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CAKE WALK
The Cake Walk is said to have originated in Florida about 1880. The style of walking was practiced by the blacks as an art. The dignity of the promenade was rewarded by a prize, usually a cake. The winner cut the cake and shared it with the others.

CALYPSO
The music of the typical ballads in England sung by the natives of Trinidad is called Calypso. There was no real dance, but because of the extreme popularity of the music in 1956, possibly due to the singer Harry Bellafonte, many steps were created. Most of them resemble the Cuban Bolero, Martinique Beguine, or Swing.

CAN CAN
In Paris about 1890 the new Can Can caused quite a stir. Women kicked their black silk-stockinged legs high into the air — a most daring feat for the time. The Can Can may have been an offshoot of the Polka or even the Quadrille, or both. Today it is a music-hall routine danced only by women.

CARIOCA
A native of Rio de Janeiro, the Carioca is also the abbreviation of the Brazilian dance, the Samba Carioca. At the Carioca Carnival, from the moment the music starts until it dies off, people get together in cordoes (chains or cues). Holding hands in this fashion they sing and sway their bodies to the Samba-Carioca and the Marchas.

CAROLINA SHAG
The Carolina Shag is a very popular Swing style from Virginia down through the Carolinas into areas of Georgia. Most often danced to "Beach Music" performed by such groups as the Tams, The Embers, The Drifters, and a wide range of "Motown" recording artists. The dance showcases the man and resembles West Coast Swing with the same slot movement, shuffles, coaster steps, and pronounced lean resulting in role of the partner movement. The music tempo is slow to medium and can be danced comfortably by all ages.

CASTLE WALK
The Castle Walk was first greeted and demonstrated at the Cafe de Paris in France by Irene & Vernon Castle in 1913 and introduced to New York society by then in 1914. The dance was characterized by a series of walking steps on the toes, executed with an elegant type of swagger — frequently punctuated with a light hop in attitude at an appropriate point in the musical phrase.

CHA CHA
From the less-inhibited night clubs and dance halls, the Mambo underwent subtle changes. It was “triple mambo,” and then peculiar scraping and shuffling sounds during the "tripling" produced the imitative sound of Cha Cha. The Mambo then evolved into a dance in itself. Mambo is an advanced stage in interpretive social dancing born of the fusion of progressive American and Latin music.

CHICKEN
The chicken was a short transitional move during the Twist. It had a lateral body movement and was used as a change of pace.

CHIPANECAS
The Chipanecas is a Mexican Folk dance from the province of Chiapas. Its popularity is due to the charming air plus the audience participation during the time the dancers request the audience to clap hands with them. It is in 3/4 time and based on Spanish patterns.

CHARLESTON
Originated in the early 1920s in illegal drinking places during the time of prohibition, the Charleston was very daring. A combination of a particular type of jazz music and the highly polished, slippery floors of the Speakeasies gave rise the unique character of the dance, which has an in-and-out flicking of the feet. It was theatricized and embellished with typical vaudeville moves in a Ziegfield Follies production in 1921. The Charleston has since been featured in many films and theater productions, including the Broadway musicals "The Boy Friend” and “Chicago."

CLOGGING
Cloggins is a freestyle dance style originating in the Blue Ridge Mountains characterized by double-time stomping and tap steps resembling a tap dance with the upper body held straight and upright.

COMPARSA
The Comparsa is an Afro-Cuban dance play.

CONGA
An African-Cuban dance characterized by the extreme violence of accents on the strong beats in 2/4 time, the Conga has a rhythmic anticipation of the second beat in every other measure. The Conga was very popular in the late thirties, and was performed in a formation known as the Conga chain. The steps are simple: one, two, three, kick (at which time the partners move away from each other).

CONTINENTAL OR INTERNATIONAL TANGO
A refined, technical version of the Argentine Tango, the International Tango is probably the most demanding of all smooth dances to execute. It calls for perfect control, phrasing, and musicianship. The subtle movements, changes of weight, and the design of the steps are never stilted but follow the melodic phrasing and are created anew with each new piece.

CONTRE DANSE
A French square dance in double time, introduced into the court about 1600, the Contre Danse was the forerunner of the Country Dance.

CORRIDOS
The musical ballads called the Corridos play a very important part in Latin American musical life. The words are often topical and relate to political events. It has been suggested that the word Corrido is derived from the word correr, to run, because the singer has to run for his life when caught in the process of reciting a subversive ditty. Corridos are particularly popular in Mexico.

COTTON-EYED-JOE
A Country Western dance enjoyed throughout the United States and elsewhere for its enthusiastic music and energetic movements. Characteristic movements include kicks, stomps, shuffles, and turns in place or traveling around the room. The man and the lady generally begin in shadow position with the left foot and they use the same foot on the same beat of music throughout their patterns.

COUNTRY DANCE
The Country Dances were the informal English Folk dances as opposed to the court dances of bygone times. During the Colonial days of America these Country dances became our present day square dance, jig reels, as well as our Virginia Reel, Arkansas Traveler, and Paul Jones.

COUNTRY WESTERN TWO-STEP
The Two-Step originated in the 1800s by people who arrived here from Europe. It was an offspring of the Minuet, and they danced it as QQSS. In the old Western days when women were not allowed to dance with men, men danced together, which is the reason for the hand on the shoulder holding a can of beer and the other hand to the side. Two-step is a Western dance whose popularity has spread all over the United States.

CUBAN MOTION
The characteristic feature of Latin dances. Each step is taken without initially placing weight on that step, with the toes pointed out. Steps are made with a slightly bent knee which, when straightened, causes the hips to sway from side to side.

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