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. There is a variety of dance steps one can perform such as the slow Waltz right to the fast upbeat nature of the 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”, when referring to a social gathering as opposed to a child’s toy, comes from the Latin “ballare” meaning to dance. Interestingly, this is also the base word for ballerina and ballet.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries dancing was very popular among the upper classes of England. This is not a common practice of the working class until late 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.

There are five major moves that make up the modern day ballroom: the Waltz, the Viennese Waltz, the Slow Foxtrot, Tango and the Quickstep. Of course Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha and the Jive are just some of the most popular American Latin ballroom dance to name a few. Latin American ballroom is short for Latin and American - not a reference to Latin countries.

The modern day version of ballroom dancing involves couples dancing closely together in specific tempo and rhythms. A closed hold involves 5 bodily points of contact between the couple. Picture this three points of contacts-his left arm hand her right hands holding, his right arm resting on her shoulder blades while her left hand resting on 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.

This right side-to-right side contact of the closed hold may have originated from a time when men danced while wearing their swords, which were hung on their left sides. The sword can accidentally hit any of the dancers to, so they overcome this issue by a counter clockwise motion. The posture varies for different dances in the American Latin ballroom. The Latin American version of ballroom dance has been very much standardized for the purposes of teaching.