Ballroom dance

Ballroom dance is a style of partner dancing. People enjoy it all over the world. They dance with friends at parties, and they also dance in contests. Much of its appeal comes from how it looks on stage and how fun it is to watch, which is linked to entertainment.

Ballroom dancing is also popular on stage, in movies, and on television.

Definitions

The term ballroom dancing comes from the word ball, which comes from the Latin word ballare, meaning 'to dance.' A ballroom is a large room made for these dances.

In the past, ballroom dancing was social dancing for wealthy people, while folk dancing was for ordinary people. These lines have since become less clear. What counts as ballroom dance also depends on the time period. Balls have featured popular dances of the day, such as the Minuet, Quadrille, Polonaise, Polka, Mazurka, and others. Today, these are called historical dances.

Schools

Ballroom dance can mean almost any partner dance done for fun. As dance competitions grew, a sport called Dancesport developed, and two main styles became popular. The term is now used more narrowly for the dances these styles recognize. The International School began in England. It is regulated by the World Dance Council (WDC) and the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF). It is common everywhere except the United States. It has two groups, Standard and Latin, with five dances in each. A "Ten Dance" competition includes all ten.

The American School is most common in the United States, where USA Dance regulates it. It also has two groups, called Smooth and Rhythm. These include fewer dances than the International School. In Canada, both styles are danced, and Canada Dancesport (CDS) regulates them.

History

The first clear records of early ballroom dances were written down near the end of the 1500s. In 1588, Jehan Tabourot, writing under the name "Thoinot-Arbeau", published his book Orchésographie. It described French social dances of the late 1500s. These included the slow, serious basse danse, the livelier branle, the pavane, and the galliarde. Shakespeare called the galliarde the "cinq pace" because it had five steps.

In 1650, the Minuet was brought to Paris. It had started as a country dance in Poitou. Jean-Baptiste Lully wrote music for it, and King Louis XIV danced it in public. The Minuet was the most popular ballroom dance until the end of the 1700s. Later in the 1600s, Louis XIV started the 'Académie Royale de Musique et de Danse'. Its members set rules for each dance and the "five positions" of the feet. Ballet and ballroom dance then began to separate. Professional dancers performed in ballets on the stage. Some ballet habits, such as the turned out positions of the feet, lasted for over two hundred years.

The waltz, with its modern hold, became popular in England around 1812. In 1819, Carl Maria von Weber wrote Invitation to the Dance, which brought the waltz into serious music. At first many people objected to the waltz because its closed hold seemed improper. Over time, this attitude softened. In the 1840s, new dances such as the polka, mazurka, and Schottische appeared in ballrooms.

Modern ballroom dance grew out of several changes in the early 1900s, which happened at about the same time. Dancers moved away from sequence dances, where everyone followed the same set steps. They moved toward dances where couples moved on their own. The waltz had already made this change. Popular music, such as jazz, inspired many new dances. Many dance fads took place between 1910 and 1930. Some of these were turned into dances that people could learn in the U.S. and Europe. Vernon and Irene Castle were important here. A group of English dancers in the 1920s was also important, including Josephine Bradley and Victor Silvester. These teachers studied, organised, published, and taught standard dances. This helped people dance confidently with any partner. The large Arthur Murray organisation in America and English dance societies such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing were very influential. Much of this happened during and after a world war, which helped change older social customs.

In the 1930s, the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers influenced dance in the U.S. and elsewhere. Both had separate careers, but their dance scenes together became very famous, including scenes that showed the Castles. Their dances looked like social dancing, but they were carefully planned, often by Astaire or Hermes Pan, and practised many times.

Competitive dancing

Main article: Dancesport

Ballroom dance contests, sometimes called dancesport, range from world championships run by the World Dance Council (WDC) to contests for dancers of all skill levels. Most contests are split into professional and amateur groups. In the USA, pro-am contests usually happen alongside professional ones. The International Olympic Committee now recognizes competitive ballroom dance. It has named the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) as the only group that represents dancesport at the Olympic Games. Each country runs its own contests. In Britain, the British Dance Council gives out titles such as the British Sequence Championships. In the United States, USA Dance and the WDC's member group both give national and regional titles. Other styles include the Soviet Ballroom dances, the Australian New Vogue, and Formation dance. In Formation dance, teams of dancers move in and out of shapes together. The Blackpool Dance Festival in England is seen as the most important event a dancesport competitor can attend.

Judges look at things like poise, posture, timing, musical expression, and how well dancers move their feet and legs. Because judging is based on how a performance looks, competitors sometimes disagree with the results. At the finals, the Skating system is used to rank the couples, usually from 1 to 6. Dancers compete at different levels based on their experience. The "syllabus" levels, from lowest to highest, are newcomer/pre-bronze, bronze, silver, and gold. Dancers must use only the moves listed for their level. The "open" levels are novice, pre-champ, and champ, where dancers can use any moves they like. Amateur dancers can also take medal tests run by groups such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and the United Kingdom Alliance (UKA). These tests recognize individual skill. Some contests also welcome "equality dancesport," where same-sex couples can compete and dancers can choose their role no matter their gender. These events are meant to be welcoming to everyone who loves partner dancing.

Collegiate ballroom

Many ballroom dancers are undergraduate students who learn and compete through their schools and colleges. Collegiate chapters are usually student-led clubs or teams. They organize dance lessons, social dances, and competitions. These teams give students a place to dance for fun or to compete, and they help students make friends.

Intercollegiate ballroom competitions often follow many of the same rules as regular amateur competitions. College teams run them. Some examples are the East Coast FireBall, MIT Open Ballroom Dance Competition, Big Apple Dancesport Challenge, Purdue Ballroom Classic, Cardinal Classic, Berkeley Classic, Helluva Dance Competition, and Harvard Invitational.

Dances

Ballroom dance usually means the ten dances of Standard and Latin. The term is also often used for the five International Ballroom dances. Sequence dancing, which is mostly danced in the United Kingdom, and its development, New Vogue, in Australia and New Zealand, are sometimes included too. In the United States and Canada, there is also the American Style, which includes American Smooth and American Rhythm. International and American styles use similar dance steps. However, International Ballroom only allows closed dance positions, while American Smooth allows closed, open, and separated movements.

Other dances are sometimes placed under "ballroom dance," including nightclub dances such as Lindy Hop, West Coast swing, nightclub two step, hustle, salsa, and merengue. The list of ballroom dances has always changed over time. Some older dances are brought back through the vintage dance movement. In Europe, Latin Swing dances include Argentine tango, mambo, Lindy Hop, swing boogie, and discofox. One example is the cajun dances, which began in Acadiana and spread to both coasts of the United States. Standard and Smooth dances are usually danced to Western music. Couples move counter-clockwise around the line of dance. Competitors dress as they would for a white tie event, with a bow tie and tail coats for men. In American Smooth, however, men often wear tuxedos instead. Latin and Rhythm dances are usually danced to Latin American music. Couples mostly stay in one spot, except for traveling dances such as samba and pasodoble.

Competitive dances are grouped into Standard/Smooth and Latin/Rhythm styles. The waltz began as a country folk dance in Austria and Bavaria in the 1600s. The Viennese waltz is often called the classic "old-school" ballroom dance. It became popular in the 1800s through the music of Josef and Johann Strauss. The tango started in Buenos Aires in the late 1800s. Argentine tango is danced with both open and closed embraces. The foxtrot is an American dance. The vaudeville performer Harry Fox named it in 1914. The quickstep is a fast English dance from the 1920s.

In the Latin/Rhythm group, the pasodoble comes from Spain and is inspired by its dramatic bullfights. The Spanish bolero was developed in the late 1700s. The samba is the national dance of Brazil. The rumba came to the United States from Cuba in the 1920s. The mambo grew out of danzón, the national dance of Cuba. The cha-cha-cha was developed by Enrique Jorrín in the early 1950s. The East Coast Swing is performed in the United States and Canada. The jive is a lively version of the jitterbug.

Dance style classification

The World Dance Council sorts International Style competition dances into two groups. The Standard group includes Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, and Quickstep. The Latin group includes Cha-cha-cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive.

American Style competition dances are grouped in two ways. Smooth dances include Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz. Rhythm dances include Cha Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Bolero, and Mambo. Each style has its own speed, measured in bars per minute.

The article also lists older dances from the past, such as Polka, Schottische, Tango, One-Step, Foxtrot, and Peabody.

Some other dances are sometimes called ballroom dances too. Nightclub dances include Nightclub Two-step, Hustle, Modern Jive, LeRoc, Ceroc, West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Carolina Shag, Collegiate Shag, Balboa, Blues, and Fusion.