RHYTHMIC LATIN DANCES
In 1960 a new category of competition dance was introduced. It was called ‘Latin & America’ and consisted of one American dance (the ‘Ballroom Jive’) with four Latin dances (the Samba, Cha Cha, Rumba and Paso Doble’).
A key player at this time was Walter (Wally) Laird; three times World Ballroom Champion. Laird had spent years studying the Jitterbug along with Cuban and Brazilian dance forms and in the early 1960s he codified these Latin American dances in his ‘Technique of Latin Dancing’ – a text which is still considered a bible for Latin dancers all over the world.