Q 01/05

Which star's RKO screen-test report supposedly read 'Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little'?

A) Gene Kelly

B) Fred Astaire

C) Bing Crosby

D) Donald O'Connor

Answer · why

B) Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire went on to found the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in 1947, selling the chain in 1966. Producer Pandro S. Berman claimed he never heard the ...

Q 02/05

Which dance, the first in which a man held a woman close, was banned by California's mission priests until 1834?

A) The polka

B) The minuet

C) The waltz

D) The quadrille

Answer · why

C) The waltz

The waltz was banned in California because of its 'closed' position, and its arrival in English society in 1813 drew a sardonic anonymous tribute from...

Q 03/05

Which Latin dance, built on a Spanish military march, casts the leader as a matador and is rarely danced socially?

A) Flamenco

B) Fandango

C) Sevillanas

D) Paso doble

Answer · why

D) Paso doble

Paso doble is mostly performed only in competitions because of its many choreographic rules, with the follower playing the matador's cape, the bull, o...

Q 04/05

Which competition 'Latin' dance is really a swing dance, carried to Europe by American soldiers around 1940?

A) Charleston

B) Boogie-woogie

C) Jive

D) Hustle

Answer · why

C) Jive

Jive is grouped with the Latin dances in competition even though its roots lie in swing, and its name comes from African-American slang popularised by...

Q 05/05

Standard couples travel around the floor following the 'line of dance', which runs in which direction?

A) Clockwise

B) Counter-clockwise

C) Diagonally across the floor

D) Towards the band

Answer · why

B) Counter-clockwise

Counter-clockwise travel around a rectangular floor is the rule for the Standard dances, while most Latin routines are performed more or less in one s...