Ballroom Categories
Ballroom dancing has developed from many different parts of the world. Some of the dances have a Latin background, others European and still others, American. Each dance has it's own history and background. Today, these dances are competed world-wide by many different nations. Each dance has a set of steps that are standardized across the world. Competitors may add or create new steps for choreography purposes, but the basic steps remain the same and are taught to all trained beginners. Steps are organized into Bronze, Silver, and Gold level steps.
In the chart below, you can see three different categories for ballroom dancing. The Standard, or Smooth style includes what some would call the "slower" dances, though that is not completely accurate--Quickstep, for example, is much faster than just about any other dance! The chart is also broken down by the beat. Waltz and Viennese, for example are the same beat, but one is much faster than the other. The Latin category includes mostly dances with a Latin decent, but Jive is also included, which has an American root. The last category is called Night Club because they are considered social dances and aren't usually competed at recognized competitions. They are, however, very fun to learn and still within the realm of ballroom dancing.
In the chart below, you can see three different categories for ballroom dancing. The Standard, or Smooth style includes what some would call the "slower" dances, though that is not completely accurate--Quickstep, for example, is much faster than just about any other dance! The chart is also broken down by the beat. Waltz and Viennese, for example are the same beat, but one is much faster than the other. The Latin category includes mostly dances with a Latin decent, but Jive is also included, which has an American root. The last category is called Night Club because they are considered social dances and aren't usually competed at recognized competitions. They are, however, very fun to learn and still within the realm of ballroom dancing.
Learn to Count
Learning to count the beats of a song is important, because that is how you figure out what dance you would dance to it. When you are at a social event and a good song comes on, you must stop and listen to the beat to determine whether that dance is a cha-cha, swing, or samba. If you are unable to do this, your ballroom training will not be of much use to you! You do not need to know how to count every song listed above--but knowing the more common ones is most useful. Cha-cha, Rumba, and Mambo have the exact same beat--they only difference is the speed. This is the same with the triple step dances.
Watch the videos below to learn how to count various dances.
Watch the videos below to learn how to count various dances.