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Discovering the History and Origin 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 widely found types of ballroom dance could be mentioned as Quickstep, Tango, Slow Foxtrot, Modern Waltz, Viennese Waltz and numerous 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. 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.
Presently ballroom dance is practiced in Europe, the Asian-Pacific and The Americas too. It is common to find formal ballroom dance competitions, known as DanceSport, for ballroom dancers at different proficiency levels. The different ballroom dance types originate from different backgrounds and have unique aesthetics, rhythms, techniques and tempos. In spite of these discrepancies, all ballroom dance forms have common related characteristics.
Executed by a couple (generally by a male and a female), these dances demand that they perform in a set pattern which is prominently referred to as the ‘Close Hold’. This position requires the two people to maintain five areas of contact – three hand contact points wherein the man’s left hand holds the woman’s right hand, the woman’s left hand is positioned on the man’s right upper arm and the man’s right hand is placed below the left shoulder blade on the woman’s back; one elbow contact point wherein the woman’s left elbow is placed on the man’s right elbow and both arms are maintained in a horizontal line contributing to the ease of movement; one chest contact point wherein the right area of the chest of the man touches the right area of the woman contributing to the expression of feelings and emotions between the two. 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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