Paso Doble

The Paso Doble is the most theatrical dance in the International Latin syllabus — and arguably in all of competitive ballroom. Where the other Latin dances tell stories of romance, sensuality, and joy, the Paso Doble tells a story of power, drama, and spectacle: the story of the Spanish bullfight. The leader embodies the matador — proud, commanding, theatrical — while the follower plays multiple roles: the cape (the muleta), the bull, and occasionally a flamenco dancer in her own right. The result is a dance that is simultaneously a partner dance and a piece of theatre, demanding not just technical skill but genuine dramatic conviction.

This theatrical quality is what makes the Paso Doble one of the most polarising dances in the ballroom world. Audiences who respond to its dramatic power find it electrifying; those who find the bullfighting narrative uncomfortable may struggle to connect with it. For competition judges, the ability to embody the narrative convincingly — to make the audience believe in the matador and the cape, the tension and the triumph — is one of the most important criteria for a high score.

The dance's origins are Spanish, but its development as a ballroom style was significantly influenced by French culture. The name 'paso doble' means 'two step' in Spanish, and the march-like rhythm that defines the dance was shaped by French military music as much as by Spanish flamenco. This Franco-Spanish heritage gives the dance its unique character: the precision and formality of the march combined with the passion and drama of the bullfight.

No piece of music is more closely associated with the Paso Doble than 'España Cañí,' composed by Pascual Marquina Narro in 1923. This pasodoble — which translates roughly as 'gypsy Spain' — has been the defining piece of Paso Doble music for a century, its dramatic structure, its flamenco-influenced melody, and its two characteristic 'crashes' (dramatic musical accents that signal specific choreographic moments) making it the template against which all other Paso Doble music is measured.

The 'crashes' in 'España Cañí' — and in most traditional pasodoble music — are not just dramatic accents; they are structural markers that define the choreographic arc of the dance. Competition choreography is built around these crashes, with the most dramatic figures and poses timed to coincide with them. A couple whose choreography does not respond to the crashes is missing the most important musical events in the piece, and judges will notice. Learning to hear the crashes and build choreography around them is one of the most important skills in Paso Doble training.

Other classic Paso Doble pieces include 'El Gato Montés' (Manuel Penella, 1916), 'Amparito Roca' (Jaime Texidor, 1925), and 'España' (Chabrier, 1883). These traditional pasodobles share a common character: a driving march rhythm, a dramatic melodic line, and a clear structural arc with defined sections that invite specific choreographic responses. For competition use, these traditional pieces remain the gold standard, though contemporary interpretations — Lady Gaga's 'Americano' (2011), Woodkid's 'Run Boy Run' (2013) — have introduced the dance to new audiences and new choreographic possibilities.

The Paso Doble is danced in 2/4 time with a march-like rhythm that is counted in phrases of 16 beats. The competition tempo range of 110–124 BPM gives the dance a driving, purposeful quality — fast enough to feel urgent and commanding, slow enough to allow the dramatic poses and cape work that define the dance's character. The NDCA sets the competition tempo at 120–124 BPM; the WDSF and WDC allow a slightly broader range.

The march phrasing of the Paso Doble is one of its most distinctive musical characteristics. Unlike the other Latin dances, which are built on a continuous rhythmic cycle, the Paso Doble has a clear phrase structure — 16-beat phrases that build to dramatic peaks and then resolve. This phrase structure is what makes the dance so responsive to the specific musical events in the recording: the crashes, the melodic climaxes, the moments of silence. A couple who can hear and respond to these musical events will always outperform a couple who is merely counting beats.

For teachers, the most effective way to develop Paso Doble musicality in students is to work with the specific recordings they will use in competition. Each traditional pasodoble has a unique structure — a specific arrangement of phrases, crashes, and musical events — and the choreography must be built around that structure. This is why Paso Doble choreography is more music-specific than any other Latin dance: a routine choreographed to 'España Cañí' will not work with 'Amparito Roca,' because the musical events are in different places.

One of the most distinctive aspects of the Paso Doble is the follower's multiple roles within the dance. In the traditional narrative, the follower primarily represents the matador's cape — the muleta — and her movement is shaped by this role: sweeping, flowing, responsive to the leader's direction. But in contemporary competition choreography, the follower also embodies the bull (in the charging figures where she moves toward the leader with power and momentum) and a flamenco dancer in her own right (in the solo sections where she expresses her own dramatic personality independently of the leader).

This multiplicity of roles gives the follower in Paso Doble a unique creative opportunity. Unlike the other Latin dances, where the follower's role is primarily to respond to and complement the leader, Paso Doble gives the follower moments of genuine dramatic agency — moments where she is not responding to the leader but expressing her own character. The best Paso Doble followers develop a strong sense of their own dramatic persona and use these moments to add a layer of theatrical depth that elevates the entire performance.

For teachers, developing the follower's dramatic character in Paso Doble requires a different kind of coaching than the technical instruction that dominates most ballroom teaching. The follower needs to understand the narrative of the dance — the story of the bullfight — and to find her own emotional connection to it. She needs to develop a sense of her own dramatic presence that is distinct from her technical proficiency. This kind of artistic coaching is one of the most valuable things a Paso Doble teacher can offer, and it is what separates a technically correct Paso Doble from a genuinely compelling one.

Contemporary competition choreography has expanded the Paso Doble's thematic vocabulary beyond the traditional bullfighting narrative. Modern interpretations use the dance's dramatic structure and march rhythm to tell stories of power, conflict, and triumph in a variety of contexts: warrior narratives, mythological themes, cinematic stories. Lady Gaga's 'Americano' has been used for Paso Doble routines that explore themes of cultural identity and political power; Woodkid's 'Run Boy Run' has inspired choreography that reimagines the dance's dramatic arc in a more contemporary, cinematic context.

These modern interpretations are not universally welcomed in the competition community. Traditionalists argue that the Paso Doble's specific choreographic vocabulary — the cape work, the faena figures, the dramatic poses — is inseparable from the bullfighting narrative that gave rise to it, and that removing that narrative produces a dance that is technically correct but dramatically hollow. Modernists counter that the dance's dramatic power lies in its musical and physical vocabulary, not in its specific narrative, and that contemporary themes can be expressed through that vocabulary with equal conviction.

For studio owners, this debate is less important than the practical question of what music and themes will connect with their students. The traditional pasodobles remain the most effective music for developing the dance's specific technical vocabulary, and they should form the foundation of any Paso Doble curriculum. Contemporary interpretations can be introduced as students develop, giving them the opportunity to explore the dance's dramatic possibilities in a context that feels personally relevant.