What is Ballroom Dancing?
Ballroom dancing features a set of partner dances that are widely enjoyed recreationally and competitively across the world today. It has also been featured in film and television, gaining popularity among the masses in recent years through TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars and Strictly Come Dancing.
Modern ballroom dance has its roots in the early 20th century. The evolution of sequence dances coupled with the development of popular music led to a burst of newly invented dances.
Standard Ballroom
Standard ballroom comprises of five dances – the Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot and Quickstep.
The Waltz is a slow dance with smooth, gliding movements across the dance floor, typically associated with elegant balls.
The Tango is a fiery passionate dance featuring a faster tempo and strong accents and often characterized by sharp head movements.
The Viennese Waltz is the original form of waltz where dancers move in a rotary movement around the dance floor typical of an old European ball.
The Foxtrot is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor, and is danced to jazz and big band music. Typically confused with the Waltz, the Foxtrot is danced to 4-beat music while the Waltz is danced to 3 beats.
The Quickstep is the fastest dance in standard ballroom, featuring hops and quick feet movements and is danced to upbeat tempos and songs, where dancers are sometimes even a few inches off the ground!
Latin Ballroom
Latin ballroom comprises of five dances – the Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba, Paso Doble and Jive. The infectious beats of Latin music are bound to have you tapping your feet and grooving along!
The Cha Cha is a dance with Cuban origins, featuring energetic and steady beats. A playful and flirtatious dance, the cha cha is characterised by hip movements and the bending and straightening of the knees.
The Rumba is the slowest dance in Latin ballroom, and is a sensual and romantic dance featuring slow hip movements, often depicting stories of love and passion.
The Samba is a Brazilian musical genre and dance style, with its roots in Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. The Samba is danced to infectious upbeat music reminiscent of vibrant street festivals.
The Paso Doble is modelled after the sounds and movements of a Spanish bullfight, depicting the scenes of a matador and its cape.
The Jive is a quick, lively and playful dance, derived from Swing, Lindy Hop and Jitterbug genres. This dance is characterised by hops and kicks danced to Big Band music.
