Ballroom Dance free essay sample

Sequence dancing is still a highly popular style of ballroom dance. The definition of ballroom dance also depends on the era. Many balls have featured popular dances of the day which are now considered to be historical dances. Ballroom dancing has many different dances, and each dance has its own steps. However, one thing remains the same throughout each style; each style is performed by a man and a woman. The Waltz, a well-known ballroom dance originated in Vienna in the late 1700s and spread to the other countries. The Waltz arrived in England in the 1800s. The elegance and grace of the dance won the hearts of the royalty and the elite. It was not until the late 19th century that ballroom dancing gained popularity in the middle and working class. As ballroom dance spread to America, the Foxtrot, Swing, Rumba, Mambo, and the Cha-cha were added. In the early 1920s, competitive ballroom dance began gaining popularity. Modern ballroom dancing still holds that the left side of the woman’s chest touches the right side of the man’s chest; this custom began when the men would leave their swords on their left side while they danced. Ballroom dancing had begun to lose its popularity until recently when the media brought it back to life. Once again, you may find ballroom dancing at social gatherings, competitions, and especially at weddings. Latin Ballroom Dance is becoming very popular nowadays. It is famous for its sensual actions and sexy styles. Even those that are not fond of dancing will definitely enjoy watching the performers strut their stuff on the dance floor. This type of dancing is becoming a trend in western dance floors. More and more people are trying to learn the basics of this dance. This type of dance is easy to learn because it consists of basically all the same steps. Among these dances are: The Cha-Cha, Samba, Jive, Paso Doble, Rumba, and Salsa. Salsa is perhaps the most popular among these dances. It came from the Caribbean, and right now, the dance steps combine both European and African styles. In general, Salsa is considered a partner dance, although there are solo styles and group styles as well. Due to its popularity, Latin Ballroom Dances are being performed around the world by famous dance performers. This led to the creation of a famous dance competition where dance participants from all over the world gather to compete with each other, and whoever wins will become the contender for next year’s competition. Ballroom dance refers collectively to a set of partner dances, which originated in Germany and are now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. Its performance and entertainment aspects are also widely enjoyed on stage, in film, and on television, while historically, ballroom dance may refer to any form of formal social dancing as recreation, with the eminence of dance sport in modern times the term has become more pinpointed, usually referring to the International Standard and the International Latin style dances. American Smooth and American Rhythm have also been popularized and are commonly recognized as styles of ballroom dance. In times past, ballroom dancing was â€Å"social dancing† for the privileged, leaving â€Å"folk dancing† for the lower classes. These boundaries have since become blurred, and it should be noted even in times long gone, many â€Å"ballroom† dances were really just elevated folk dances. Today, the term â€Å"ballroom dance† applies to any one of the several dances in which two individuals, a leader and a follower, dance with physical contact through their upper or lower bodies, or simply their arms depending on the particular variety of dance. Since most social dancing is not choreographed, this contact is necessary for the leader to communicate the next dance move to the follower, and for the follower to respond to this insinuation. This also stands in stark contrast with the styles of dance seen in clubs and other social gatherings where physical contact tends to be optional and the individuals in question can move freely without any such restraints imposed by firm physical contact or by the necessity to follow the rhythmic pattern present in the music. Some knowledge of known step patterns is essential for both the leader as well as the follower for ballroom dancing. As most ballroom style dances require some knowledge and practice, they have lessened in popularity among the public in the recent decades. Formal competitions, sometimes referred to as Dance sport, often allow participation by less advanced dancers at various proficiency levels. Ballroom dance competitions take place worldwide at different levels. The International Olympic Committee now recognizes competitive ballroom dance. It now appears doubtful that it will be included in the Olympic Games especially in light of efforts to reduce the number of offerings, but the application has not been permanently rejected. In the United States, amateur dance proficiency levels are defined as bronze, silver, and gold for syllabus dancers and novice, prechampionship, and championship for open competitors. These levels roughly correspond to the â€Å"E† to â€Å"S† levels in Europe and Australia. Among professionals, levels classify into Rising Star and Open Professional. Eligibility and â€Å"leveling up† requirements will vary greatly between countries and sometimes within. For example, in addition to the USA Dance competitions, amateur dancers in the U. S. ften participate in competitions sanctioned by NDCA or YCN, each with its own distinct culture in addition to differing definitions of level and eligibility requirements. Ballroom dancing competitions in the former USSR also included the Soviet Ballroom dances. Australian New Vogue is danced both competitively and socially. In competition, there are 15 recognized New Vogue dances, which are performed by the competitors in sequenc e. Internationally, the Blackpod Dance Festival, hosted annually in Blackpod, England is considered the most prestigious event a dance sport competitor can attend. In competition, ballroom dancers are judged by diverse criteria such as connection, frame, posture, speed, timing, proper body alignment, proper usage of weight/ankles/feet, and grooming. Judging is inevitably subjective in nature, controversy, and complaints by competitors over judging placements are not uncommon. Scorekeepers will tally the total number of recalls accumulated by each couple through each round until the finals, when the Skating System is used to place each couple by ordinals, typically 1-6, though the number of couples in the finals can vary. Medal examinations enable a dancers abilities to be recognized according to conventional standards. In medal exams, each dancer performs two or more dances of a certain genre in front of a judge. In North America, exam levels include Newcomer, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Championship. Each level may be further divided into two or four separate sections. Ballroom dancing isn’t mainly enjoyed by just adults, it is taught to youngsters as early as ages 5 or 6 in 1st grade in some U. S. states. Not only are they taught, but they participate in citywide competitions. They are taught randomized dances from Tango, Rumba, Swing (Jitterbug), Foxtrot, and the Merengue as a celebration to their senior year in elementary school. This competition is called â€Å"Colors of the Rainbow†. In one common usage, ballroom dance refers to the ten dances of International Standard and International Latin, though the term is also often used interchangeably with the 5 International Standard dances. The dance technique used for both International and American styles is identical, but International Standard allows only closed dance positions, whereas American Smooth allows closed, open, and separated dance movements. Other dances sometimes placed under the umbrella of â€Å"ballroom dance† include Nightclub Dances such as Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Nightclub two-step, Hustle, Salsa, and Merengue. The categorization has always been fluid, with new dances or folk dances being added to/removed from time to time, so no list of subcategories or dances is any more than a description of current practices. The three worlds of Ballroom Dance are Social, Competitive, and Exhibition. Which one is better? All three forms are valid, each enjoyed by their adherents for good reasons. But, it’s helpful to know how and why they differ from each other. Sometimes, it’s essential to know the differences between the styles. What is Ballroom Dance? â€Å"Ballroom Dance† is the overall umbrella term that covers all these forms: social, competitive, and exhibition. Social/ballroom dance forms are important. The earliest dance forms ever described in detail, were social, partnered dances. Many of today’s performed dance forms evolved from social dance forms that came first. The three worlds of ballroom dance share the same historical roots, similar step vocabulary, and music, so the three forms are considered siblings, related by birth. What is the essential difference between the three? The main distinction is that they have different audiences. In social ballroom, you are dancing for your partner, in competitive, you are dancing for the judges, and in exhibition, you are dancing for an audience. What are the Audience’s expectations? Social – your partners want to interact with you spontaneously for fun, doing steps that also work well for them. Competitive – Judges want to see that the steps and styles are done precisely and correctly, with great flair. Exhibition – Audiences want to be entertained, often with a preference for beautiful and/or impressive moves. What is your attitude? Social – Sociable, friendly, and kind. Flexibly adaptive, you value and accommodate to styles that are different from your own. Competitive – Rigorously correct, and expansive. The many styles outside of the official syllabus are usually considered to be incorrect. Exhibition – Performance attitude varies widely, depending on the dance’s form. What is your reward? Social – The spontaneous enjoyment of dancing with a partner. Competitive – Competing, impressing others, and winning. Exhibition – Entertaining, or impressing others, and enthusiastic applause. There are two other rewards that all three forms share; the satisfaction of becoming proficient in a dance form, and self-confidence. Is there standardization of steps and technique? Social – No, standardization doesn’t function because each partner is different. You must modify your steps to adapt to each partner. Competitive – Yes, rigorously standardized, because competitors need to know exactly what technical details the judges want to see. Exhibition – Usually not. In today’s sampling culture, audiences prefer something they’ve never seen before. Is there standardization of style? Social – Absolutely not. You develop your own personal style, different from others. Some social forms like swing, tango, and salsa, especially discourage copying other’s styles. Competitive – Yes, absolutely. You are trained to copy the style of champions before you, working hard to imitate every nuance of that standardized style. Exhibition – Usually, yes. The performers work on copying and mastering a particular performance style, and usually must match the style of the others dancing a choreographed routine. Is there a fixed choreography? Social – No, you make it up as you go along, often based on what the Follow is doing at the moment, and what occurs to the Lead spontaneously. Both Lead and Follow engage in a highly active attention to possibilities. Competitive – Yes, competitors usually perform choreographed routines that they have rehearsed. An exception is at Jack and Jill competitions, usually in West Coast Swing and Lindy Hop, with a partner that one has not danced with before. Exhibition – Yes, exhibitions are usually choreographed and rehearsed. Group routines often have everyone dancing in unison. But, improvised exhibitions do exist, especially in Swing, Tango, and Blues. Is there any split-second decision making? Social – Yes, continuously, in both Lead and Follow roles. Increasing your opportunities for split-second decision making increases your neuronal complexity. Competitive – Usually not, most decisions have been made by others, first in providing a syllabus of acceptable steps, then in choreographing the routine for you. You work mostly on style. Exhibition – Not often, most decisions have usually been made by the choreographers, and you work mostly on style. But, this is what competitors and performers usually expect, so it isn’t a problem. Another important part of the original ballroom attitude was a flexible mindset and adapting to your partner. For most social dancers, this attitude of generosity, kindness, and flexibility has never ceased, and continues to this day. Exhibition ballroom dance came next. Performative social dance forms were occasionally staged in cabarets and vaudeville at the end of the 19th century, but the performative of social dances for an audience mostly took off in the 20th century. Competitive ballroom dance came last, growing out of the sequence dancing movement in the working-class suburbs of London, where hundreds of dancers would memorize choreographed waltzes. These expanded to include sequenced one-steps, two-steps, tangos, and saunters (foxtrots). The next step is standardization. The creation and standardization of these sequence dances was controlled by several organizations which appeared at this time, most notably the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. The original focus was the standardization of steps, technique, and style into only one â€Å"correct† version. A primary motivation of the middle classes is upward mobility. You can raise your position in life through the mastery of skills. The working-class ethic embraced the mastery of sequence dances as a way to elevate one’s social position through perseverance and hard work. This work ethic is still visible in competitive ballroom dance today. In the early years of competitive ballroom dance, the preferred English Style was natural and understated. Then, competitions introduced the format of the elimination round, where the competition began with a fairly crowded floor, filled with all of the competitors dancing at once. The judges thinned the crowd down to a few finalists to be individually evaluated. This change in competition format resulted in a dramatic change in the look of competitive ballroom dance. The dancers had to perform far more expansive movements to stand out from the crowd. Extreme, exaggerated movements and costuming were a matter of survival, either outshining the others or being quickly eliminated. To this day, this extremely expansive style remains a distinctive difference between social and competitive ballroom dance. Of the three forms, which one is the best? It depends on the person. Dancers usually have a preference for the one that suits their personality. It is important to know the differences between them, for the following reasons: to recognize which form best matches your personality, to avoid the unfortunate mistake of applying the rules and attitudes of one form to another, and to sharpen your ability to spot deceptive marketing practices. Some ballroom studios attempt to change the minds of students who arrive wishing to learn social ballroom dance. Students usually embark on a social dance program with the expectation that they will take a few lessons, learn how to dance, and then leave the studio in a month or two. But, from a business perspective, studios and teachers are deeply invested in altering this plan. If a teacher can sell a student on competition dancing, their student will have to spend years taking dance lessons to master the difficult competition technique. Very few students enter the studio as aspiring competitors. It is only through calculated encouragement by their personal dance teacher that new students are persuaded to enter categories of competition, initiating them into the Dance sport lifestyle. Another deceptive practice that occasionally occurs is intentional bait-and-switch marketing a series of classes in competition ballroom technique as â€Å"social dance†. The two are not the same thing at all. What is their motivation? The motivations of social and competitive ballroom dance are quite different as well. You must want to go to the very top and be the very best dancer. You must be able to use your time to practice seven days a week without allowing any other influences to interfere. † as U. S. Ballroom Dance Champion Stephen Hannah describes the competitive motivation. Competitive ballroom dance is a perfect fit for those drawn to competing, so we aren’t criticizing the honest Dance sport studios. The point is that it’s smart to be aware of the many differences – technique, styling, standardization, adaptability, attitude, and motivation – between the forms. Standard/Smooth dances are normally danced to Western music and couples dance counter-clockwise around a rectangular floor following the line of dance. In competitions, competitors are costumed as would be appropriate for a white tie affair, with full gowns for the ladies and bow tie and tail coats for men; although in American Smooth it is now conventional for the man to abandon the tail suit in favor of shorter tuxedos, vests, and other creative outfits. Latin/Rhythm dances are commonly danced to contemporary Latin American music, and with the exception of a few traveling dances, couples do not follow the line of dance and perform their routines more or less in one spot. In competitions, the women are often dressed in short-skirted latin outfits while the men outfitted in tight-fitting shirts and pants; the goal being to bring emphasis to the dancer’s leg action and body movements.