Final essay
Social dance is one of the best ways to freely express yourself. It was created for people to
dance for the enjoyment, not for the audience. Which is a good thing because then the dancer
doesn’t need to be worried if they miss some step or if they are doing something wrong. It is a
way for people to scape reality, a way to fix their day and to put a smile into their face. It can
serve many functions in society. and it has also been influenced by it. People dance what its
culturally acceptable to the particular group. In the beginning, social dance would have more
specific rolls, between men and women, but nowadays things have changed. Everything is more
liberal and basically you can do whatever you feel most conformable with. Social dance is a
category of dances intended for participation, intended to socialize and entertainment. It is a
great way to meet new people and spread good energy. It also builds trust to the person or the
group of people you are dancing with. Some cities have specific social dances, some of them are
Quickstep, cha-cha, rumba, samba, foxtrot, and others. Some social dances have also intimate
purposes, like Waltz or Bolero. There is so much o learn of these, because each carries a
culture and a story.
Fresno is a city in California that has a large amount of Mexican population. And they have their
social dance that keeps the Oaxan culture alive. The mexican folk dance it’s a dance brought by
Spaniards and it tells a story about an ancient fight between Christians and Muslims and how
the land was conquired. They dress as devils and there is always a story behind their clothing.
The story tells that one of the characters before dying said: “Let the devils take me”, so once
the band starts playing, the devils come to dance. Trumpets and drums are used for the music,
and they have festivals once in a while, where the Mexican community joins together to dance
or watch, but anyone who is intrested in it is welcome to participate too. That is the nice thing
about social dance, there is so no exculsions and enyone who wants to join is free to do so.
Oakland has a really nice and freely social dance called “Boogaloo”. It is an improvisational
street dance movement of soulful steps and robotic movements which make up the
foundations of popping dance and turfing. Boogaloo can incorporate illusions, restriction of
muscles, stops, and wiggling. It was initially a social dance within the African American
community in Chicago and a new look was introduced. It is about the body moving in a
pulsating motion. There are smooth repetitive side to side movements. Elderly people still
practice this dance in the streets of Oakland, it is part of their culture and has a big meaning in
their lives, specially because of the social impact it had. It can be said that it is a little like hip
hop, specially for their clothes that consists in people wearing things that make them
comfortable and are usually very colorful. “The "boogaloo" movement named for a
