The Origins of Ballroom Dancing Part 1 By Rachelle Stretch - Dancing has evolved as a result of changes in society; its development has been influenced by changes in the nature of spaces in the home and in the courts, fashion, music and etiquette. For example in the seventeenth century heels were put on shoes and costuming became much less restrictive. This changed the way people walked and hence how they danced – people started to dance with their toes turned out and parallel feet did not return until the start of the twentieth century. With the Industrial Revolution came the idea that polite society could condone the idea of a man and woman dancing together in closed hold. Influences from America and in particular ragtime music developed the dances into “walking” dances, which are recognisable today. Each dance developed its own unique characteristics. At the start of the twentieth century, dances became more popular amongst the working class and public dance assemblies became a social past-time, particularly during the first World War. In the 1920s the music, steps and technique were standardised by the Imperial Society and the nature of ballroom competition has evolved ever since. Ballroom dancing has undergone a transformation in recent decades and in 1988 the term dancesport was used by the International Dancesport Federation to describe competitive ballroom and Latin American dancing. Closed Hold The origins of the closed hold position can be traced back to the seventeenth century European courts, when the man would be wearing a sword on his left side and therefore the woman would naturally stand to his right; and an anti-clockwise progression round the floor was logical so that the sword was not near the audience. The man would offer his right arm to the lady and if she accepted the invitation to dance she would lay her left arm on top, he would offer the lady his left hand for balance and she would accept by holding his hand with her right hand. The Ballroom Dances Waltz: This is performed to music with three beats in a bar. This may have its origins in the volta, an 16th century Italian folk dance, with the same rhythm. However the hold in the volta was very different: the woman danced on the man’s left, the man held her around the waist and the lady used her left hand to lift her skirt. Despite criticism that dancing in couples in such a manner was improper, the “Waltzen” flourished in Vienna and western European courts in the 18th and 19th century. A slower version of this dance developed in Austria where it was known as the Landler. The dance contained the turns but was danced with hands on hips and for the first time with feet parallel. The dance was brought to England and evolved into what it is today in the early 20th century, where dancers took advantage of the slower tempo to add more figures, hence this dance is known across Europe as the “English waltz”. This dance is characterised by long, flowing movements, turns, and rise & fall. Viennese Waltz: This developed from the Waltzen as above, and came to England under the name German Waltz. It was popularised by the music of Strauss in the 19th century. It is a fast dance consisting of continuous natural and reverse turns, with a limited range of figures. Tango: The Milonga developed as a combination of the flamenco culture of Spain which was transferred to South America, an African American dance and a Cuban folk dance. The Milonga was danced in the bars and gambling houses of Buenos Aires in the late nineteenth century by the lower classes in society and the dance was seen as a way of men taunting women for affection. The dance gained popularity among the upper classes in Argentina and a demonstration in Paris in 1910 sparked an increased interest in this dance in Western Europe. However the nature of the Milonga was changed by the Western Europeans to give the tango its characteristic staccato action. The tango hold is slightly different and the dance is characterised by sharp, dynamic lines and head flicks, and no rise and fall. Foxtrot: This is performed to 4/4 music and is a slower version of the Victorian two-step, and again the emphasis was placed on parallel feet rather than the turn out of the Victorian era. It became popular in New York and London, coinciding with the jazz craze of the 1920s, and the smoothness of the dance was designed to counteract the exaggerated dances which developed from the native dances of the African Americans. The characteristic of this dance is the smooth gliding action and the alignments of the figures to the floor as they are danced. Quickstep: A version of the foxtrot started taking influence from the ragtime music of the 1920s and in particular the Charleston which was danced by African American workers in the Caribbean and gained popularity when it was performed on stage in New York. Quickstep was seen as more free-flowing and attracted the younger generations who started to feel that the other forms of ballroom were too strict. This dance is characterised by couples being particularly light on their feet, with hops and runs. Part 2 - the Latin Dances, to follow later