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The Incredible World of Ballroom Dance
"...whereas some sports typically offer the smallest, transient windows of opportunity (typically limited to the youthful), ballroom dancing is open to anyone that chooses to learn at any age..."
Read a featured article: "So you want to Learn Salsa?".
The world of competitive ballroom dancing or Dancesport, in the opinion of many, more resembles an international, underground culture than a type of sport. This analogy is apparently not without grounds when one observes the degree and scale of glamour, drama, mass passion and excitement that almost secretively occurs beyond the view and awareness of the "rest of society" at regular dance events across the world. Make no mistake, there is a degree of athleticism expressed in Ballroom Dancing that is as challenging as the most physically demanding of sports.
How many sporting events outside of dance require the practitioner to exert a painstakingly precise degree of control over every aspect of body and foot placement, at every step, where one misplaced step could taint an entire event? Perhaps gymnastics or ice-skating might compare... but then one needs to consider the additional requirement of performing every movement at either blistering speeds or, on the opposite end, slow and controlled postures, requiring a deceptive degree of strength and balance, in perfect synchrony with a partner? Furthermore, dancesport requires the endurance of a distance runner and the ability to mask burning lungs and a violently, pounding heart rate with a purposeful facade of glamour, beautiful expression and poise.
"The drama of dance is profound. Each dance tells a passionate story, seeped in history..."
Some stories tell of the pains of slavery, others of love's enslavement of the heart, some of the decadence and opulence of old empires and others of the waves of social change and history's meeting of different cultures. Curiously enough, history shows that dance forms often have a habit of rapidly degrading the vast social chasms that gave them birth. As a couple moving through a dance, you walk in the footsteps of countless historic figures, some known and some completely unknown, from different countries and time periods, who expressed the emotional contrasts of their life: light and dark, love and hate, pleasure and pain, suffering and good fortune, romance and love's longing, through the rhythms, dance steps and movements that you share with them for fleeting moments. Your perception of time is somehow altered in a perfect dance and it is as if time does somehow slow down in this space. If you care to ponder it, in this briefest of moments, it is as if through time, one can almost feel the continuity and history of dance that unites and connects us all.
How many athletes and sportsmen regretfully say goodbye to the glory days of their youth only to spend the rest of their lives talking about how good they used to be? Of this woeful, endless anthem to the growing, pot-belly, golf star Lee Trevino once said: "the older I get, the better I used to be!" Whereas some sports typically offer the smallest, transient windows of opportunity, ballroom dancing is open to anyone that chooses to learn at any age and it is a skill and sport that develops throughout life... an impossibly enjoyable, endless project.
Best of all, dance can be enjoyed not only at any age but also at so many levels and in so many places from the highest athletic demands of international competition to a quiet, intimate night out for a couple, from the first dance with an in-law to a dance between father and daughter at a graduation party. Just as music goes hand-in-hand with celebration so dance goes with music. It is a fun, life-long effort that is truly it's own reward.
"For those who choose to learn to dance the rewards are abundant and near guaranteed..."
 Physical fitness and Health benefits
In dancing your physical body tends to improve in strength and fitness along with your technical ability simply because pursuing optimal dance technique requires no small physical effort. However, many dancers find the process much more enjoyable than fixed routines in the gym or aerobics room - a uniquely enjoyable process that is always changing. Dancing provides a physical exercise form that meets your level of skill and fitness. Dancers are known for those dancer bodies!
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Social benefits
The social benefits of learning to dance are huge! Knowing how to dance is a skill that never fails to produce great social rewards. Obviously, for singles it is an excellent way to bridge a gap between two strangers or solidify a bond in a growing romantic interest. Particularly for men, being able to dance sets you apart from the crowd and allows you to enjoy and share enjoyment with the opposite sex at near any social function.
"Put simply, if you haven't got it yet guys... girls love to dance!"
For couples, dancing is an opportunity to set your relationship apart from the rest, particularly when job or family responsibilities limit your entertainment opportunities - being able to dance together exponentially increases the enjoyment potential for any vacation or night out, near anywhere in the world. By the way, it also gives you an opportunity to work off the pounds you're putting on with all of that dining out!
A Ticket to the "World of Ballroom"
It's a world where the women are at their most beautiful and glamorous and the men are at their most masculine and macho. Couples perform at their best to show their dance skills at every level of competition from complete novice to professional. Dance competitions occur around the world at regular intervals throughout the year. In the United States, they happen in a variety of locations from San Francisco, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Miami, New York to the high-point of the U.S. Dance calendar the annual Ohio Star Ball. These competitions are tremendous fun and a great opportunity to meet other dancers and to see plenty of exciting dancers in action. Your ticket to this world... the simple desire to learn and enjoy dance.
We cannot overemphasize the tremendous fun that awaits you in dance. Start your own journey today... we are here when you're ready to begin!
Want to Learn More About Dance before you start?...
In this easy-to-read guide you will learn more about...
Wedding dance selections and planning.
What dance styles are best for you.
The types and styles of dance (rated by usability index.)
The "inside scoop" on dancing as a sport.
The Gainey Dance System © - a unique, effective approach to learning dance.
What to expect from dance lessons and how to make the best of them.
The dance essentials.
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Travel the World through Dance:
The Dancesport (competitive ballroom dancing) styles:
International Latin
 Cha Cha
Latin American dance of Cuban origin danced to authentic Latin music, or more contemporary Latin Pop or Rock. In International Latin style, the weighted leg is straight while the hip action is created (compare with American Rhythm style of Cha Cha.)
Read more about Cha Cha Cha.
 Samba
Samba is a lively, rhythmical dance of Brazilian origin. There are actually two major streams of Samba dance: modern Ballroom Samba and traditional Brazilian Samba. Ballroom Samba is danced to music in 2/4 or 4/4 time and while the basic movements are created through the bending and straightening of the knees. Ballroom samba borrows some movements from Afro-Brazilian traditional dances.
Read more about Samba.
Rumba
Rumba is a dance organically related to the rumba genre of Afro-Cuban music. Some dancers consider rumba the most sensual Latin dance. Historically, one may trace several styles of dances called "rumba". Ballroom rumba derives its movements and music from son, just as the salsa and mambo. Latin Motion is characterized by stepping on a straight leg, which is used in international style rumba.
Read more about Rumba.
 Paso Doble
A lively style that originated in southern France but is modeled after the sound, drama, and movement of the Spanish bullfight. Paso doble means "two step" in Spanish. Paso Doble for the most part danced only competitively, almost never socially, however, in Spain, France, Vietnam and some parts of Germany you might find it being danced socially.
 Jive
Jive is a dance that originated among African-Americans in the early 1940s. It is a lively and uninhibited variation of the Jitterbug, a form of Swing dance. Jive (or the correct term jitterbug jive) is named after a 30's Mickey Mouse cartoon where Mickey and Minnie danced a country style jitterbug. The name came from Jitterbugs being the dancers and Jive meaning fake or not right. But, the dance steps are actually derived originally from country dancing. The turns and overhead moves are a direct descendant of some very old English country dances where couples cross over in a diagonal.
American Rhythm
 Bolero
Bolero is a 3/4 dance that originated in Spain in the late 18th century. In Cuba, the bolero developed into a distinct dance in duple time which eventually spread to other countries. The Cuban bolero traveled almost immediately to Mexico after its conception, where it became part of the repertoire of Mexican traditional music. In fact, some of the bolero's most prominent composers have come from Mexico. American Style ballroom Bolero is a unique dance style combining the patterns of Rumba with the rise and fall technique and character of Waltz and Foxtrot.
Cha Cha
In American Rhythm style of Cha Cha, Latin Hip movement is achieved through the alternate bending and straightening action of the knees.
Read more about Cha Cha Cha.
Rumba
When Sòn was brought to the United States it was renamed rumba. It is thought that this occurred due to the name rumba being more exotic than Sòn. American rumba is thought to have contributed to the origin of the cha-cha. Many rumba figures can be reinterpreted in cha. American style rumba is characterized by the Cuban motion or hip sway arising from the bending and straightening of the knee.
Read more about Rumba.
East Coast Swing
East Coast Swing (ECS) is a social partner dance primarily derived from the Eastern Swing Dance. Eastern Swing, in turn, was evolved from Foxtrot or more specifically its leaping version known as Shag. Furthermore, many aspects of East Coast Swing were, and still are, influenced by Charleston and Lindy Hop. The name East Coast Swing was coined to initially be a divider between the street form and the new variant used in the competitive ballroom arena (as well as separating the dance from West Coast Swing, which was developed in California).
Mambo
Mambo is a Latin dance of Cuban origin that corresponds to mambo music. In the late 1940s, a musician named Perez Prado came up with the dance for the mambo music and became the first person to market his music as "mambo". After Havana, Prado moved his music to Mexico, and then New York City. Mambo is at the roots of the Salsa dance. The steps are performed with Cuban hip motion, a weight change while bending the knee - this will result in the hip motion which is typical for Salsa. In mambo however this move is made to appear more sudden and accentuated.
International Standard & American Smooth
 Waltz
The waltz first became fashionable in Vienna around the 1780s. It spread to many other countries in the years to follow. The waltz, and especially its closed position, became the example for the creation of many other ballroom dances. Subsequently, new types of waltz have developed, including many folk and several ballroom dances.
 Tango
Tango is a musical genre and its associated dance forms that originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay and spread to the rest of the world soon after that. Music and dance elements of tango are popular in activities related to dancing, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming, etc., because of its dramatic feeling and its cultural associations with romance and love.
Featured Article: Read more about Tango
Foxtrot
The Foxtrot takes its name from its inventor, the vaudeville actor Harry Fox. According to legend, Fox was unable to find female dancers capable of performing the more difficult two-step. As a result, he added stagger steps (two trots), creating the basic Foxtrot rhythm of slow-slow-quick-quick. The dance was premiered in 1914, quickly catching the eye of the talented husband and wife duo, Vernon and Irene Castle, who lent the dance its signature grace and style. It was later standardized by Arthur Murray, in whose version it began to imitate the positions of American Tango. At its inception, the Foxtrot was originally danced to ragtime. Today, the dance is customarily accompanied by the same big band music to which swing is also danced.
Viennese Waltz
What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the waltz and the first ballroom dance in the closed hold or "waltz" position. The dance that is popularly known as the Waltz is actually the English or slow waltz, danced approximately at 90 beats per minute with 3 beats to the bar (the international standard of 30 measures per minute) while the Viennese Waltz is danced at about 180 beats (58-60 measures) a minute. As the Waltz evolved, some of the versions that were done at about the original fast tempo came to be called specifically "Viennese Waltz" to distinguish them from the slower waltzes. In the modern ballroom dance, two versions of Viennese Waltz are recognized: International Style and American Style.
 Quickstep
The Quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the Foxtrot, Charleston, Shag, Peabody, and One Step. This dance is English in origin and was standardized in 1927. The Quickstep now is quite separate from the Foxtrot. Unlike the modern Foxtrot, the man often closes his feet, and syncopated steps are regular occurrences as was the case in early Foxtrot. In some ways, the dance patterns are close to the Waltz, but are danced to 4/4 time rather than 3/4 time.
American Night Club
 Salsa
The history of "Salsa" dance is a topic of heated debate. Few would disagree that the music and dance forms originate largely in Cuban Son. Most agree that Salsa as we know it today is a result of the integration of Cuban musicians into New York based bands following the rise of the Cuban Marxist regime. The modernization of the Mambo in the 1950s was influential in shaping what would become salsa. There is no debate as to whether the dance we call Salsa today originated in Cuba. New York's Latino community was largely Puerto-Rican and although several rhythms have been developed in Puerto Rico like the Bomba and Plena, they received Cuban music as their own. As a result, Salsa is one of the main dances in both Cuba and Puerto Rico and is known world-wide.
Read our featured article: "So you want to Learn Salsa?".
Read more about: Salsa.
 Merengue
Merengue is a dance and music of the Dominican Republic. When danced correctly, the hips of the man and woman will move in the same direction throughout the song. ballroom merengue, which uses flashier and more complex turn patterns, has not caught on to the extent of ballroom salsa or mambo, and so venues catering to ballroom dance crowds generally don't play much merengue. Merengue is however extremely popular in Latin American and other dance venues the world over. The comparative simplicity of merengue's dance steps makes it an attractive alternative to salsa, which is more difficult to learn.
Bachata
Bachata, a form of music and dance that originated in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of Dominican Republic. The basic footwork is a series of simple steps that produce a back and forth or sideways motion.
West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing (WCS) is a partner dance derived from Lindy Hop. It is characterised by a distinctive elastic look that results from its basic extension-compression technique of partner connection. It is believed that the origins of the WCS are in Lindy Hop. Dean Collins was influential in developing the style of swing danced on the West Coast of the United States. Collins arrived in the Los Angeles around 1937. The two main styles of West Coast are "Classic W.C. Swing (pulsing down) and "Funky or Contemporary W.C. Swing" (pulsing up) with the basic steps being exactly the same. Dancing to different types of music gives a different feel and look. The United States Swing Dance Championship, also known as the U.S. Open, is held each year on Thanksgiving weekend.
Hustle
The Hustle is a catchall name for several disco dances which were extremely popular in the 1970s. Today it mostly refers to a unique partner dance done in ballrooms and nightclubs. It has some features in common with swing dance. Based on older dances such as the mambo, the Hustle originated in Hispanic communities in New York City and Florida in the 1970s. This was originally a line dance with a Salsa-like foot rhythm, that after some fusion with swing and eventual shortening of the count to "and1 2 3", became the present "New York" Hustle.
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