Bolero - Bolero Dance - Bolero Music

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Dances · Bolero

The bolero is a musical genre that can be danced at a slow tempo and which was born in Cuba towardby the end of the 20th Century as an heir of the Spanish bolero, but with its own musical characteristics.

One of these is the romantic lyrics with their clearly defined reflective nature, which causes the bolero to be associated with feelings (generally about love and broken hearts) and sensuality.

In the traditional bolero, there is a complete fusion between Hispanic and Afro–Cuban factors, which appear both in the melody as well as in the guitar accompaniment. As to the rhythm, the bolero is closely related to the danzón and the habanera, although the dance is more similar to that of the son.

The first known bolero was composed by the troubadour Pepe Sánchez in 1885, and is titled "Tristezas" (Sadness). Pepe Sánchez belongs to the so called Cuban troubadour generation and was a pioneer in defining the features of the bolero style. Born in Santiago de Cuba, he went to Havana and the Caribbean afterwards. By the end of the 19th Century, the bolero started its formation and structuring stage. The boleros that totally defined this rhythm are "Vereda Tropical" (Tropical Sidewalk) and "Nocturnal", recorded by Pedro Vargas. That was when the dance bolero was born. The Cuban influence of the Matamoros Trio that combined the eastern son with the bolero, made the bolero totally danceable in 1927.

The bolero’s rhythm is 4x4. This rhythm is built in a bar with four beats. When dancing bolero, the couple begins to move on the second beat with a quick step; on the third beat with another quick step and on the fourth beat the step is a slow one as on the next beat (the first beat of the next bar) no step is made at all and only the pelvis is moved.

The bolero is the most romantic and sentimental dance of the Caribbean. Its simplicity has made it popular all over the world, so much so, that it is one of the most frequently danced rhythms in all scenes and in all social classes. It is most erotically and sensually charged dance than any other dance, even the tango. The reason for its existence is holding the partner and transmitting sensual love. The hip movement in the bolero is the same as in the rumba. Therefore, even though on one of the four beats of the bar there is no step, the pelvis doesn’t stop moving.

When dancing the bolero, the dancers stand in facing each other, bodies close together and arms in the tropical position (forearms together in a vertical position). The movement consists of only two different parts that are constantly repeated during the dance. The couple turns slowly to the left, staying almost on the same spot. Both parts are the same for the man and the woman, only that when the man moves the right foot, the woman moves the left and vice versa; therefore when he is doing one set of movements, she is doing the other.