Understanding the Origin and History of Ballroom Dance

Ballroom dance means kind of social dances where a couple would dance together following very common steps.  Ballroom dance is a derivation from the word ‘ball’ (social events attended by elites in the early 18th century), that consecutively originates from the Latin word ‘ballare’ meaning “to dance” that successively comes from the Latin word ‘ballare’ with the meaning ‘to dance’.  The most common ballroom dance forms can be distinguished into Viennese Waltz, Modern Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, Tango, Quickstep and the various forms of Latin Dances.

Originating somewhere betwixt the late 18th and early 19th century in England, ballroom dance was practiced by the privileged class in parties and balls.  By degrees over time and during the nineteenth century, ballroom dance became a fad among the working classes and middle classes who took part in social dance events.  In the 1920’s, ballroom competitions rose in popularity which led to the formation of the Ballroom Branch of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in 1924 that bore the vision to standardize the steps, music, and technique of ballroom dance.

Today, ballroom dance is performed not only in Europe, but in the Asian-Pacific and the Americas as well.  Official ballroom dance contests referred to as DanceSport are commonly available for ballroom exponents with various degrees of skill levels. The various ballroom dance forms come from various settings and boast of exclusive artistic values, tempos, techniques and beats.  Despite these differences, all ballroom dance types do share similar traits.

Performed by two people (usually a man and woman), these dances require that they dance in a certain arrangement which is very famously termed as the ‘Close Hold’.  This position requires the two people to maintain five areas of contact – three hand contact points wherein the man’s left hand holds the woman’s right hand, the woman’s left hand is positioned on the man’s right upper arm and the man’s right hand is placed below the left shoulder blade on the woman’s back;  one elbow contact point wherein the woman’s left elbow is placed on the man’s right elbow and both arms are maintained in a horizontal line contributing to the ease of movement; one chest contact point wherein the right area of the chest of the man touches the right area of the woman contributing to the expression of feelings and emotions between the two.  In conclusion, ballroom dance is a fashion that will never die away given the manifestations of love, joy and pain between 2 people.

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