Descriptions of Simple Social Dances
The Monterey
The Monterey, or Nightclub Foxtrot, is a modern take on the American Box Foxtrot, and it is generally danced to more modern music and has more of a side-to-side feel than a box or traveling Foxtrot. It typically has an 8-Beat basic and is considered a Rhythm dance, so it is danced in the middle of the dance floor. This version of Foxtrot is simpler than the Level 2 dance many call the Ballroom Foxtrot (also known as Arthur Murray Foxtrot or “Magic Rhythm” Foxtrot), which has a 6-Beat basic and travels around the line of dance, and it is much simpler than the English Foxtrot (sometimes called the Continuity Foxtrot), which requires much more body control and is a Level 3 dance.
Merengue
More specifically, we are referring to the American Freestyle Merengue, which has more structure than the Latin Meringue but requires much less technique than the Classic American Meringue, which is seldom used or taught today. American Freestyle Merengue is similar, and compatible, with Latin Merengue, but it starts every pattern with the leader’s Left foot and the follower’s Right foot, and it uses all double rhythm. It is danced with small steps, gradual turns, and no hip action is required.
Box Rumba
Classic American Box Rumba is a simple and popular American Rhythm Dance danced to a large variety of slow songs. Rumba is danced with an 8-Beat rhythm pattern of double-single-double-single, and this particular version starts with a box formation for the basic. Once we get past the basic, most patterns diverge from the box formation and can be shared between other American Rhythm Dances such as Cha-cha or Mambo. Rumba is a very old ballroom dance, but it is very useful in the context of today’s popular music, especially at Country dances. Note that there are 2 rhythm patterns which are popular in American Rumba — classic and alternate rhythm — and while we teach classic rhythm for easier phrasing and musicality, alternate rhythm is usually used by ballroom competitors and is therefore exclusively taught at most modern ballroom dance studios.
Nightclub Rumba
Nightclub Rumba is a very similar in technique to Box Rumba, but it mostly uses a different set of patterns and different techniques are emphasized. Nightclub Rumba has an 8-Beat rhythm pattern of single-double-single-double (alternate Rumba rhythm), and it is generally danced in a side-to-side floor pattern, with little or no hip action and with a gliding action on single rhythm side steps. It is mostly, but not exclusively, danced to Country music, and in many Country Dance circles it is, teachers call it “Nightclub Two Step”. Most of the patterns in Nightclub Rumba can be shared with the dance called “Niteclub 2-Step” (note the difference in preferred spelling), but the original Niteclub 2-Step, or California 2-Step, is a Level 3 or 4 dance which requires much more body control, and Nightclub Rumba is a Level 1 dance which is easier to learn and is still very useful.
The Melange
“Melange” is a French word that roughly translates to “Mish-mash”, “Mixture”, or “Mix-up” in English. In different dance circles, it has gone by many names including “2-Hand Salsa”, “4-Count Hustle”, and has occasionally been mistakenly taught as a version of Country Swing. It is a very fun, simple dance which can be danced to a large variety of music which includes, but is not limited to, Pop, Rock, Country, Disco, and Latin styles. It is an upbeat Nightclub dance with a 4-Beat rhythm pattern of double-double, it is loosely within the Hustle family of dances, and many of its patterns can be shared with Hustle and single-rhythm East Coast Swing. Tempo-wise, the Melange is most commonly used for upbeat songs that are a bit too fast for Monterey Foxtrot (or a bit on the fast side for West Coast Swing) but that aren’t quite fast enough for single-rhythm East Coast Swing.
One Step
One Step, so named because it feels like a simplified version of Two Step, has two major versions.
One version of One Step is danced as a close, intimate slow dance with a 4-Beat rhythm pattern of double-double, and it is danced to music that is generally too slow for Rumba. This version is danced as a Rhythm Dance, in the middle of the floor, and many of the songs can be shared with the much more advanced Niteclub 2-Step, but its patterns are very freestyle and can be shared with a large variety of American social/ballroom dances.
The other version of One Step is danced to fast Country music with a 4-Beat rhythm pattern of single-single, and it mostly shares moves with Country 2-Step and travels line-of-dance around the dance floor. This fast version of One Step shares a lot of music with the much more advanced Country Polka, and it is best used when the music being played is too fast for Country 2-Step.
Salsa Suave
Salsa Suave is the most common form of Salsa danced in the Western United States, and most people just call it “The Salsa” with no qualifiers. There are slightly different styles of Salsa danced around the world, and many of them are similar, but when we Americans steal a dance from another country, we tend to take a snapshot in time of what was seen when the dance was codified. At the snapshot in time where my teachers’ teachers got it, Americans saw 3 different styles of Salsa: Salsa Suave, Salsa Valiente, and Salsa Picado — I know they sound yummy, but they’re dances, not food.
Salsa is a Latin dance, generally danced to fast Latin music. It has an 8-beat rhythm pattern of double-single-double-single, and it can share some moves with other American dances that were inspired by Latin dances like Cha-cha, Rumba, and Mambo. However, Salsa has a more direct forward-and-back style than those other American dances, which have a lot of side-to-side movements, so many of the sideways moves don’t translate well to Salsa.
West Coast Swing Blackfoot 