Latin, I believe, has a more distinct lineage than standard in some respects.
One has to go back to Pierre ( who formulated the initial format ).. then Laird... Hancox.... and possibly Stylianos.
The evolution of Latin, from the conservative ( by todays standards ) that were in vogue thru Pierre and Wally, I believe were taken on a different path if you will, by Hancox for one e.g.( compare the styles of the 70s dancers, to Sammy Stopford,a Hancox trained dancer ).
The more extreme lines and the beginnings of more " stagey " material crept into the genre with the likes of Donnie and Corkie ( Eftedals, even tho they did win in the 90s )always seemed to me, to present a more classical style .
Now add to this mix the ladies who played a large part in the " styling ",and technical aspects, from Nina, Lorraine, Doris Lavelle and E. Romain.
The gradual blending of ideas, makes it difficult to separate with each generation .
I see this clearly.. Pierre had a picture in his mind from his travels, which he presented with great success.
Wally took it in a new direction.. he started to give it a more " rounded" look, dancing more from his centre .
It then evolved into a more upright " ballroomy " look ,and I would place Hancox at the beginning of that phase .
The contributors from that point onwards, created a much more dynamic even balletic approach.. and thats what we have today .
also to consider, going back to the 40s, Rumba was square and there was no Cha . I also believe , that the musical changes that occured ( 2/4 to 4/4 ) had more than a direct impact on the style changes, particularly with the Cha Cha inclusion .
Changes in music inevitably give change to new directions in dance ( sometimes to its detriment )
I had the pleasure of taking from wally and seeing him dance on many occasions.. I wonder what he would think now, of where we are heading ? .
These are my opinions , and others may see things differently... i have little problem with that .
