red-fleur-de-lis-mdCountry Dancing

Two Step - Waltz - West Coast Swing - East Coast Swing - Nightclub - Polka - Cha Cha

Two Step
Dances carrying the name "two step" have existed at least since halfway through the nineteenth century. In this century the two-step was done for a long time as a cowboy dance. These two-steps use a rhythm that we would now call "triple-step triple-step." In more recent times, the chasse has been altered to be a passing step. Two step dancers use "step step step step" rather than "step close step step," yet both use the rhythm QQSS.
In this century the two-step was done for a long time as a cowboy dance. Folks gathered just about anywhere to dance - on ranches, in barns, in the wide open spaces under the stars. Slowly a dance that was specifically "western" began to evolve. Novelty moves and styles popular in Appalachia and the south came west and were absorbed by the new settlers. However, the most important influence came from the cowboy!
The modern day two step is the main partner dance in country western dancing. The basic step occupies 6 beats of music. Similar to the 6-count swing, the steps consist of 2 quick steps (1 beat a piece) and 2 slow steps (2 beats a piece). Beyond the basic inside and outside turns, the two step incorporates many ducks, tunnels, and funky arm positioning.
As couple dancing regained popularity in the mid 1970's with the emergence of disco. In the late 1970's as disco died and country music continued to rise in rapid popularity, a resurgence of interest in western dance emerged. During this time, two step underwent rapid growth as a social dance. Two step followed the popularity of country music to its peak in popularity in the 90's, the competitive influence of the UCWDC has created the two step we now see today.
Nightclub (NC2)
The "two step" was developed in 1965 by a 15 year-old teen from Whitaker, Illinois named Buddy Schwimmer . Buddy was doing a line dance called "Surfer Stomp." It was based on two steps and a stomp. This worked well with fast music, but the footwork was too slow for medium and slow tempo songs. The timing was changed and it went from a line dance to a partnership dance. This then became the dance called "two step." Eventually in 1978, Buddy opened a dance studio in Costa Mesa, California and started teaching "nightclub two step" which is not commonly called just nightclub.
Nightclub, like all dances has gone through changes over time. It has evolved into two different-feeling dances. The original footwork was "rock in place, side" (quick, quick, slow). The country western dancers have adopted it and have included it in their competitions changing the footwork to (slow, quick, quick to better match the music). Nightclub is very gliding, continuous, strong and powerful with a big sweeping feeling. It is precise and quite technical.
Nightclub is a dance you can do in nightclubs as well as ballrooms, weddings, cruises, etc. It's an alternative to the "slow" dance - the dance where you stand, put your hands on your partner's waist and your partner puts her arms around your neck and you sway back and forth, back-and-forth etc., etc. It is perfect for medium and slow music. Nightclub is danced to popular music, mostly ballads and songs such as "Lady In Red," "On the Wings of Love." It's popularity is slowly moving east and is starting to be taught in Europe. It is just a matter of time before it is danced everywhere in the United States.
When the 70's rolled in, John Travolta brought back couples dancing with his movie role in Saturday Night Fever. Country western dancing is what you see Debra Winger doing with Travolta in the movie "Urban Cowboy" and with Tom Berenger in the movie "Betrayed" - the kind of dancing men and women do to contemporary country western music. Country western line dancing became popular in the late 80's into the early 90's although without a partner it is a different animal than couples dancing. 1990 into 2000 (the height of popularity for country music) brings partner dancing back. Country western line dancing has now shifted towards country.
People are dancing to all types of music which makes all forms of couples dancing popular. No matter what your taste in music, there is a particular dance that fits your favorite tunes! Everyone is doing it. Young and old. Single and married.
The United Country Western Dance Council "UCWDC" was created in 1989 by a group of country western dance competition directors, who came together in Grantville, Pennsylvania, to form the UCWDC. These directors wanted to "unite" all their events across the country under one set of rules, and establish national standards for country western dance events throughout the country. They adopted a uniform set of rules that had been written in 1988, and granted sanctioning to the 23 events that had used these rules in their entirety in 1989. This was the birth of the UCWDC. Today the UCWDC has over 50 sanctioned events in 14 countries, and hosts an annual world championship.
Cha cha, east coast swing, west coast swing, polka and waltz while all popular dances in country western, the ones listed here are the more traditional country dances (or in the case of nightclub, the ones that country has influenced the most).



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