Ballroom dancing conjures up images of beautiful women in flowing gowns and tall dark handsome men in tuxes waltzing their way around the dance floor. One may find pleasure by watching the Waltz being performed or admire the liveliness of the Fox Trot.

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. The word ballerina and ballet has the same origins as well.

History reveals that this is a form of dance famous among the people from the upper class in England back in the late 18th and 19th century. This is not a common practice of the working class until late 20th century. In the early 1920’s an association called the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing set up a Ballroom Branch with the purpose to standardize all forms of modern ballroom dance.

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. When American Latin ballroom Dance comes to mind, here are some names of famous dances Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha and the Jive. The word Latin America actually refers to Latin and America and not in reference to the Latin countries.

Ballroom dancing consists of couples moving in specific set of moves in predetermined rhythm and tempo, dancing closely together. There are five main points where the couples come in contact. Her right hand would be holding his left hand obviously while her left hand would rest on the top of his right arms. Her right side of the chest will rest against his chest while her left elbow will touch his left elbow as they dance the night way. This posture dates back form the days of the European royal courts when royal couples and aristocrats dance gracefully during social gathering.

The strange right to right contact comes from an era when men danced while wearing their swords which was 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 varies for different dances in the American Latin ballroom. The vocabulary, technique, rhythm and tempo of the American Latin ballroom have been standardized for training purposes.