The Basic Principles of Ballroom Dancing
Ballroom Dance is an age-old practice and hence is a vital part of our society and everyday lives of people. Therefore, you can also call it a social dance. It promotes societal relations between the participants, allowing everybody to enjoy and to form friendly relations.
Some typical ballroom dances have been around, since the time they came into being. Like any other dance, ballroom dance has the same basic principles, which vary depending on the kind of music. Once you learn these basics, you will find that many songs that we hear everyday have the perfect music for a ball dance, like Waltz, Fox Trot or Swing. The music in a ballroom dance works on a regular rhythm. It can be slow, quick or triple rhythm. Let us understand about these rhythms.
The first is the slow rhythm, which is equal to two beats. In ‘slow,’ you take a step on the first beat and wait for the second beat. You have to perform it by taking a step with one foot and then completing the step by placing the other foot along the first one. The next comes the ‘quick’ rhythm, which is equal to one beat. Its pace is double than that of ‘slow.’ You take one full step at each beat. You can form a pattern by combining a particular number of ‘quicks’ and ‘slows.’
Finally comes the triple rhythm. When you take three steps quickly, one after the other, you can call it a ‘triple.’ A ‘triple’ is equal to two beats, just as in ‘slow.’ You have to accommodate an extra step between the two steps of ‘slow.’
One must also be familiar with some necessary dance poses in order to be stable on the dance floor and move with fluency. You can learn various positions like closed position, promenade position and Right and Left Parallel Positions in Waltz. After learning the basics, you can practice ballroom dance by playing some music albums. You can choose from a host of options like Latin dancing music, swing music, waltz music, samba music and tango music or wedding music according to your taste.
Same dances emerge in a new form every now and then. There are gradual changes in the forms and therefore not everybody is able to make out the difference. An efficient dancer comprehends the variations and adjusts to the new form very easily.
