Help us build the new Word Dynamo app! Take this quick survey now.

Better Know Your Way Around the Ballroom: Types of Dance

Word List with 14 words
By Dictionary.com

Play

Words in This List

bolero

n.,

a lively Spanish dance in triple meter.

cha cha

a fast ballroom dance of Latin American origin, similar to the mambo, that follows a rhythmic pattern based upon a quick three-step movement.

charleston

a vigorous, rhythmic ballroom dance popular in the 1920s.

cumbia

a type of Latin-American dance music of Colombian origin, similar to salsa and using guitars, accordions, bass guitar, and percussion.

foxtrot

v.i.,

to dance a fox trot.

See all words ‣

hustle

a fast, lively, popular ballroom dance evolving from Latin American, swing, rock, and disco dance styles, with a strong basic rhythm and simple step pattern augmented by strenuous turns, breaks, etc.

jitterbug

a strenuously acrobatic dance consisting of a few standardized steps augmented by twirls, splits, somersaults, etc., popular esp. in the early 1940s and performed chiefly to boogie-woogie and swing.

merengue

a ballroom dance of Dominican and Haitian origin, characterized by a stiff-legged, limping step.

polka

a lively couple dance of Bohemian origin, with music in duple meter.

rumba

a dance, Cuban in origin and complex in rhythm.

salsa

a lively, vigorous type of contemporary Latin American popular music, blending predominantly Cuban rhythms with elements of jazz, rock, and soul music.

samba

a rhythmic, Brazilian ballroom dance of African origin.

tango

a ballroom dance of Latin-American origin, danced by couples, and having many varied steps, figures, and poses.

waltz

a ballroom dance, in moderately fast triple meter, in which the dancers revolve in perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat.