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Balboa-
Danced primarily in closed position, Balboa or Bal Swing evolved in conservative
dance halls where space was limited. Some of these dance halls had strict
rules or codes of conduct that prohibited the wild kicks of the Charleston
and other exuberant dances. Pure Balboa is characterised by a fairly upright
posture with both partners standing 'chest to chest' in close intimate
contact. The dance's simplicity and economy of movement make it very well
suited to fast tempo music. This fact has meant that Balboa is often mistakenly
thought of as just a fast dance. Indeed many of the original dancers could
dance at amazing speeds. However, they also liked to dance to slower music
and the dance has always been done to music of all tempos including some
very slow tunes. It's been said that pure Balboa was done by older dancers
who just wanted to meet and dance with women! After a while some of the
original Balboa dancers tired of doing just pure Balboa and started to
introduce fancier variations which forced the 'chest to chest' connection
to be broken. It is clear though that for some time many people referred
to it as just 'Swing' dancing. Other forms of swing dancing also existed
around that time in different areas, these were clearly not derived from
Balboa. So only really swing dancers in the immediate LA region might
have been doing what we now know as Bal Swing. -balboanation.com
Charleston- The charleston is characterized by outward heel kicks combined with an up-and-down movement achieved by bending and straightening the knees in time to the syncopated 4/4 rhythm of ragtime jazz. The steps are thought to have originated with the blacks living on a small island near Charleston, S.C. Performed in Charleston as early as 1903, the dance made its way into Harlem stage shows by 1913. The male chorus line danced and sang James P. Johnson's “Charleston” in the musical Runnin' Wild on Broadway in 1923. Both dance and song, expressive of the reckless daring, abandon, and restlessness of the jazz-age flappers, soon became the rage throughout the United States. -answers.com
Lindy Hop is an African American vernacular dance that evolved in New York City in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It was an organic fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development, but was predominantly based on jazz, tap, breakaway and charleston. Lindy hop co-evolved with jazz music and is a member of the swing dance family. It is frequently described as a jazz or street dance.
In its development lindy hop combined elements of both solo and partner dancing by using the movements and improvisation of African dances along with the formal 8-count structure of European partner dances. This is most clearly illustrated in lindy's basic step, the swingout. In this step's open position each dancer improvises alone, and in its closed position men and women dance together — a practice usually forbidden in African dances. -answers.com
Boogie Woogie is used mostly in Europe; the closest thing in the US is probably East Coast Swing. What today is called boogie-woogie would during the 1950s have been called rock'n'roll. The term boogie woogie is confusing; the dance can be danced to the music style called boogie-woogie but is most often danced to rock music of various kinds. The name was taken since the name rock'n'roll used in competition dance was already taken by a highly acrobatic dance form. Boogie woogie as a competition dance is a led dance, not choreographed, and contains no acrobatic elements. The usual step variation is a six beat dance pattern, usually cued as "step, step, tri-ple step, tri-ple step", with words "step" taking a whole beat and pieces "tri" and "ple" together taking one beat. Triple forms a syncopated step, where "ple" is typically somewhat delayed from being in the half way between the beats, which matches the syncopated music used in boogie-woogie. -wikipedia.org
Collegiate Shag evolved from Shag a dance with no clear historical record, but assumed to be the based on early Foxtrot. The term “Shag” however is known to have been used as a slang term to describe early Vaudeville performers. The name association is presumed to relate to the lively performance nature of the dance. The differences in rhythm most likely were due to lack of standardization of Foxtrot basics at the time and the prevalence of regional styling. It was named "Collegiate" Shag most likely as a marketing ploy as many "Collegiate" dances were being created at the time for marketed towards the young ("college age") dancers. These “Collegiate” dances were leaping/hopping versions of their early ballroom counterparts. The name was derived from the way college youth would liven up the dances of old. These forms are known to pre-date the lindy hop and balboa. Other breeds of Shag were later created such as Carolina shag and St. Louis shag. These other forms only share its name "Shag" not technique or imagery. This is again, most likely, due to its slang association with performance dances. -wikipedia.org
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