Balboa - So Much Variety

Balboa is one of the least known, least appreciated,

and least utilized to its potential, of any dance style.

Balboa is ALL about the CONNECTION!

One of my favorite dance phrases is from Balboa:

Dance Like One Body Dancing!

It's tight, full body connection is similar to Blues and Tango.

But Different!

I've had Balboa dances where

I'm not sure where my body ends and my partner's begins!

It doesn't happen often, but when it does...

It is Scary

And Wonderful

Dance Floor Connection!

You Should Try It.

Better than Crack, for sure!

30s Swing Jazz Music (Lindy, Balboa) is Different

The back beats that drive most Pop music

(Dixieland, Rock, Country, Boogie Woogie)

are Almost GONE in 30s Jazz

I call it "straight ahead" music.

In addition, the speed is RAMPED UP!

Most Pop Music lives between 60 and 120 BPM

Lindy / Balboa tends to START at 120

and go to 300 BMP!

That makes these dances really different!

More than any Pop group, the Boswell Sisters LOVED

playing around with tempos.

In "Everybody Loves My Baby"), starting at 0:54,

they are singing at something like 350 Beats Per Minute!!!!

Balboa Challenge dance for SURE! (link below)

Balboa Swing

Bal Swing is 95% of all Balboa seen these days.

Danced mostly to 1930s jazz swing music,

It is often blazing fast and full of tight connection

and flash turns and moves.

Pure Balboa

Pure Balboa was invented in the 1930s

for crowded dance floors on the California Balboa Peninsula

It has none of the "swing" and "open" positions of

the Bal Swing mostly seen today.

It is super connected and very intimate.

I have been told than in the 1930s

it was appropriate to ONLY dance it with your honey!

Slow Balboa

Important Note: Slow Bal is a "Dancer's Dance"

It LOOKS like nothing is going on.

AMAZING "One Body Dancing" CONNECTION is happening

Quite Similar to Blues, with Balboa Cuddle

Outside-the-Box Balboa

Balboa "Plays Well" with others!

It mixes into all kinds of other Dance Styles