Paso Doble (Spanish: double step) is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). The facts known about it from historical evidence are that it was written as early as the 18th century, since Spain has paso doble scores dating back to 1780; that it was incorporated into comedies and adopted as a regulatory step for the Spanish infantry; and that the music was not introduced into bullfights until the 19th century. This military march gave rise recently to a modern Spanish dance, a musical genre including both voice and instruments, and a genre of instrumental music often played during bullfight. Both the dance and the non-martial compositions are also called paso doble.
All paso dobles have binary rhythm. Its musical structure consists of an introduction based on the dominant chord of the piece, followed by a first fragment based on the main tone and a second part, called “the trio”, based on the sub-dominant note, based yet again on the dominant chord. Each change is preceded by a brief. The last segment of the paso doble is usually “the trio” strongly played. The different types of paso doble – popular, taurino, militar – can vary in rhythm, with the taurine paso dobles being the slowest and the popular being faster and often incorporating voice. Paso doble as we know it started in Spain but is now played in a wide variety of Hispanic nations. Each region has developed its own sub genre and personal style of paso doble, adjusting some formal aspects of the structure to fit their local musical tradition. In modern Spain, the most prolific composition of paso dobles takes place on the Valencian coast, associated to the festivals of Moors and Christians and the Falles.
The dance form is very free regarding figures. The dancers must remain one in front of the other, and keep their bodies parallel to each other at all times, leaning slightly to the left. They must give one step per tempo. The left hand of the male and the right hand of the woman must remain united almost permanently. Besides this, almost all motions and figures are accepted, which allows space for dramatisation. The dance can be similar to the one-step, except for the speed and number of steps given.
Many paso doble songs are variations of España cañí. The song has breaks or “highlights” in fixed positions in the song. Highlights emphasise music and are more powerful than other parts of the music. Usually, dancers strike a dramatic pose and then hold position until the end of the highlight. Traditionally, paso doble routines are choreographed to match these highlights, as well as the musical phrases. Accordingly, most ballroom paso doble tunes are written with similar highlights. Because of its heavily choreographed tradition, ballroom paso doble is danced mostly competitively, almost never socially, or without a previously learned routine.
This dance gained popularity in the US in 1930. It was too difficult to achieve widespread popularity. All moves are sharp and quick. Paso doble takes up a lot of space, limiting it to special occasions. In competitive dance, modern paso doble is combined with other four dances (samba, cha-cha-cha, rumba and jive) under the banner International Latin. Modern paso doble dance consists of two dancing parts and one break in between for dancers of class D and of three parts and two breaks in between for dancers of class C, B, A, according to the IDSF classification. Dancers of lower than D-class usually perform only four official dances of the Latin-American Program, that excludes paso doble.
