Ballroom dance

Ballroom dance is a style of partner dance which originated in the western world and is now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. Its performance and entertainment aspects are also widely enjoyed on stage, in film, and on television.

Related Topics:
Partner dance - Socially - Competitively - Performance - Entertainment - Stage - Film - Television

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The term "ballroom dancing" is derived from the word "ball", which in turn orginates from the latin word "ballare" which means "to dance".

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The definition of "ballroom dance" depends on the era. We all know or have heard of balls that featured Minuet, Quadrille, Polonaise, Pas de Gras, Mazurka, and other popular dances of the day, which are now placed into the category of historical dances.

Related Topics:
Minuet - Quadrille - Polonaise - Pas de Gras - Mazurka - Historical dance

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In times past, ballroom dancing was "social dancing" of privileged classes, leaving "folk dancing" for the lower classes. Today ballroom dancing is much more democratic, and the boundaries between once-polarized ballroom and folk dances become blurred. However, even in times long gone many "ballroom" dances were elevated folk dances.

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Most competitive ballroom dances were social and/or folk dances before being formalized as ballroom dances, and many of these dances are still danced as social and folk dance.

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Ballroom dancing has been in continual use as a social art form since its inception with one obvious exception in the 20th century. Dance historians usually mark the appearance of the Twist in the mid 1960s as the end of social partner dancing, and they credit what was then called the Latin Hustle for bringing it back in the late 1970s.

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Today one may speak of competitive ballroom dancing, with its competitions, schools, societies, and books of technique, and of social ballroom dancing, with its emphasis on having fun.

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