Ballroom dancing could conjure up some pictures of beautiful women in the arms of tall, handsome men in tuxedos waltzing away on the dance floor in a beautiful hall. They can be elegant and classy such as Waltz or can be fast as in Fox Trot.

This definition by Webster of ballroom dancing - “any of various, usually social dances in which couples perform set moves” reveals that the nature of ballroom dancing encompasses a wide variety of moves. The word ball actually comes from the Latin word “ballare” which means to dance. It is good to note that the word ballet and ballerina has the same origins as ballroom too.

History books tells us that the people from the upper class in England used this fro of dance in social gathering backs in the late 18th and 19th century. It didn’t really catch on with the working class until the late 19th and early 20th century. In the early 1920’s competitive ballroom dancing was gaining popularity so the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (formerly known as The Imperial Society of Dance Teachers) formed a Ballroom Branch whose function was to standardize the ballroom dances.

One can enjoy the elegance of Waltz, the passion of tango and the liveliness of the Quickstep, the slow Fox trot and the Viennese Waltz as forms of modern day ballroom dancing. Here are some Latin American ballroom dances if you are inclined to know Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha and the Jive. Make it a point to note that the word Latin America actually refers to the Latin and American styles, not just the South American countries.

The modern day version of ballroom dancing involves couples dancing closely together in specific tempo and rhythms. The couples come close through five points of contact. There exists three main points of contact during the dance-her right hand holding his left, and her left resting on top of his right arm. The other two points of contact are her left elbow resting on his right elbow and the right side of her chest touching the right side of his chest. The member of the European Royal Court had long used this posture to dance.

It may seem strange that the point of contact would be right to right chest, but it stems from the habit of the men dancing while wearing their swords placed on the left side. The dance involves some counter clockwise movements, this is also attributed to the existence of the sword during a dance and this movement helps prevent the sword form hitting any of the watching audience. In Latin American dances, he postures varies from dance to dance. Like the Modern Ballroom dancing, the Latin American Ballroom has been standardized for instruction purposes and has a set, internationally recognized vocabulary, technique, rhythm and tempo.