Everyone who dances Latin dances should have heard about 'Cuban hip action', since it is what we define 'Latin dance (see Authentic Latin Dance)'. The proper hip action is closely related to the timing, balance, shaping and the overall appearance of your dancing. Although most people think that this Cuban hip action is a high level achievement, however, without it one can't even present the basics well.
It is true that lots of learners practice hard to achieve it, however, the proper hip action is a natural result of correct leg & feet actions, as well as the proper centring and balancing; IT ITSELF IS NOT A HIP INITIATED ACTION. That means, by the law of physics, when you are moving your body in the correct way, you are about to create the correct hip action without much effort but just a nudge. This is also why in classes instructors do not often talk about the hip but emphasize on the centre, leg, feet and weight.
Let's see how does a Cuban hip action look and we will discuss the mechanism behind in the part 2 and part 3.
Among all Latin dances, (International) rumba has the most of the Cuban hip action. Other International styles like Cha Cha Cha, Samba, and Jive, and American Latin Rhythms like Mambo, Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, and the Latin Lambada also demonstrate a different degree of Cuban motion. However, the shaping of hip in these dances do not look the same, because of musicality that the dances are bond to (tempo, rhythm, signature, style etc.)
- (International) Cha Cha Cha has a sharp hip movement, the mechanics is the same but since it is faster, there is no time to allow the hip settling. You can see that the hip now becomes more like forwards and backwards.
- (International) Samba is different from the other dances as it has the bounce. The hip thus merges with the bounce action and creates a very distinctive hip movement. Although the mechanics is still the same, the bounce which absorbs the height fluctuations makes the hip whirl. Look at how the hip swirls around throughout this simple routine.
- (International) Jive also incorporates the Cuban hip motion but it is less significant. Since the music is fast, there is no time to proceed the whole hip action. Besides, the bidy inclination and the hopping which associates with the popping knees limits the hip motion. However, basic syllabus figures still demand certain hip actions.
- Mambo & Salsa basically have the same hip action as rumba but since it is faster we need to drop the settling action.
- Bachata has a similar hip action as (International) Cha Cha Cha in its basic, not as sharp, but a smoother feel. Variations take the same motion as any other form of Latin Dances.
- Merengue does not move differently from all these Latin Dances.
- Only Lambada has a distinctive hip swing which makes it stands out; however, all variation steps have traces of Latin hip motions.
*part 1- (you are here) how does it look in diff dances
*part 2- the mechanism
*part 3- how to achieve it
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*part 2- the mechanism
*part 3- how to achieve it
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