Ballroom dancing is a word used to the form of dancing men and women perform in formal suits on the dance floor during a grand event or special occasion. The sheer elegance and gracefulness of the Waltz never fails to impress anyone and the passion of Tango definitely appeals to those who are burning with adventure and passion.

If we look at the definition by Webster’s dictionary, for ballroom dancing, it is “any of various, usually social dances in which couples perform set moves”, it seems that the scope is wide and varied. The phrase ballroom dancing has its root from the Latin word “ballare” which literally means to dance. Obviously the word ballet and ballerina has the same origin.

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. The working class really didn’t catch fire with this form of activity until the early 20th century. Later the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing created a Ballroom Dance Branch, whose sole purpose is to create a standard for the modern day version of ballroom dancing.

Today, one can enjoy the elegance of Waltz, the sultry Viennese Waltz, the Slow Foxtrot, passionate Tango and the Quickstep as forms of enjoyable ballroom dancing. The American Latin ballroom dance can be classified as Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha and the Jive. Latin American ballroom is short for Latin and American - not a reference to Latin countries.

There is much similarity in the modern day ballroom dance as it was in the past and all consists of moves in predetermined rhythm and tempo. Basically, there are five main points of contact between the couples. Her right hand would be holding his left hand obviously while her left hand would rest on the top of his right arms. The other points come in contact through elbows and chests which rests comfortably on each other as they glide through the dance floor. This dance posture goes all the way back to the dancing in the European royal courts and makes for a very elegant look as the couples float around the dance floor.

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 sword can accidentally hit any of the dancers to, so they overcome this issue by a counter clockwise motion. The posture changes in the American Latin dances. 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.