Modern Standard Ballroom Dances
Prelude
The five dances: Modern Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, and Quickstep, are danced the
world over both socially and in DanceSport competitions. The figures in these modern ballroom dances
have now been standardized and categorized into various levels for teaching, with internationally agreed
vocabularies, techniques, rhythms and tempos.
These "Standard Ballroom" dances have diverse origins. rhythms, tempos, and aesthetics, but have one
thing in common: they are all danced by a couple (usually a man and a lady) in "Closed Hold". The closed
ballroom hold requires the maintenance of five points of contact between the partners while they are
dancing. These consist of three hand contacts:
1. the man's left hand holding the lady's right hand,
2. the lady's left hand resting on the top of the man's right upper arm (behind the arm in the Tango),
3. the man's right hand placed on the left shoulder blade on the back of the lady.
In addition to these 3 hand contacts, there are two more areas of contact:
4. the lady's left elbow rests on the man's right elbow,
5. the right area of the chest of each partner touches that of the other.
Ideally, in this hold, the lady's upper arms are both held horizontal by a suitable placement of the man's
arms and hands. This not only makes it comfortable for the lady to follow the man's lead, but also gives the
couple a deportment of regal appearance. This deportment is a characteristic of dances coming from
Western Europe, and is a heritage of the origin of ballroom dancing in the royal courts of Europe.
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