Dance Structure On Oahu

Seventy years ago the English style was pretty much England and the US until the name change to International and then it spread throughout the "Empire." American style remained confined to the US and Canada with maybe 60-70 percent of the dancing. And there had been much influence of the American Style by the US military in the outlying posts such as the Philippines, China, Korea and Japan.

“Single social dancers some times feel like they’ve been dancing

with the same ten cute girls their whole life.”

Then International came to Hawaii in the 60s and some teachers were able to convince many in their recommendations that some American Style classes should be taken before taking International classes, This was a clear implication that International was at a level of dancing much more advanced than the lower class American style. Then they taught many of their moves as "correct" and they were accepted as a different style and done differently. Sounds logical to me and many took to it. However, within ten years, the statement came with no qualifications. Even today, many will flatly state, that they dance "correctly." By default anyone who does not dance that way is dancing "incorrectly."

 "Angel Of Mine" by Monica  (1999)

The noses of the "Rootzi Tootzis began to be lifted when observing Social Dancers at the time of the Palladium and there was the introduction of a new phrase, "Junk Dancer." It established the end of their upward climb, and showed the rise of the Social Dancer. American has always been more diverse and more subject to change among different factions and many teachers prefer those options. Even on this island we have some very good differences. International has more strictness from the governing body and it remains very close to the original beginnings for competitions. We are so fortunate that on Oahu we have had some of the best American Style teachers in the Pacific. We could just understand and respect each other.

"Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it."