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Ballroom dancing conjures up images of beautiful women in flowing gowns and tall dark handsome men in tuxes waltzing their way around the dance floor. Those who prefer to start off with something slow would love the gracefulness of the Waltz and those who are adventurous may prefer to try out the Tango, a dance so passionate it can make heartbeat and temperatures rose even by merely watching them.

Webster defines ballroom dancing as simply “Any of various, usually social dances in which couples perform set moves”. The word ball actually comes from the Latin word “ballare” which means to dance. Obviously the word ballet and ballerina has the same origin.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries dancing was very popular among the upper classes of England. It didn’t really catch on with the working class until the late 19th and early 20th century. Later the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing created a Ballroom Dance Branch, whose sole purpose is to create a standard for the modern day version of ballroom dancing.

One can enjoy the elegance of Waltz, the passion of tango and the liveliness of the Quickstep, the slow Fox trot and the Viennese Waltz as forms of modern day ballroom dancing. The Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha and the Jive are some names that come to mind when you talk about American Latin ballroom dances. The Latin American refers to Latin and America not to countries of latin origin.

The modern ballroom dances vary in tempo (beats per minute) and rhythm (structure), however, they all involve a couple dancing in a closed hold. The couples come close through five points of contact. Three points involve the hand, where his left hand holds her right and her left hand will be on the top of his right upper arm, and the Tango would need her hand to go hand his arm while other right hand will rest on her left shoulder blade. Other point come close as her right side of the set touches his left chest and the elbow, her left touches his right touch each other as they glide round the dance floor. This elegant posture was used since the days of the European Royal Court.

This right side-to-right side contact of the closed hold may have originated from a time when men danced while wearing their swords, which were hung on their left sides. This would also explain the counter clockwise movement around the dance floor as the man would’ve stood on the inside of the circle so he wouldn’t inadvertently hit any of the people watching the dancers with his sword as he danced past. The posture changes in the American Latin dances. Like the Modern Ballroom dancing, the Latin American Ballroom has been standardized for instruction purposes and has a set, internationally recognized vocabulary, technique, rhythm and tempo.

Tags: ballroom dance, ballroom dancing, couple dancing, dance branch, five points, fox trot, handsome men, imperial society, latin origin, latin word, left chest, left shoulder, liveliness, paso doble, quickstep, shoulder blade, slow fox, social dances, tuxes, viennese waltz