Jan 2018 was the first time I taught the group of 7-12 aged children to dance Paso Doble. It was not an easy dance to dance, and it has never been easy to teach it either. This group of children had a very hard time to keep the frame and they took an extremely long time to manage the postures for Paso Doble. And after this long long time of practicing, they still make the postures in a very funny way.
Paso Doble is the dance of the matador, a very dramatic depiction of the Spanish bullfight. The most flamboyant of all the rhythms, Paso Doble is categorized as one of the five International style latin dances.
Figures in Paso Doble are mostly named in French because the French originally choreographed the movements of the matador into dance steps in the 1920s. The most obvious and earliest understood French figure would be "sur place", which means to march on that same place.
Paso Doble is characterized by its theatrical rhythm and movements. In order to perform well this dramatic dance, the dancers should be involved in the “story” so that the presentation, especially for the pose and positions, won't feel awkward.
In Paso Doble, the man represents the bull fighter, so his steps are powerful and very commanding, also he needs to highly concentrate on his rhythm and timing, because missing a step could be lethal in a bull fight.
On the contrary, the lady is the cape, sometimes the bull; therefore, her actions are softer, and the best description for her texture is fine silk. Occasionally when she needs to blends in to fit the shapes of the bull, she needs to adapt to different mood so she actually presents a variety of postures.
So you see, the Paso double is a fight between the matador and the fighter, and that makes the dance itself a challenge- a challenge between dancers as it is their fight, also a challenge for the dancers as it is hard to dance.
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