaking of the hips, this is only done in Hollywood movies.

Samba
Samba originates from Brazil where it is a national dance. Many versions of the Samba - from Baion (pronounce: Bajao) to Marcha - are danced at the local carnival in Rio. To achieve the true character of the Samba a dancer must give it a lively, flirtatious and exuberant interpretation. Many figures, used in the Samba today, require a pelvic tilt action. This action is difficult to accomplish, but without it the dance loses much of its effect. Before 1914 it was known under a Brazilian name "Maxixe." The first attempts of introducing samba to European ballrooms are dated 1923-24, but it was after the World War II when Samba became a popular dance in Europe. Samba has a very specific rhythm, highlighted to its best by characteristic Brazilian musical instruments: originally called tamborim, chocalho, reco-reco and cabaca.

Rumba
The Rumba originates from Cuba as a typical dance of a hot climate. It has become the classic of all the Latin American dances. In its present form many of the basic figures of the dance retain the age-old story of woman's attempt to dominate man by the use of her feminine charm. In a well-choreographed dance there will always be an element of "tease and run," the man being lured and then rejected. Rumba was actually a fertility dance.  Through time it has broken down into three classes: Guaguanc, Yamb,  and Columbia. In Guaguanc, the male tries to "penetrate" the female and the female responds. In Yamb, the female just flirts but at the end "backs out" and refuses the pelvic thrust of the male dancer. Columbia is a later development and danced only in very few country towns.

Boogie-Woogie
Boogie-woogie is a style of piano-based blues that became very popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but originated much earlier, and was extended from piano, to three pianos at once, guitar, big band, country and western music, and even gospel.

Swing
The history of swing dates back to the 1920's, where the black community, while dancing to contemporary Jazz music, discovered the Charleston and the Lindy Hop.  As the music changed between the 1920's and 1990's, (Jazz, Swing, Bop, Rock 'n Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Disco, Country), the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, and Swing evolved across the U.S. with many regional styles. The late 1940's brought forth many dances that evolved from Rhythm & Blues music: the Houston Push and Dallas whip (Texas), the Imperial Swing (St. Louis), the D.C. Hand Dancing (Washington), and the Carolina Shag (Carolinas and Norfolk) were just a few.

From the mid 1940's to today, the Lindy Hop, Jitterbug, Lindy, and Swing, were stripped down and distilled by the ballroom dance studio teachers in order to adapt what they were teaching to the general public. As a result, the ballroom dance studios developed a ballroom East Coast Swing and ballroom West Coast Swing.  In 1951 Lauré Haile first published her dance notes as a syllabus, which included Western Swing for the Santa Monica Arthur Murray Dance Studio. In the 50's she presented her syllabus in workshops across the U.S. for the Arthur Murray Studios. The original Lauré Haile Arthur Murray Western Swing Syllabus has been taught by Arthur Murray studios with only minor revisions for the past 44 years.

Mambo
The fusion of Swing and Cuban music produced this fascinating rhythm and in turn created a new sensational dance. The Mambo could not have been conceived earlier since up to that time, the Cuban and American Jazz were still not wedded. The "Mambo" dance is attributed to Perez Prado who introduced it at La Tropicana night-club in Havana in 1943. Since then other Latin American band leaders such as Tito Rodriquez, Pupi Campo, Tito Puente, Machito and Xavier Cugat have achieved styles of their own and furthered the Mambo craze.  The Mambo was originally played as any Rumba with a riff ending. It may be described as a riff or a Rumba with a break or emphasis on 2 and 4 in 4/4 time. Native Cubans or musicians without any training would break on any beat.

It first appeared in the United States in New York's Park Plaza Ballroom - a favorite hangout of enthusiastic dancers from Harlem. The Mambo gained its excitement in 1947 at the Palladium and other renowned places such as The China Doll, Havana Madrid and Birdland. A modified version of the "Mambo" (the original dance had to be toned down due to the violent acrobatics) was presented to the public at dance studios, resort hotels, and at night-clubs in New York and Miami.  Today the Mambo is generally limited to advanced dancers. Teachers agreed that this is one of the most difficult of dances. One of the greatest contributions of the Mambo is that it led to the development of the Cha-Cha.

Cha-Cha
Cha-cha-cha is the newcomer of the Latin American dances. This dance was first seen in the dance halls of America in the early fifties, following closely the form of Mambo, from which it was developed. Shortly after the Mambo was introduced, another rhythm started to gain popularity, a rhythm that was ultimately to become the most commonly known of the Latin American dances throughout the world. It was named Cha-cha-cha. The music is slower than Mambo and the rhythm is less complicated. The interpretation of Cha-Cha-Cha music should produce a happy, carefree, cheeky, party-like atmosphere. Recently it was decided to shorten the name to Cha-Cha.

Rock and Roll
The immediate origins of rock and roll are in the late 1940's and early 1950's through a mixing together of various popular musical genres of the time. These included blues, country music, R&B, folk music, and gospel music.  However, elements of rock and roll can be heard in many "hillbilly" and "race" music records of the 1920s and 1930s. "Race" music was usually relegated to "race music " outlets (music industry code for rhythm and blues stations) and was rarely heard by mainstream white audiences.

Rock and roll can trace one lineage to the old Five Points, Manhattan district of the mid-19th century New York City, the scene of the first fusion of heavily rhythmic African shuffles and sand dances with melody-driven European genres, particularly the Irish jig. A few black rhythm and blues musicians, notably Louis Jordan, the Mills Brothers, and The Ink Spots, achieved crossover success; in some cases (such as Jordan's "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" ) this success was achieved with songs written by white songwriters. The Western swing genre in the 1930s, generally played by white musicians, also drew heavily on the blues and in turn directly influenced rockabilly and rock and roll, as can be heard, for example, on Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" (1957).

Beach
Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band and swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues, reggae, rockabilly and old-time rock and roll. Beach music is closely associated with the style of swing dance known as the shag, or the Carolina shag, which is also the official state dance of both North Carolina and South Carolina. Recordings with a 4/4 "blues shuffle", rhythmic structure and moderate-to-fast tempo are the most popular music for the shag, and the vast majority of the music in this genre fits that description.

Shag
The roots of shag can be found in the cross-pollination of black music and club dancers in Myrtle Beach with the natural openness of a fun-loving and carefree group of '40s white teenagers. Since the mainstream radio stations of the '40s South did not play black music, the kids flocked to the beaches to hear it on jukeboxes. Certain individuals, such as Billy Jeffers and "Chicken" Hicks are credited with developing the early aspects of the dance. These teens attended black night clubs and were allowed to watch from the balcony. In an era of segregation, this was called "jumping the Jim Crow rope." They adapted what they saw and liked. They are also credited with initiating the "Beach Music" phenomenon, by convincing jukebox owners to put R&B into the play list. In the '90s, numerous radio stations have Beach Music-only formats.

Lindy Hoppers are familiar with the "Big Apple" dance and perhaps with its derivative partner-ish dance the "Little Apple". Both of these were born at Fat Sam's Big Apple Club in Columbia, South Carolina. It then drifted up north to the Savoy Ballroom. Although Jazz affected the Southern style directly, the Savoy transmutations of Shag also returned to the South. Early Shaggers called themselves "Jitterbugs". The music was fast, and it was big band swing. The term "Shag" came about over a decade later. By the early '50s, Shag had slowed down and adopted the tempo and feel of Rhythm and Blues as its own.

In the post-WWII era, with the close of the Savoy Ballroom and demise of the big bands, the Lindy Hop lost most of its USA popularity (resurfacing in the '90s). However, Carolina Shag has gained wide popularity in swing dance circles around the US while the older styles of R&B have faded from popularity. Many of the new shag dance aficionados prefer the "R&B oldies" and/or shagging to currently popular tunes that happen to have the required beat. As more networking is being done on the Internet among shag deejays and beach music fans nationwide, however, there is a growing acceptance of the regional bands by the "new shaggers".