He he. No. You should be grateful for American style, for if there were no American style, there might not be an Int'l style either. Most of the Int'l dances are derivatives of dances popularized and developed first in the U.S.A. (many of which were, in turn, born somewhere else). Quickstep is the only dance invented by the English.

The competitive versions of American and Int'l style developed more or less concurrently, but in very different ways. The English ultimately did a better job exporting their version to countries around the world, due in part to their geographical advantage.

I actually think in terms of marketability, American style has a clear advantage. To the average non-dancer, smooth is more interesting to watch. And as a form of social dancing, both smooth and rhythm are much more accessible to beginners. However, Americans have historically not been very eager to market this style to the rest of the world. This is starting to change now, but since the English style has long ago become the de facto standard, time will only tell whether American style will ever really catch on worldwide. If it does, it probably won't be called American style anymore.

Thanks Terence,

There are many experts on this site. You offer great information and advice

Actually shocked about the Paso. Thought it was International. I actually even know better, I learned it when I was working on American Style long before I began working on International. Oh well, can't sound smart every day of the week.

Thank you!!

I again agree with Terence on this topic. The original poster is a beginner, but will know a lot more now.
Also, I think Americans see more International style than they think. Much of what is on Dancing with Stars, and most certainly on the PBS stations showing the ballroom championships, there is a great amount of International on display in the show routines. On a dance DVD, can't remember which one, the instructor tried to explain it as simply as possible in one sentence by saying International style tends to be slower in almost all instances. When I heard that, I wasn't positive that it was entirely accurate, but I think in general, it is a simple way to state it. The other thing I would say, over time, is that some dance studios have muddled the lines between the two by introducing moves and steps from both styles in certain dances, and never telling the student which is which. And the student, for the most part, doesn't mind.

I agree with all of the above postings. Someone once put it to me this way - whereas American style is based on authentic latin street dancing (and U.S. nightclub swing) , International was created in the studios.
One well-known former U.S. standard and smooth champion (who shall remain nameless, but lets, say he's Aussie) told me a story about how, in the 1950's the Brit's sent a bunch of guys to the Caribbean to study firsthand the dances that had exploded into such popularity in the U.S. Trouble was, most of them were raging party alcoholics, and when they tried in the morning to remember what they had seen, the memory was, of course, a little foggy. They went back to England and wrote it down as best as they could, and so International Latin style was born! Don't know if its true, but he swears he knew a couple of those original guys. Sure makes a fun yarn to spin though!

You,re way off the mark on this...

Intern,style Latin was developed by a Frenchman ( Pierre ) who had travelled extensively in S.Amer... he, along with his partner, Doris Lavelle, were 2 of the pioneers of the style.

What they had taught in the late 40s,is far removed from what we see today ( Rumba was Sq and there was no Cha ).

There are several others who made lasting impacts on the style , notably Wally Laird . BUt... the biggest change of all ? ,,, the music.

Going farther back, Rumba was being exhibited in a " show " style,as early as the late 20s .



This is in response to the " Amer. style " comments...

The amer. social system , is without question , the best thing in the market place .
It was developed ( at the lower levels ) to create expediency and it succeded like nothing before or since. Yes, it was devoid of good techn. at one time, but the aver. public ( as many still are ) are not interested in detail .

The sysytem was " anglicised " by one Archie Dixon,a Scot, who was brought over to the States and Canada by Mr Murray , to develop and incorporate the then called " English Style ( very early 50s )and put in place the new Medal system.

The current advanced levels ( gold etc ) are strongly influenced by the Intern. standard using many of the variations .

The Latin , much to its credit, kept Bolero as its form of Rumba .

I actually trained in the Amer. style in the toronto school, which at that time was staffed by 90% ex pats.... They NEVER got beat in comps.. On the staff was,, the former Canadian champ...S.of Eng. Amat. champ. ..Austrian Champ.. Irish champ. and the list goes on..

In 1990 out of 381 couples in the British Amateur Ballroom Championships at Blackpool there were 8 from the USA.
Were there any at all in the early 50's. For those who are still wondering how the International syle came about, each of those dances, although some originated from other countries it was British teachers who refined and set the standards that we have today. Lets not forget that.

I am taking international style at a great studio in the Seattle area, so anyone interested should check out Impulse Ballroom

terence very cool post. Didn't know most of that. I was just passing on what I was told. Like I said, I didn't know if it was true, but a fun story!

Alright, So to be clear...just so I understand. The big difference between the International and American style (Other than who made them famous in their part of the world) is the speed???
Oh and Terence2, am I to understand that there are different styles for different competing levels??
Just tryin' to get all the info straight in my head.
Thank you all for helping me out!!

"The big difference between the International and American style (Other than who made them famous in their part of the world) is the speed???"

No.

The Big Difference is the people doing them. They are distinct subcultures with different emphasis. Due to geographic factors many dancers only get real exposure to one or the other, but for those who have been exposed to both, the one they end up with is usually the one that fits either their personality better, or is a more practical career path from their current situation.

A good example of this is that while it's quite rare for a prefessional dancer to compete both at the same time, many who have sufficient general skill to do it do dance both with their pro/am students, because then it's business rather than personal preference.