Competitive Ballroom DancingOne aspect of ballroom and social dancing is, well, dancing at social events (at this point, very formal social events). But another big aspect of ballroom and social dance is competition. The excerpt below from a book on ballroom dance called "The Ballroom Dance Pack" discusses this in more detail.
Title: The Ballroom Dance Pack Author: Walter Laird Excerpt: Competition-Style DancingOf the millions of people throughout the world who regularly enjoy social dancing there are a number who are ultimately attracted to taking part in organized ballroom dance competitions.
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Competition dancing is a form of ballroom dancing that has evolved from social dancing. It attracts people who love to dance and who have the urge to show their skill and talent in direct competition with other couples on the dance floor. Such people dance not only for their own satisfaction, but also to impress both the judges who have been selected to decide who the best couples are and, of course, the audience. Competition dancing brings with it an element of show business and, consequently, additional factors to the quality of performance, musical interpretation, and characterization become important.
Many people are intrigued to know how judges of ballroom dance competitions decide which of the couples taking part should be awarded the winners' trophy. How do they make their choices? In fact, it is necessary for the judges of such events to have considerable knowledge and experience to make sound decisions.
The two most important facets of the dancers' performance that have to be assessed are quality and crowd appeal. Quality is expressed through the dancers' technique, musicality, and characterization; crowd appeal depends on the dancers' choreography, presentation, and personalities.
The standard of performance, therefore, is made up of many different elements taken together. Because individuals place a different value on each aspect, their assessments are subjective, so an uneven number of adjudicators is always used for major events. Additionally, a method of collating the judges' markings for each couple has been devised in which more weighting is given to the same and higher placings for each couple.
Because the two styles of ballroom dancing are so different, separate competitions are held for Modern and Latin dances. The differences are particularly reflected by the costumes worn by the dancers during these competitions, and this is shown in the pages of The Ballroom Dance Pack. Dresses worn for the Modern dances are long and flowing, to enhance the movements created during these dances. In contrast, the dresses worn for the Latin dances are designed to show the movements of the individual body parts used to interpret the various Latin rhythms.
Men wear formal full dress - white tie and tails - in the Modern section and soft, shirt-style tops, together with well-tailored pants, for the Latin section.
Many people are intrigued to know how judges of ballroom dance competitions decide which of the couples taking part should be awarded the winners' trophy. How do they make their choices? In fact, it is necessary for the judges of such events to have considerable knowledge and experience to make sound decisions.
The two most important facets of the dancers' performance that have to be assessed are quality and crowd appeal. Quality is expressed through the dancers' technique, musicality, and characterization; crowd appeal depends on the dancers' choreography, presentation, and personalities.
The standard of performance, therefore, is made up of many different elements taken together. Because individuals place a different value on each aspect, their assessments are subjective, so an uneven number of adjudicators is always used for major events. Additionally, a method of collating the judges' markings for each couple has been devised in which more weighting is given to the same and higher placings for each couple.
Because the two styles of ballroom dancing are so different, separate competitions are held for Modern and Latin dances. The differences are particularly reflected by the costumes worn by the dancers during these competitions, and this is shown in the pages of The Ballroom Dance Pack. Dresses worn for the Modern dances are long and flowing, to enhance the movements created during these dances. In contrast, the dresses worn for the Latin dances are designed to show the movements of the individual body parts used to interpret the various Latin rhythms.
Men wear formal full dress - white tie and tails - in the Modern section and soft, shirt-style tops, together with well-tailored pants, for the Latin section.
The Waltz
The strains of The Modern Waltz often bring back happy and romantic memories to many people of warm summer evenings, beautiful languid music, and all that makes life worthwhile. Its gentle, lilting melodies have continued to capture the souls of generations, and The Waltz is, today, firmly established as a great favorite throughout the world.
Said to have begun life as an old folk dance of Austria and southern Germany, The Modern Waltz - so-named because it was developed in the early part of the twentieth century - is played at a tempo of 30 bars per minute.
- from "The Ballroom Dance Pack, "by Walter Laird"
Said to have begun life as an old folk dance of Austria and southern Germany, The Modern Waltz - so-named because it was developed in the early part of the twentieth century - is played at a tempo of 30 bars per minute.
- from "The Ballroom Dance Pack, "by Walter Laird"