Introduction: Competitive ballroom dancing is known as ‘Dancesport’. Dancesport indicates International and American styles of ballroom dancing. Some International and American styles of the ballroom are International Latin, American Smooth, American Rhythm, and International Standard and these styles consist of individual couples and formation dance. Dancesport was named to help competitive ballroom dancing to earn Olympic recognition.
History Of Dancesport
In the year 1901, the first ballroom dance contest was held in Paris. After the first world war, the ballroom was developed and was introduced to a larger scale. The first amateur World Championship was held in 1909. The sport was popularly executed in France, Italy, Germany, and England. The first team of Dancesport was assembled in 1932 by Olive Ripman at Astoria Ballroom, London. In 1960 the dancesport was first telecasted on television and became more popular.
There are four main kinds of styles in Dancesport-
American style is basically performed in the US but now it is earning more popularity in different parts of the World. American Style dancesport can be performed at both social and competitive levels.
American Style is divided into two more categories- American Rhythm and American Smooth
- CHA CHA – This dance is fun and smart-alecky with highlighting fast and to the pointed foot and leg actions.
- RUMBA – This dance form has a passionate feeling and contains lots of buttocks and body movements.
- SWING – This dance form has a very dynamic feel with lots of turns and spins for both companions.
- BOLERO – The bolero dance form has the gentlest feel of the Rhythm dances. It is a very elegant way of moving rise and fall with lots of different shapes.
- MAMBO – This dance form has lots of body actions and contraction to highlight Latin music.
- WALTZ – Waltz is a very gentle and graceful dance form. Its basic techniques are rise and fall.
- FOXTROT – This dance form has an effortless floating feeling across the floor with lots of movements of the feet.
- TANGO – This dance form is very significant with lots of edged movements with bent knees.
- VIENNESE WALTZ – This form consists of a speedy waltz with constant turning around the floor.
Moving International Style
International style is performed all over the world. This style has a separate course that dancers aim to master. This style is performed at both social and competitive levels. People that study this style have to do a lot of hard work on the style and techniques.
International Style is divided into two categories – International Latin and International Standard
- CHA CHA – This dance is one of the rapid dances with lots of speedy foot actions and edged movements.
- SAMBA – This dance emulates the Brazilian celebration feeling with a lot of pick-up actions by knees and ankles.
- RUMBA – This dance is the most relaxed dance in International Latin. It contains passionate feelings with prioritized buttocks and body actions.
- PASO DOBLE – This dance form contains appreciable shaping with men and women continuously challenging each other.
- JIVE – This dance form is very speedy and has a lot of kick movements. The motive of the dance is to show a lot of spark and identity in the dance.
- WALTZ – This dance is very elegant in movements and personality. It has a lot of ups and down techniques in it.
- FOXTROT – This dance form is performed by effortlessly flowing across the floor.
- TANGO – This dance consists of a lot of speedy and significant shapes and movements.
- VIENNESE WALTZ – This stylish dance contains quick foot actions with 1,2,3 timing. It is bound in figures to show off the revolving around the room.
- QUICKSTEP – This is the quickest dance form in this style. It consists of moving explosively with hops, skips, and flicks across the floor.
Kinds Of Competitions
There are various kinds of competition levels in dancesport but the common division is between amateurs and professionals.
Amateurs generally diverge where couples compete with each other.
- Juveniles ( till 12 years old)
- Juniors (till 16 years old)
- Youth (till 21 years old)
- Adult Amateur (21+ years)
- Seniors ( over 35+years)
- Levels categorized according to the difficulty-
- ‘E’ Class (Beginners) – Standard program – English Waltz, Tango, Quickstep, Latin Program – Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive
- ‘D’ Class (Novice) – Standard Program – English Waltz, Tango, Slow Foxtrot, Quickstep, Latin Program – Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Jive.
- ‘C’ Class (Advanced), ‘B’ Class (Intermediate), ‘A’ Class (Pre-Championship), ‘S’ Class (Championship) – Standard Program – All dances, Latin Program – All dances.
Proam is a unique type of dance competition. It is unique because it consists of one professional and one amateur dancer. These competitions are more admired in Europe, the USA, and Canada.
Proam is generally organized suitably from one of the following setups-
- SINGLE DANCE – When a couple scores first place in Waltz and third place in Foxtrot, there will be no total score. In this competition, every single dance is scored.
- SCHOLARSHIP – In this competition performers are given fixed dance forms on which dancers have to perform and have to earn scores. In the end, all scores are added for declaration of result.
- FORMATION – This competition contains team performance (with more than 2 partners) with Standard (Smooth) or Latin (Rhythm) dances.
- CLASSIC SHOW – In these competitions partners perform with the Standard (Smooth) Program. It consists of some extra moves and a special dress.
- LATIN SHOW – This competition is like a classic show but for the Latin (Rhythm) Program. This show consists of unique elements and has a special scenario of the dance.
Governing Body Of Dancesport
The governing body of Dancesport is the ‘World Dancesport Federation’ (WDSF). It was formed on 12th May 1957 and its headquarters are situated in Lausanne, Switzerland.
‘World Dance Council’ is another international organization of ball dancing. It was founded on 22nd September 1950 in Edinburgh. The aim of ‘WDC’ is to develop, promote and inspire excellence in education for the ‘WDC’ and ‘AL’ Amateur League.