Joy in Motion

General Dance Links

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but these are my favorite websites on social dance and music. If you would like to recommend a site that you feel is an excellent resource and should be included, please let me know via the Contact page on this site. Enjoy!

Discussion Forums

• Dance Forums - The most comprehensive partner dance forum, DF includes sections for ballroom, salsa, Argentine tango, swing, dance articles, and more. It features a large membership, making for lots of fun and expertise on a wide range of topics.

• Salsa Forums - This forum is a smaller version of Dance Forums and is specific to salsa and other social Latin dances. It includes discussions on the dance as well as Latin music.

• Westie Wire Forum - This forum covers a wide range of topics for members (and aspiring members) of the small but very committed west coast swing community.

Salsa & Social Latin Dance

• Salsa & Merengue History - This site offers clear and concise articles on the history of salsa and merengue as well as some basic music theory that underlies the dances.

• Unlikely Salsero - Don Baarn’s blog offers some interesting insights into the salsa experience, music and musicality, learning and teaching, etc.

• Salsa Vancouver - Vancouver B.C.’s salsa site includes many interesting articles and great interviews with some of the world’s greatest salsa instructors.

• Percussive Rhythms of Salsa and Timba - Rueda con Ritmo (Ryan Mead and Sidney Weaverling) has an excellent guide on their website to the percussive rhythms in salsa and timba.

• Salsa Music Ear Training Tutorial - Salsa & Merengue Society’s tutorial with music clips for understanding the various rhythms in salsa.

• Salsa Rhythm - This is a good overview of salsa rhythm and a neat tool for breaking down the salsa rhythm and listening to the instruments in layers. A great way to train your ears to hear the various percussive elements in the music You may also want to check out Flujo’s Salsa Music & Timing video as well as the Salsa Merlizer.

• A Gozar (To Enjoy): An Introduction to Salsa Dancing - A short but fun documentary featuring L.A.-style dancing clips and interviews with salsa dancers.

• Salsa Congresses - A central list of national and international salsa congresses, with links to the event sites, is provided on this site.

Argentine Tango

• Tango & Chaos - This site is almost on online book about Argentine tango, offering interesting perspectives on topics ranging from technique to culture.

• ToTango.net - This site has quite a few articles on tango history, musicians and instructors as well as a regularly updated blog on current items of interest to tangueros.

• Tango Mercurio Articles - Tango Mercurio’s website offers excellent articles by Sharna Fabiano and others about tango partnering, history, and etiquette.

• Mandrágora Tango’s 70 of the Most Danced Tangos - Listen to or download popular tango songs; this is a great way to start a tango music collection if you’re a beginner to the genre. There are also links to popular milonga and vals music.

• Todo Tango - This is an excellent comprehensive site devoted to tango music of the Golden Age. It includes history, interviews, tango lyrics, and more.

• Tango DJ - Find resources (articles and links) for building your tango music collection and learning more about how to DJ at tango events.

• My Tango Diaries and Simba Tango - Updated regularly and full of interesting reflections, these are my favorite tango blogs.

• Neo Tango Site & Forum - This site provides information on modern forms (and trends) of Argentine tango. Though still very basic, it features interviews and articles as well as music lists and a discussion forum.

West Coast Swing

• West Coast Swing Global - Created and maintained by professional west coast swing performer and instructor Tessa Cunningham, this site includes history, videos, and tips for getting started.

• USA Swing Dance Network - Find a list of west coast swing events along with DJ’s music lists and other resources and links of interest.

• Westie Wire - This site is relatively new and still growing, but it offers occasional updates on its blog as well as a national calendar. The most useful and interesting feature is the forum.

Lindy Hop

• Kansas City Lindy Hop Society History Pages - Here you can find a very detailed history of Lindy hop, from the 1800s up to 2005. Big thanks to Steve Pastor for telling me about this website.

• Jerry Almonte’s Wandering & Pondering Blog - This is a very comprehensive list of Lindy hop links, from blogs and music to instructors and venues. Be sure to check out Jerry’s own blog posts as well. Big thanks to “Apache” of Dance Forums for informing me of this link.

Blues Dancing

• What is Blues Dancing? - This is a collection of quotes from various articles on the definition, culture, and history of blues dancing.

• The History of Blues Dancing - This is a blog post from Laura Slotkoff that also provides a collection of quotes from various sources on the definition, culture, and history of blues dancing.

Friends of Joy in Motion

• Chindu Sreedharan’s Indian in England - Chindu does excellent journalistic writing, but he also has some articles devoted to ballroom dance, including his Message from Mars series on communication.

• Passion4Dancing - Leonid Turetsky offers free instructional videos in Latin and ballroom dancing.