Samba and Conga Dance Workshop

Taught by Roberta Kulyk, the Oak Park Arms Retirement Community’s monthly dance workshop takes place at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. Kulyk will teach lively and rhythmical South American Samba. She will also introduce the Afro Cuban Conga popularized by Desi Arnaz and by the Conga Night Club.

The ballroom Samba has its origins in Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century. Most steps are danced with a slight downward bouncing or dropping action. This action is created through the bending and straightening of the knees, with bending occurring on the beats of one and two, and the straightening occurring between. Also, Samba has a specific hip action, different from that in ballroom Latin dances such as the Rumba and Cha-Cha-Cha.

The conga line is a Cuban carnival march that was first developed in Cuba and became popular in the United States in the 1930s and 1950s. The dancers form a long, processing line. It has three shuffle steps on the beat followed by a kick that is slightly ahead of the fourth beat. The Conga, a term widely believed to be derived from the African region of Congo, is both a lyrical and danceable genre.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay - a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040 or visit http://www.oakparkarms.com.