6 most popular ballroom dances

6 most popular ballroom dances

People all around the world love ballroom dancing because of its competitive and social nature. Anyone can enjoy these dances with their partner, irrespective of age. Here, we’ll list ballroom dances that are famous worldwide. You would have seen them in many films, television shows, dance competitions, and on renowned stages. Let’s get started!

Waltz
Waltz is one of the most thought-of dances anytime someone mentions ballroom dancing. It’s also one of the smoothest dance forms and is exquisite and graceful. Waltz involves 28 bars every minute, performed in 3/4 time. If you watch from a distance, you’ll feel that the dancers appear to glide around the floor effortlessly. Waltz is not just a romantic dance form but also a progressive dance type marked by flowing, long movement, rise and fall, and continuous turns.

Tango
This dance form originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has been around since the 19th Century. It involves sharp, cat-like moves. There are two types of Tango: Ballroom Tango and Argentine Tango. As our goal is to list ballroom dances in this article, we’ll focus on the former. Ballroom tango is sensual and romantic, and people love the fascination associated with it. The dance form involves 32 bars every minute, performed in 2/4 time. Tango has evolved over the years, and today, the style used in most competitions is not the same as the Argentinian Tango.

Rumba
Rumba is characterized by sophisticated yet straightforward movements. Nevertheless, it’s a romantic dance form. Rumba is famous because it totally revamped ballroom dancing with its complex and pacy moves.

Cha-Cha
Cha-Cha is a flirtatious dance form. It can be considered a slower version of Mamba, but with more hip movement. In this lively ballroom dance full of energy and passion, partners dance together to synchronize their every move and make it fall in perfect alignment. 

Foxtrot
This is another simple ballroom dance, which is a lot of fun. It was named after Harry Fox, the actor believed to have popularized the dance form in the early 1900s. Foxtrot is excellent for learning, especially for beginners. In this dance form, couples make smooth, long, and flowy movements across the floor to swing. 

Jive
Jive is a spicy swing dance set to big band music. In this form, the man leads, and women encourage more men to persuade them for a dance. These days, another dance form called Modern Jive has emerged, which is a more simplified version.