Finding the Origin and History of Ballroom Dance

Ballroom dance refers to types of social dances that require two people to dance together following a few standard steps.  Ballroom dance derivates from the word ‘ball’ (early 18th century social events patronized by the high class people 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 posture demands that the 2 people uphold 5 regions of contact, i.e. 3 hand contact spots where the male’s left hand holds the female’s right hand, the female’s left hand is placed on the male’s right upper arm and the male’s right hand is positioned below the left shoulder blade on the female’s back; 1 elbow contact spot where the female’s left elbow is positioned on the male’s right elbow and both arms are positioned in a horizontal line facilitating the easy movement; 1 chest contact spot where the right area of the chest of the male contacts the right area of the female facilitating the manifestation of feelings and sentiments betwixt the couple. 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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