Latin Dancing (B-Material)

The Latin Dancing scene will be exploding into Oshkosh for the next few months. I will be attending a session this evening to talk to the people putting it on. For now, I thought I should submit some B-Material, about Latin Dancing.

Apparently this has been a trend for some time, exploding into America with the Samba in 1850. This dance had been around in Brazil since the European expansion into the New World. Latin dancing has its American roots in the history of Portuguese and African slaves. Since its introduction, Latin dance has expanded to include: Samba, Rumba, and Cha Cha, plus the Paso Doble (all from Europe) and Bolero, Carimbo, Conga, Cueca, Cumbia, Joropo, Lambada, Mambo, Merengue, Rueda, and the Salsa (all from South America). The most recent example of a Latin dance craze is the Macarena, which became popular in the mid-90's, but lost popularity in only a few months.