Ballroom

The Waltz Dance is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, flowing movements, continuous turns, and rise fall. Graceful and elegant. Waltz dancers glide around the floor almost effortlessly. At 28-30 bars per minute (3/4 time), the Waltz Dance tempo is slow at best, but the expressive quality of the music often invites very powerful and dynamic movement from dancers.

The Waltz Dance is enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world. It is also the traditional first dance commonly used for a couple getting married as their “Wedding Waltz”.

At 28-30 bars per minute (4/4 time) the Foxtrot has quickly developed into one of the most popular social dances. It is the easiest to pick up and the hardest to master. Today, the Foxtrot is danced to popular musical standards such as Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. It is an extremely versatile dance and can be performed to such music as fast country-western as well as slow tangos. The foxtrot is a must have in a social dancers quiver and it can be relied upon when all else fails.
This is why the steps are regular. It is easy to keep the steps in a contained area, though the Foxtrot can easily cover the dance floor.

Danced at 32-34 bars per minute (2/4 time) Tango is a dance that branched away from its original Argentine roots by allowing European, American, Hollywood, and competitive influences into the style and execution. The characteristics of the Tango Dance which differ from the other 4 ballroom dances is that it has no rise and fall, the hold is more compact and has a staccato action.

The Quickstep Dance is a light-hearted member of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast (49-51 bars per minute (4/4 time) and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopation’s. The Quickstep Dance is elegant like the Foxtrot Dance, and should be smooth and glamorous. The dancers should appear to be very light on their feet. It is very energetic and form-intensive.