Dance, definitions and history from Wikipeida

Definitions and history
The term "ballroom dancing" is derived from the word ball, which in turn originates from the Latin word ballare which means "to dance". In times past, ballroom dancing was social dancing for the privileged, leaving folk dancing for the lower classes. These boundaries have since become blurred, and it should be noted even in times long gone, many ballroom dances were really elevated folk dances. The definition of ballroom dance also depends on the era: Balls have featured Minuet, Quadrille, Polonaise, Pas de Gras, Mazurka, and other popular dances of the day, which are now considered to be historical dances.

[edit] Renaissance Period
The first authoritative knowledge of the earliest ballroom dances were recorded toward the end of the sixteenth century, when Jehan Tabourot, under the pen name "Thoinot-Arbeau", published in 1588 his Orchésographie, a study of late sixteenth-century French Renaissance social dance. Among the dances described were the solemn basse danse, the livelier branle, pavane, and the galliarde which Shakespeare called the "cinq pace" as it was made of five steps.[3]


Galliard in Siena, Italy, 15th centuryIn 1650 the Minuet, originally a peasant dance of Poitou, was introduced into Paris and set to music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and danced by the King Louis XIV in public, and would continue to dominate ballroom from that time until the close of the eighteenth century.

Toward the latter half of the seventeenth century, Louis XIV founded his 'Académie Royale de Musique et de Danse', where specific rules for the execution of every dance and the "five positions" of the feet were formulated for the first time by members of the Académie. Eventually, the first definite cleavage between ballet and ballroom came when professional dancers appeared in the ballets, and the ballets left the Court and went to the stage. Ballet technique such as the turned out positions of the feet, however, lingered for over two centuries and past the end of the Victoria era.[3]

[edit] Victorian Era

An RKO publicity still of Astaire and Rogers dancing to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" in Roberta (1935)The waltz with its modern hold took root in England about 1812, when Carl Maria von Weber wrote Invitation à la valse which marked the adoption of the Waltz form into the sphere of absolute music. The dance was initially met with tremendous opposition due to the semblance of impropriety associated with the closed hold, though the stance gradually softened.[3] In the 1840s several new dances made their appearance in the ballroom, including the Polka, Mazurka, and the Schottische, in the meantime a strong tendency emerged to drop all 'decorative' steps such as entrechats and ronds de jambes that had found a place in the Quadrilles and other dances.

[edit] Early 20th century
Modern ballroom dances has its roots early in the 20th century, when several different things happened more or less at the same time. The first was a movement away from the sequence dances towards dances where the couples moved independently. This had been pre-figured by the waltz, which had already made this transition. The second was a wave of popular music, such as jazz, much of which was based on the ideas of black musicians in the USA. Since dance is to a large extent tied to music, this led to a burst of newly invented dances. There were many dances crazes in the period 1910–1930.


Vernon and Irene Castle, early ballroom dance pioneers, c. 1910-1918.The third event was a concerted effort to transform some of the dance crazes into dances which could be taught to a wider dance public in the USA and Europe. Here Vernon and Irene Castle were important, and so was a generation of English dancers in the 1920s, such as Josephine Bradley and Victor Silvester. These professionals analysed, codified, published and taught a number of standard dances. It was essential, if popular dance was to flourish, for dancers to have some basic movements they could confidently perform with any partner they might meet. Here the huge Arthur Murray organisation in America, and the dance societies in England, such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, were highly influential. Finally, much of this happened during and after a period of World War, and the effect of such a conflict in dissolving older social customs was considerable.[4][5]

Later, in the 1930s, the on-screen dance pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers influenced all forms of dance in the USA and elsewhere. Although both actors had separate careers, their filmed dance sequences together, which included portrayals of the Castles, have reached iconic status.[6] Much of Astaire and Rogers' work portrayed social dancing, although the performances were highly choreographed (often by Astaire or Hermes Pan), and meticulously staged and rehearsed.[7]

[edit] Competitive dancing

Young couple dancing cha-cha-cha at a junior Latin dance competition in the Czech Republic.Competitions, sometimes referred to as DanceSport, range from world championships, regulated by the World Dance Council (WDC), to less advanced dancers at various proficiency levels. Most competitions are divided into professional and amateur, though in the USA pro-am competitions occur. The International Olympic Committee now recognizes competitive ballroom dance.[8] It has recognized another body, the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), as the sole representative body for dancesport in the Olympic Games. However, it seems doubtful that dance will be included in the Olympic Games, especially in light of efforts to reduce the number of participating sports.

Ballroom dance competitions are regulated by each country in its own way. There are about 30 countries which compete regularly in international competitions. There are another 20 or so countries which have membership of the WDC and/or the IDSF, but whose dancers rarely appear in international competitions.[9] In Britain there is the British Dance Council; in the United States, amateur dance proficiency levels are defined by USA Dance (formerly United States Amateur Ballroom Dance Association, USABDA).

Ballroom dancing competitions in the former USSR also included the Soviet Ballroom dances, or Soviet Programme. Australian New Vogue is danced both competitively and socially. In competition there are 15 recognised New Vogue dances, which are performed by the competitors in sequence. These dance forms are not recognised internationally, neither are the US variations such as American Smooth, and Rhythm. Such variations in dance and competition methods are attempts to meets perceived needs in the local market-place.

Internationally, the Blackpool Dance Festival, hosted annually at Blackpool, England, is considered the most prestigious event a dancesport competitor can attend.

Formation dance is another style of competitive dance recognised by the IDSF.

[edit] Elements of competition

Intermediate level international style Latin dancing at the 2006 MIT ballroom dance competition. A judge stands in the foreground.In competition ballroom, dancers are judged by diverse criteria such as poise, the hold or frame, posture, musicality and expression, timing, body alignment and shape, floor craft, foot and leg action, and presentation.[10] Judging in a performance-oriented sport is inevitably subjective in nature, and controversy and complaints by competitors over judging placements are not uncommon. The scorekeepers—called scrutineers—will tally the total number 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 final may vary.

[edit] Medal tests
Medal examinations for amateurs enable dancers' individual abilities to be recognized according to conventional standards. In medal exams, which are run by bodies such as the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), each dancer performs two or more dances in a certain genre in front of a judge. Genres such as Modern Ballroom or Latin are the most popular. Societies such as the ISTD also offer medal tests on other dance styles (such as Country & Western, Rock 'n Roll or Tap). In some North American examinations, levels include Newcomer, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Championship; each level may be further subdivided into either two or four separate sections.

[edit] Dances

Victor Fung and Anna Mikhed dancing a tango in 2006. The couple, dancing for the USA, came third in the Professional World Championship 2009.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 five International Standard dances [11] In the United States and Canada, the American Style (American Smooth and American Rhythm) also exists. The dance technique used for both International and American styles is similar, but International Standard allows only closed dance positions, whereas American Smooth allows closed, open and separated dance movements. In addition, different sets of dance patterns are usually taught for the two styles. International Latin and American Rhythm have different styling, and have different dance patterns in their respective syllabi.

Others dances sometimes placed under the umbrella "ballroom dance" include Nightclub Dances such as Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, Nightclub Two Step, Hustle, Salsa, and Merengue. The categorization of dances as "ballroom dances" has always been fluid, with new dances or folk dances being added to/removed from to the ballroom repertoire from time to time, so no list of subcategories or dances is any more than a description of current practices. There are other dances historically accepted as ballroom dances, and are revived via the Vintage dance movement.

In Europe, Latin Swing dances include Argentine Tango, Mambo, Lindy Hop, Swing Boogie (sometimes also known as Nostalgic Boogie), and Disco Fox. One example of this is the subcategory of Cajun dances that originated in New Orleans, with branches reaching both coasts of the United States.

Standard/Smooth dances are normally danced to Western music (often from the mid-twentieth century), 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 the men; though in American Smooth it is now conventional for the men to abandon the tailsuit 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 (e.g. Samba and Paso Doble) 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 dancers' leg action and body movements.




Ballroom Dance Classifications
WDC-defined Competition Dances
International Standard Dance Music (IDSF Tempo Regulation) [12] Notes
Waltz 28-30 bars per minute, 3/4 timing also known as Slow Waltz or English Waltz depending on locality
Tango 31-33 bars per minute, 4/4 timing
Viennese 58-60 bars per minute, 3/4 timing In some countries (e.g. Germany, Austria) Viennese is known as the Waltz, while Waltz is recognized as Slow Waltz. Note this dance is not danced at Blackpool.
Foxtrot 28-30 bars per minute, 4/4 timing
Quickstep 50-52 bars per minute, 4/4 timing
International Latin
Samba 50-52 bars per minute, 2/4 timing (foot timing 3/4)
ChaChaCha 30-32 bars per minute, 4/4 timing
Rumba 25-27 bars per minute, 4/4 timing
Paso Doble 60-62 bars per minute, 2/4 timing
Jive 42-44 bars per minute, 4/4 timing
Formation
Show Dance
Classic
South American
American Style Competition Dances (only in the U.S. & Canada)
American Smooth Dance Music (NDCA Tempo Regulation) Notes
Waltz 28-30 bars per minute
Tango 30-32 bars per minute
Foxtrot 30-32 bars per minute
Viennese Waltz 54-56 bars per minute
American Rhythm
Cha Cha 28-30 bars per minute
Rumba 32 bars per minute
East Coast Swing 34-38 bars per minute
Bolero 24-26 bars per minute
Mambo 47 bars per minute
Others
Historical/Vintage Dance
Waltz - Polka - Schottische - Tango - One-Step - Foxtrot - Peabody
Other dances occasionally categorized as ballroom
Nightclub
Nightclub Two-step - Hustle - Modern Jive / LeRoc / Ceroc - and the whole swing variety: West Coast Swing / East Coast Swing/ Lindy Hop (always included in the "Rhythm-Swing" category) / Carolina Shag / Collegiate Shag
Latin nightclub
Salsa - Merengue - Cumbia - Bachata - Cha cha
Brazilian Dances
Forró - Pagode - Samba de Gafieira - Lambada
Country/Western
Polka - Cha-cha-cha - Two-step - Waltz...
also referred to as "Country and Western" or C/W:
C/W Polka - C/W Cha-cha - C/W Two-step - C/W Waltz...
Cajun dances
Cajun One Step or Cajun Jig - Cajun Two Step - Zydeco - Cajun Waltz - Cajun Jitterbug
Musette dances
Java, musette-waltz, musette-tango, musette-paso-doble.
Other
Argentine tango, New Vogue