The bevy of beautiful women and men in formal suits may be the image you see when ballroom dance is mentioned. Those who prefer to start off with something slow would love the gracefulness of the Waltz and those who are adventurous may prefer to try out the Tango, a dance so passionate it can make heartbeat and temperatures rose even by merely watching them.

Webster defines ballroom dancing as simply “Any of various, usually social dances in which couples perform set moves”. The term ballroom dancing has its root in the Latin word “ballare” which literally means to dance. This is the base for ballroom (a room for dancing), ballet (a dance), and ballerina (a dancer).

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries dancing was very popular among the upper classes of 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.

Modern dancing revolves around five dances, the Modern Waltz, the Viennese Waltz, the Slow Foxtrot, Tango and the Quickstep. When American Latin ballroom Dance comes to mind, here are some names of famous dances Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha and the Jive. Latin American ballroom is short for Latin and American - not a reference to Latin countries.

The modern day ballroom dancing consists of specific steps and tempo with couples dancing together. The couples come close through five points of contact. There exists three main points of contact during the dance-her right hand holding his left, and her left resting on top of his right arm. The other two points of contact are her left elbow resting on his right elbow and the right side of her chest touching the right side of his chest. This elegant posture was used since the days of the European Royal Court.

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. The strange counter clockwise movement is also explained this way, and it helps prevent the sword stabbing any of the people watching or the dancers as he gracefully waltzes by. The posture changes in the American Latin dances. Today, the American Latin ballroom dance has been standardized for the purposes of teaching.