Take your dance to the next level or what is known as Fusion Dance.  Fusion Dance is the ability to switch between 2 or more different dance styles in a seamless manner to the same song.  Skill and Mastery in a multitude of different dance styles is normally beneficial but not required to be able to do fusion dance.  Fusion Dance is composed of the different dance styles blended together as one unique dance.

Fusion Dance has been around for a while and come in different forms and flavors with associated names such as the following:

• Line Dancing + West Coast Swing
• Swango (Swing + Argentine Tango)
• Swustle (West Coast Swing + Hustle)
• Salsa + Lindy Hop
• SalTango (Salsa + Argentine Tango)
• BachataTango (Bachata + Argentine Tango)
• Night Club 2-Step (NC2S) + Argentine Tango
• Bachata + WCS + Argentine Tango
• Cha Cha + WCS
• Merengue + Hustle

There are different ways of doing Fusion Dance:

• Switching from one dance style to the next style but maintain timing according to the dance style being done.  An example is doing Swustle where you would maintain 6-count (double-triple-triple rhythm) or 8-count (double-triple-double-triple) rhythm when dancing WCS and maintain 3-count  timing when dancing Hustle
• Switching from one dance style to the next style but maintain timing to only one dance style.  An example is doing BachataTango where you would maintain the 4-count (step-step-step-tap) rhythm when dancing bachata and still maintain maintain the same 4-count bachata timing when switching to Argentine Tango.
• Dancing one style to a particular song genre.  An example is doing Swango where you would dance either Swing completely to Tango music (with beats) or dance Argentine Tango completely to Swing music while maintaining the rhythm according to the dance style being done.  Another good example is dancing NC2S to Zouk music.

Below are video clips of the different forms of Fusion Dance:

Albert & Melody

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BachataTango

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Swango

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Other Styles

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Video Performances:

Traditional Tango Style

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Nuevo Tango Style

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Tango Milonga

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Tango Vals

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Music Playlist:

Tango

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Tango Milonga

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Tango Vals

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Bachata has its origins in the Dominican Republic.  The dance is a four-step beat achieved with a walking Cuban hip motion, and a unique “pop” or forward hip thrust. The dance is done in both open position and/or closed position depending on the setting and mood of the partners.

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The basic dance sequence is a full 8 count in a side-to-side motion although, traditionally it was a back and forth motion.  It is also considered the romantic dance for the Salsa community.

Performances:

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Line Dancing is a choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines or rows without regard for the gender of the individuals, all facing the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time. Line dancers are not in physical contact with each other.

Links on the Origins of Line Dancing:

• Line Dancing – Wikipedia
• The History & Definition of Line Dancing
• Line Dancing Did not Originate in Texas 
• A History of Line Dancing
• Line Dancing – How Did We Begin?

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Salsa has its origin in Cuba but also has its influence from Latin & North America as well as Africa and Europe.  It is a very sexy and passionate dance and probably the most popular dance worldwide.  There are many styles of Salsa such as Los Angeles Style On1, New York Mambo On2, Cuban Style, Columbian, Puerto Rican, etc.
It is done to 4/4 timing ranging from 140 to 230 bpm, and can be danced either solo or as a partner dance.  The primary style of most Salsa dancers in Singapore is L.A. Style On1.

Video Performances:

LA On 1 (Improv)

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NY On 2 (Improv)

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LA On 1 (Choreo)

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NY On 2 (Choreo)

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West Coast Swing (WCS) is a popular street dance derived from Lindy Hop and first introduced by Dean Collins from New York who came to Los Angeles back in the late 1930s.  It is also known as the “Official State Dance of California”.  WCS was coined with different names such as “Western Swing” but now known today as West Coast Swing with Los Angeles being the WCS mecca.  People from all over the world still flock to Los Angeles not only to take their dancing to the next level but to learn and dance with many of the top dancers in the word.

WCS is a slotted dance which uses compression/leverage techniques to create elasticity or what is sometimes referred to as the concept of the “rubber band effect”.  It is a smooth, sultry and sophisticated dance where dancers are able to improvise and syncopate their steps according to the timing of the beat, lyrics or various instruments being played in the music.  It can be danced to all genres of music and is fast becoming a worldwide dance phenomena.

Since its inception, WCS continues to evolve as trends in the music also change with time.  It can be danced to all forms of genre music and is very popular with all ages, young and old.  Originally danced to Blues and Jazz music during the Swing era, WCS is now done to Country, Disco, Funk, Hip Hop, Latin, Pop, R&B and many of the Modern music that you hear on the radio.  It is also popular with all ages, young and old.

WCS can be done to any music written in 4/4 time ranging from as slow as 80 beats per minute (bpm) to as fast as 140 bpm but ideally dance to those from 110 to 125bpm.  For faster music such as those used for Rock & Roll and Salsa, the best way to dance to this music is to do it to half-time rather than normal timing which will slow the rhythm by half and to a more acceptable manner so that it does not look like you are dancing in fast-forward motion.  Although not normally done to classical music which may or may not have any beats, you can still dance WCS to it as long as everything is done by feel and using the concepts of lead/follow techniques.

There is no one standard style when it comes to WCS.  Most of the old-timers still dance to what is known as the Traditional or Classic style with more emphasis on footwork while the younger generation are doing more of a Modern (aka “Funk” back in the early 2000s) style with emphasis on extensions and visual lines.

WCS is unlike many other dances which are normally done in 8 counts.  Most of the patterns first learned are done in 6-count or 8-count manners with the flexibility to shorten or extend counts once you start going beyond basics and getting into what is known as syncopated footwork that involves footwork and timing changes.  Below is an example of the breakdown for standard patterns being taught and learned at the beginner level:

For more information, check the following links:

History of WCS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_Swing
http://www.swingworld.com/history_wsc.htm
http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3wcs1.htm
http://www.ithacaswingdance.com/f_Link15_wcs.html
http://dancemuskegon.com/west-coast-swing/

Events Taking Place

http://www.usopenswingdc.com/
http://www.swingdancecouncil.com/ActiveServerPages/UpcomingEvents.asp
http://www.wcs-dancer.com/SwingClubDances.html

WCS Scene in Los Angeles

http://socalswingdance.com/
http://www.ocwcsdc.com/
http://www.topcatsdance.com/
http://haciendahotel.com/media/docs/menus/Hacienda_Dance_Calendar.pdf
http://www.westcoastswingdanceclub.org/
http://www.diamondswing.com/
http://www.ocdance.com

Video Performances:

Improvisation

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Choreographed

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