Beguine (dance) Beguine (dance) The beguine is a dance and music form, similar to a slow rhumba. It was popular in the 1930s, coming from the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, where in local Creole "Beke" or "Begue" means a White person, and "Beguine" is the female form. It is a combination of Latin folk dance and French ballroom dance, and is a spirited but slow, close dance with a roll of the hips (a movement inherited from rumba) After Cole Porter wrote the song "Begin the Beguine", the dance became more widely known beyond the Caribbean. The song was introduced in
59th Tony Awards by Cole Porter “Shake Your Booty” (1976) by KC and the Sunshine Band “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” from Thumbs Up! (1934), music and lyrics by James F. Hanley “The Trolley Song” from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine “Sing” (1971) from Sesame Street, music and lyrics by Joe Raposo “Begin the Beguine” (see above) “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” from Follow the Fleet (1936), music and lyrics by Irving Berlin “I Won’t Dance”, “Never Gonna Dance” and “Broadway Melody Ballet” (see above) “Oklahoma!” from Oklahoma! (1943), music by Richard Rodgers