Exotic Dancing

Why is the Jive considered a Latin dance?

On Dancing with the Stars tonight, Laila and Maks did the Jive during the Latin portion. How is that a Latin dance?

Public Comments

1. In ballroom, there are only 2 styles, Latin and Standard (or Rhythm and Smooth, respectively, in case of American style). All the dances that are competed in ballroom have to be assigned to one of those 2 categories. We can't really say that Jive is more like Waltz or Foxtrot. It is more like Cha-Cha or Samba. This is why it is in the same category with Latin dances. Same deal with Tango that is historically a dance of latin origin but it doesn't look like other dances in Latin category, so it is considered Standard or Smooth. There is no better category to put it in. More on Jive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jive_%28dance%29 I wonder, what part in Jive strikes you as it doesn't belong in Latin category? As a competitor myself, it is sincerely hard for me to see why not. Like many other Latin dances, it is danced in place, there is a lot of separation in the body, a lot of hip movement... (Star Dancers on TV are a bit too stiff to demonstrate it.) Although historically I agree - it's not exactly of Latin origin. The reason that Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba, Jive and Paso Doble were chosen to be 5 Latin dances in a dance competition are purely historical. I don't see why any one of them couldn't have been replaced with Mambo or some other Latin dance for that matter.