Understanding the History and Origin of Ballroom Dance

Ballroom dance means kind of social dances where a couple would dance together following very common 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.

Ballroom dance has its origins in England, sometime between the late 18th century and early 19th century, and was performed by the elite classes of society in balls and parties.  Gradually over time and during the 19th century, ballroom dance became a trend amongst the middle classes and the working classes who participated in event gatherings at public dance halls.  In the nineteen hundred twenties, the reputation of ballroom dance contests rose dramatically with the result of the setting up of the Ballroom Branch of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in Nineteen twenty-four that was instrumental in standardizing the steps, music and performance of ballroom dance.  Presently ballroom dance is practiced in Europe, the Asian-Pacific and The Americas too.  Official ballroom dance contests referred to as DanceSport are commonly available for ballroom exponents with various degrees of skill levels.

The different ballroom dance types originate from different backgrounds and have unique aesthetics, rhythms, techniques and tempos.  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.  

To conclude, being one of the finest expressions of love, joyfulness and pain between two people, ballroom dance is a fad that will never fade away.  

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