If you’re reading this, odds are you like good ballroom music. Whether it’s for a performance, a social, or for practice, your favourite ballroom music energizes you, makes you want to strength further, push harder, dance fiercer.
All too often, I hear the same tired favourites when I go to dance halls and socials. So today, I’m sharing some of my top favourite ballroom dance songs in each genre, and why I like each one. I hope they inspire and delight you. Continue reading “Great Ballroom Music for Practicing”
In our last article, we covered some of the basic ballroom arm styling we use to accentuate our body movements. Today, we take a look at how to modify our arm styling to better express different styles of movement. Continue reading “An Intro to Ballroom Arm Styling (P2)”
Ballroom dancing has been bringing adventurous folk together in barrooms and court halls for centuries. But it’s only in the last century that most of the dances we know and love have appeared in North American studios. Why is that? And how did it all get started?
In an effort to help you sound smart as well as adventurous, here is a (VERY) short history of ballroom dance. Continue reading “A Short History of Ballroom Dance”
In part 1 of ‘What IS This Dance Anyway??’, we covered how to distinguish 5 major dance music styles from each other . Today we’ll look at 5 more common Latin and ballroom dances: Foxtrot, samba, merengue, Viennese waltz, and east coast swing. Let’s get cracking. Continue reading “What Ballroom Dance IS This Anyway?? Part Two”
You know what’s frustrating? Learning some great moves in a dance you love, then going out to a social dance and realizing you can’t tell what songs you can use them to.
Yet, despite how confusing it can be at the beginning, there ARE certain instruments or sound styles that traditional music of a dance genre use. Let’s look at a few of the most popular: salsa, cha cha, rumba, waltz, and tango. Continue reading “What Ballroom Dance IS This Anyway??”
Not all music is created equal – at least some of the time, finding the rhythm in ballroom dance music is tough. But if you’re new to the scene, what do we mean when we talk about rhythm anyways? And how can we get consistent enough to follow it, no matter the song? Continue reading “Finding the Rhythm in Ballroom Dance Music”