Balboa Swing Views

• General Goods

Balboa today is commonly used as a general term for dances that originated in Southern California during the 1920s and 1930s. It is a form of swing dance that started as early as 1915 and gained in popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. It is danced primarily in close embrace, and is led with a full body connection. The art of Balboa is in the subtle communication between the lead and follow, including weight shifts, which most viewers cannot see. As a result, Balboa is considered more of a dancer's dance than a spectator's dance . Its exact origins are obscure, especially as most of the original Balboa dancers have died.

The dance was originally a response to overcrowded ballrooms where the swing-out or breakaway (a move popular in Lindy Hop at the time) was often difficult, if not actually banned by the venue. Balboa is often perceived as a restrained or introverted dance, with most movement occurring below the knees; however, part of its appeal is its variations on turns and twirls that allow the lead to show off his partner's legs—an effect that is heightened when the follow is wearing a twirly skirt and high heels.

Modern Balboa dancers sometimes distinguish between two types of Balboa, Pure Balboa and Bal-Swing. In Pure Balboa, dancers stay in close embrace for almost the entire time, their torsos touching, doing variations based on footwork, turning as a couple and moving as a couple. Bal-Swing, in contrast, incorporates movements in which there is more space between the partners and thus more latitude for dynamic movements, including turns for one partner, and so forth.

The dancers stand close, touching upper chest. This makes communication with body language very easy. The man's right front torso (rib cage) touches the woman's center front torso (rib cage). They are offset by about 1/4 of their body width, but primarily facing square to each other's shoulders. Unlike in other swing dances, the balboa follower often dances in heels to get the proper forward connection. The follower should still have her own weight (if the lead backed up she would stand on her own), but it should be aligned over the balls of her feet.

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