What songs can I dance the Tango, Foxtrot, Swing, and Merengue to?

Question

I am taking some dance classes and I would like some help on song choices to practice dancing all of these to. If you could provide the title, the artist, and the type of dance it is for I would greatly appreciate it!

Answer 1

The "old standard" for tango is "La Cumparsita" (see link below).

I'm fond of "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" for swing.

Answer 2

There's a lot of songs that you can dance the above dances to. Generally speaking, many songs you can tell the style just by the sound.

For instance, the most common foxtrots I've heard are from the Frank Sinatra/Crooners era. Such as:"Lady is a Tramp" and "Fly Me to the Moon" both by Frank Sinatra and "On the Sunny Side of the Street" which you can find by many different artists if you look on iTunes & the like (I prefer the Dean Martin version personally).

Swings tend to be "classic" rock songs/ Motown, such as "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" by the Four Tops, a LOT of Little Richard songs, a really good one- "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry, and "That'll Be the Day" by Buddy Holly. However, they can still vary. My personal favorite swing is Billy Idol's version of "Mony Mony".

Tangos tend to be songs with a slow, old Spanish type feel. Good, and popular ones are "Tango Bolero", "Hernando's Hideaway", and "Ole Guapa". These songs are done by many different artists and orchestras, so it shouldn't be a problem to find any of them.

Merengues are a faster, type of Latin beat. You can tell a Merengue because you should be able to march in place to it, as the basic Merengue step is just a march on both feet. I personally like the song, "La Suegra" by Caña Brava. That one has a fast beat to it. There are others, like "A Palo Con Ella" that are really swell.

Song tastes varies based on what kind of mood you want, as well as how much you know. If you're just starting out, try to stick to the songs with a slower tempo. Also- if you're taking classes, ask your teacher what songs you should practice to.