Nobody knows, what is Ballroom Dancing?

By Chris Cheung, Waipio

The Internationals seem to have now grabbed the definition of "Ballroom" as theirs. And many in the dance world have agreed with them. I am willing but we must go further in our terminology, we must establish a good one for us, that do not wish to be included in their Ballroom Dance World.

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

Ballroom dancing classes and competitions are often broken up into bronze, silver and gold categories. Learn what they mean before jumping into one. You must know what LAGS means and how to avoid it. That is an acronym for Latest And Greatest Syndrome. The movement to music is never stressed, - only the movement with the object of being seen. A big defect in some of our Dance Instructors and abetted by the beginner students who want to look terrific, immediately.  Nevah happened.

"Cecelia" by Simon and Garfunkel

We must accept that ballroom dancers come in all shapes, sizes and ability levels. While some are professional, executing highly complicated and difficult choreography with grace and style, others are content to learn a few steps to get them around the dance floor at the Saturday night dance. There are many levels in between each extreme, and the bronze, silver and gold designations help to put some order to it all.

Bronze, silver and gold levels of ballroom dancing each have their own syllabus of steps, a goal for the dancer and a difficulty level. The total steps in all three divisions in most diciplines are less than 60. If there are over 600 documented steps and patterns in most dances, learning what that means helps the dancer know where they belong based on their skill level. Many ballroom dancing group classes are grouped by these designations.

"Don't Miss The Partyline" by Bizz Nizz

Bronze Level Ballroom Dancing
Bronze level is the most basic and most important level of social ballroom dancing, and this is where all new students should start. And many intermediates and advance dancers revert to basics eventually. The goal of this level is to teach the dancer good balance, rhythm and how to move their body. They learn how to dance with a partner and work as a team. Many different basic movements must be "demonstrated." How many students are aware of the Rock Step or the Chassé? And even more, how many are aware that the Cha Cha Cha is a Rock Step and a Chassé?

In American Style ballroom dances like Waltz and Foxtrot, there is very little “continuity,” which is where the dancers pass their feet and flow into the next step. Instead, they end most patterns by bringing their feet together. The patterns in bronze level tend to be fairly simple, although they increase in complexity and difficulty as the dancer moves from beginning bronze to intermediate bronze and then to full bronze.

Since there are over 200 Bronze level steps and patterns, shouldn't the beginner dancer be more interested in those than the Silver or Gold? Twenty, thirty good basics learned and done well, the rest is a peice of cake.The extra benefits are that they are all easier to lead and follow than the Silver or Gold. Stands to reason and then, of course, they become Cultural Dancers.

What we will eventually see, and it is already occurring, the amalgamation of the bronze American style with the Club Dancer style. So these people can dance anywhere for the pure joy of moving to music. They will repeat many of the basic steps over and over again in sheer joy. How many out there understand that?
Chris