Latin American dances are a type of paired ballroom and club dances that spread throughout Europe in the 19th century and gained great popularity.
Latin American (Antillean) dances or simply latina took shape in a separate type of ballroom program in the middle of the 19th century. They owe their wide distribution to the free North America, in which cultures, including dance ones, of several races are bizarrely mixed. Thus, the Spanish folk dance, elements of which were performed by bullfighters during the bullfight, became known throughout the world as the Paso Doble. Samba was brought to Brazil, and then to Europe, African slaves, rumba and cha-cha-cha originated in Cuba and Haiti.
The traditional sports ballroom dance program adopted by the Ballroom Sports Federation since 1930 includes five dances in the Latin American section. These are jive, samba, rumba, cha-cha-cha and paso doble. All of them are performed in pairs, a man and a woman, and the peculiarity of Latin, in contrast to European dances, is that during the performance partners can both disconnect the contact and cuddle very closely to each other. All Latin American dances are rhythmic and emotional, and some of them are particularly sensual.
As a rule, at competitions and festivals, Latin dancers perform in bright, tight-fitting outfits with a lot of sequins. For ladies, a short skirt and the most open back are allowed, for a partner - a tight-fitting suit.
Not only professionals dance Latin American dances. The so-called "club" Latin has long become one of the most popular directions of mass dance, both in Latin America and in the USA, Europe and Russia. Salsa and bachata, merengue and mambo - these dances do not require honed skill, it is more important to open up in them completely, turning movements into a meaningful story of love and passion. It is no coincidence that the same bachata is half-jokingly, half-seriously called "sex on the floor."
For many years, the film Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze has been a cult film for all Latin dancers, which shows the most popular of amateur dances in all its glory.
