When you think of going to a ball, often the vision of Cinderella and her wicked stepsisters comes to mind. Yet, when you come into our studios, you are learning some of the very same steps that a lady at the ball would learn to dance! Ballroom dancing has that same root, ballare, or “to dance”. Long before the fairy tales, people were creating new dance styles. Some of the more notable ballroom dances are the waltz, rumba, cha-cha, tango and the foxtrot. These now very popular ballroom dance styles are not earlier than the 1900’s! Even before the birth of the renaissance period, people played around with the Polka and an early form of square dancing called quadrille. These earlier 16^th and 17^th century dances gave distinction between folk dancing and social dancing. A dance called the minuet was a huge step in social dancing’s success, because it was the first dance to be focused on elegance and dance etiquette.

You may also be interested to know that the closed frame, or one hand hold, position for dancing was a huge revelation in the 18^th century. What was the first ‘ballroom’ dance to be danced in the closed position? Waltz! Having an extended period of time where partners were so close to each other was seen as very scandalous at the time.

Today, the closed position for ballroom dancing is very typical and often dancers will travel from an open to a closed position quite frequently. Also within this transition is the creation of competitive ballroom dancing! Now, couples can compete in many different types of ballroom dances; jive, mambo, quickstep and samba along with many other loved ballroom dances. Ballroom dancing has come along way between its creation and today! We can now all learn to move gracefully along the dance floor in a way that would make Cinderella proud! (Prince not included)