A Brief History of Ballroom Dancing
While a dance instructor and professional dancer, Debbie Cook has always been interested in the history of dance and how it has become a part of our culture. Ballroom dancing is derived from the Latin word "ballare" meaning "to dance." While going to the dance may remind a person of painfully awkward times in middle school, going to the ball evokes a sensation of magical grandeur. The location (the ballroom) and the dancers (the elite) once were the defining difference between ballroom and the folk dancing of the common people. Fortunately, today ballroom dancing is a bit more egalitarian and is defined by the form: couples dancing independently of anyone else. In the Middle Ages, dances in and out of the ballroom did not differ much. People generally danced in lines and circles. Switching partners was common. The first account of ballroom dancing was written by Thoinot-Arbeau in Orchésographie in 1588, but these techniques are not included in modern ballro...