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Paso doble is a Spanish dance style which imitates bullfighting. The leader of the dance imitates the bullfighter while the follower imitates the cape of the bullfighter. Paso doble is danced mostly by professional dancers due its strictly choreographed steps. This page is an introduction on how to dance the Paso Doble.
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Introduction
- Although a Spanish dance, Paso doble originally developed in France, and many steps therefore have French names. The Spanish background of the dance is evident in the dance style, which share many characteristics with flamenco. Paso doble is mostly danced at competitions and performances because of it strictly choreographed moves and its theatrical nature. It is part of the Latin dances of International Style ballroom.
Step 1: Characteristics
- Paso Doble is a performance dance, where the man usually represents the bullfighter and the woman represents his cape. Her dance is therefore more soft, flowing and circular, whereas he dances more aggressively.
- The dance is full of dramatic postures. They often occur during intense moments in the music.
- The man sometimes stamps in the ground like a bullfighter stamps to get the attention of the bull.
- The rhythm of the dance is 1-2-1-2.
- The dance has about 60 beats a minute.
- The woman usually wears a long, wide skirt to illustrate the cape.
- The dance requires much energy as it's very fast.
- The music is often very dramatic.
- When the dancers are in closed position, their upper bodies are touching.
Step 3: Dancing Paso Doble
- Unlike for example waltz, there is no one basic step in Paso Doble, but the dance is a choreographed performance of several different steps after each other. These steps have several things in common.
- The movements should be sharp and quick.
- The steps should be marching-like.
- Not all of the steps blend into each other, unlike other ballroom dances. Extra steps are added to transition from one step to another one.
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