The Basics of Ballroom Dancing
The genesis of Ballroom dancing or Ball dance is in quite varied locales. It can be in various forms like: rhythms, tempos or aesthetics. The word `ball’ originated from the Latin word ‘balare,’ which means ‘dance.’ The other popular schools of dance and dance dramas like, ballet, ballerina, ballad etc. also came from this very same word. However, the common factor in all these different forms of Ball dance is that a twosome, i.e. a gentleman and a lady perform these.
The basic rule of a conventional Ball Dance is that the couple has to dance in a ‘Closed Hold,’ and while dancing they have to remain in touch at five points among them. There are three hand contacts and two more spots of contact. The man and the lady stand facing each other and dance to the beats of the music in a coordinated manner. The man holds the lady’s right hand, with his left hand. They clasp their hands together. The man places his right hand on the left shoulder blade on the back of the lady. The lady places her left hand on the man’s right shoulder. The left elbow of the lady and the right elbow of the man rest against each other’s. Lastly, the right area of the upper body of both the man and the lady touches that of the other. The position may differ a little, depending on the style of the Ball Dance.
The Europeans probably evolved these rules after practicing the steps. As the lady has to follow the man’s steps, she keeps both her arms straight by the support of man’s arms and hands. Present Ballroom Dance inherited this posture from ballroom dancing in the imperial courts of Europe. Hence, it makes the dancing couple appear royal. Same style is apparent in Classical Ballet.
Possibly, Ballroom Dancing dates back to early 16th century. The royal
Men were all warriors, so they did not part with their swords even while dancing. The men wore their swords on their left side, so the ladies stayed on their right while dancing. This was also the reason to keep the ladies close to them, so that the swinging swords did not interfere with the dancing ladies. The anti-clockwise sequence of the ballroom dance also comes from the same reason of men wearing swords. While, moving round, men kept to the inner side of the circle to avoid their swords, hitting people around and the ladies stayed on the right of men, on the outer side of the circle.
