Dancesport: The World of Competitive Ballroom Dancing
What is Dancesport?
Ballroom Dancing is well known around the world, but most don’t know there exists an “underground” industry of competition. This industry of competitive ballroom dancing is known as Dancesport.
The name Dancesport derives from how most ballroom dancers see themselves. They are not just artists, and they are not just athletes. They are both, at the same time, and in the same body. Ballroom dancers compete like athletes, and they perform like artists. In the quest of inducting competitive ballroom dancing into the Olympics, competitors created a new name for themselves: Dancesport Athletes.
Competitive ballroom dancing has 7 main styles of competition. International Standard, International Latin, Cabaret, and Showdance are competed around the world. In America, Dancesport has added American Smooth, American Rhythm, and Theatre Arts. Though danced mostly in America, Smooth and Rhythm are becoming increasingly popular around the world. There are many more types of competitive ballroom dancing, such as Swing and Argentine Tango, Salsa and Charleston, even a style unique to Australia called “New Vogue”. But for the purposes of this page, and this blog in general, we will stick to those first 7 categories. Those 7 styles, and especially the first 4, are what we mean when we refer to Dancesport.
In addition to those 7 styles, some couples, like Simeon and Kora, do a combined event known as 10-Dance or 9-Dance. 10-Dance is when a couple dances both International Standard and International Latin. 9-Dance is when a couple dances both American Rhythm and American Smooth. To learn more about Simeon and Kora’s achievements throughout their Dancesport career, read about them here.
How do Dancesport competitions work?
At most competitions, couples dance on the floor with their other competitors at the same time. They don’t get to pick their music. Competitors dance to the same song at the same time. The men wear their numbers on their backs, and the judges, who stand on the edges of the floor, mark the couples in the order they prefer. This might mean a ranking from 1st to 6th, or it might mean simply marking them into the next round.
The rounds build with the number of couples. A final round means the top 6 couples. A semi-final round means the top 12; a quarter-final round means the top 24. When you hear that there is a first round, that means there are somewhere between 25 and 48 couples entered. A second round means between 49 and 96, and so it grows on and on from there. The couples might be split into heats, depending on how many couples can comfortably fit on the dance floor. In a final, all 6 couples dance together. This is true for a semi-final, too, if the floor is big enough. Above a semi-final, the competition is normally split into heats, with an equal number of couples in each heat. This ensures the dancers have enough room to move around and show their stuff.
The Styles of Dancesport
International Standard
You might say the world of competitive ballroom dancing – Dancesport – all began with International Standard. If you close your eyes and imagine traditional ballroom dancing – a man in a tailsuit, and lady in a gorgeous gown – you’re thinking of Standard. It’s also called Modern, or just simply Ballroom, in some places. On this blog, we’ll call it Standard.
Standard has been around as a style for almost 100 years. There are 5 dances that each couple must perform: English Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, and Quickstep. A couple must dance each dance at every round of every competition (with some exceptions). They are danced in the order I listed. The difference between the English Waltz and the Viennese Waltz is mainly tempo, but that effects what steps can be danced. To this day, men still wear tailsuits, and ladies still wear those gorgeous ballgowns.
Need help envisioning a Standard competition? Click here to see an example of the English Waltz.
International Latin
While Standard may be the mother of competitive ballroom dancing, Latin is definitely the poster child of Dancesport. Quick and thrilling sport, with scantily clad women and sexy bare-chested men, Latin is an edge-of-your-seat style. The origin of the Latin dances come from Middle and South America, with two exceptions. Cha Cha, Samba, and Rumba are from Hispanic Americas region, while Paso Doble is from Spain and Jive is American.
Like Standard, Latin has 5 dances performed in this order: Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive. Samba and Cha Cha switch places in competitions organized by the WDSF. More on the WDC, WDSF, and Danceport’s organizing bodies in another post.
;”>Latin is truly a riveting style. The women are beautiful and the costumes sexy. The men are almost as colorful as their partners. Choreography is inventive and speeds these competitors create in their bodies is truly amazing. Latin explores the many depths of love between a man and a woman. For a beautiful portrayal of the Rumba, click here.
American Smooth
Drawing up images of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Smooth has made a recent splash on the Dancesport floor. Smooth was originally designed to make the complicated patterns of ballroom dancing easier to digest for a wider audience. However, since the mid 1990s, Smooth has exploded into a challenging and athletic form of ballroom dancing. Its style derives from the strict rules of International Standard, but allows much more freedom in expression and form.
Smooth only has 4 dances that competitors must perform: Slow Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz. At first Smooth was only danced in America, but recently the style is exploding across the world. Couples have even performed Smooth at the world’s most prestigious competition, the Blackpool Dance Festival.
Unlike International Standard, Smooth dancers don’t have to stay in closed hold, or “frame”. They are allowed to break hold and dance completely apart, much like Latin. This gives Smooth dancers the freedom to experiment with other rhythms and expression of music, to great effect. Foxtrot and Viennese Waltz, in particular, have developed to new levels impossible to achieve while dancing in a strict closed hold. To see what I’m talking about, click on this link for a great Viennese Waltz.
American Rhythm
Though a fast growing style within American competitive ballroom dancing, Rhythm struggles to claim its place within the international dancesport world. Perhaps this is due to the similarity of dances between Rhythm and Latin. Oftentimes, dancers who are not part of the American industry fail to recognize the uniqueness of Rhythm dancing. In the pursuit of beauty and lines, International Latin has occasionally lost its depth of body rhythm. American Rhythm, however, prefers to show beauty over lines. This can sometimes produce an effect that is not as beautiful when considered from a lines perspective. But if you consider authenticity and body rhythm to be beautiful, American Rhythm tends to prefer these aspects.
Rhythm, like Standard and Latin, as 5 dances: Cha Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Bolero, and Mambo. It can be hard to tell the difference between International Cha Cha and American Cha Cha, but the other four dances are completely unique unto their own. Developed, like Smooth, for teachability, and American Rumba has the familiar structure of a box-step. Bolero is arguably the most beautiful, like a cross between International Rumba and Slow Waltz. This dance is truly dancesport’s “Dance of Love”.
If you want to take a peek at an American Rhythm Mambo, click on this link here.
Showdance and Cabaret
Showdance is dancesport’s “show” style, and Cabaret is another style of ballroom dancing altogether.
There are two categories of Showdance: Classical Showdance and South-American Showdance. In Classical Showdance, couples can perform any of the 5 Standard dances, mixed together in any way, to music of their choice. The same goes for South-American Showdance with regards to the International Latin dances. Each couple performs solo, with the judges grading the couples on musicality, performance, creativity, and so on. Though the possibilities are endless, there are strict rules to which the couples must adhere. For instance, there can be no more than 3 lifts during one performance. The music must be less than 3 minutes, including the time it takes the couples to walk on an off the floor.
Click here for a great example of a World Championship-winning South-American Showdance number. This piece showcases all 5 dances, put together in a creative format with wonderful audience engagement.
Cabaret is a different beast of dancesport altogether. With choreography structured around lifts and acrobatics, there is very little actual ballroom dancing. This freedom from the strict rules of Showdance allows for some very inventive choreography. The lifts and acrobatics used in Cabaret competitions can be heart-stopping. For a video of a great and award-winning Cabaret piece, click here.
It’s a wrap!
Understanding the 7 main styles of dancesport – International Standard, International Latin, American Smooth, American Rhythm, Showdance and Cabaret – should give you a good starting point for digesting the information on this blog. We will have more posts like this coming out on the blog as we go.
If there is any topic you’d like me to cover, please leave me a comment below! Any questions or something you’d like me to clarify? Comment below!
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