Ballroom dancing is a word used to the form of dancing men and women perform in formal suits on the dance floor during a grand event or special occasion. They can be elegant and classy such as Waltz or can be fast as in 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 word ball does not originate from the toy “ball” but from the Latin word “ballare” which means to dance. The word ballerina and ballet has the same origins as well.

In the late 18th and 19th century this form of dance is a craze among members of the upper class in England. It is not common among people from the working class until the arrival of the 20th century. The Ballroom Dance Branch was set up by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing with the sole purpose of standardizing the modern day ballroom dancing.

One can enjoy the elegance of Waltz, the passion of tango and the liveliness of the Quickstep, the slow Fox trot and the Viennese Waltz as forms of modern day ballroom dancing. The American Latin ballroom dance can be classified as 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. The couples come close through five points of contact. Three of these points involve the hands, his left hand holding her right, her left hand on top of his right upper arm (for the Tango her hand would go behind his arm) and his right hand on her back resting on her left shoulder blade. The other points come in contact through elbows and chests which rests comfortably on each other as they glide through the dance floor. The member of the European Royal Court had long used this posture to dance.

It may seem strange that the point of contact would be right to right chest, but it stems from the habit of the men dancing while wearing their swords placed on the left side. This is also the obvious reason for the counter clockwise movement, that serves to prevent hitting any of the people watching as he dances past them. The posture varies for different dances in the American Latin ballroom. Like the Modern Ballroom dancing, the Latin American Ballroom has been standardized for instruction purposes and has a set, internationally recognized vocabulary, technique, rhythm and tempo.