Ballroom Dance Steps

The grace, the postures and the music, ambiance. Everything is mesmerizing. You just go in trance seeing all the grandeur and the amazing subtlety and passion at the same time. Okay, I need not say more. As what I am referring to is better experienced than read. Yes, absolutely, it is ballroom dancing. Ballroom dance is a term for a set of partner dances. In common parlance ballroom dance refers to 10 dances of International Latin and International Standard. For instance the dances included in the former are Samba, Cha cha cha, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive. On the other hand the International Standard includes Waltz, Foxtrot, Quickstep, Tango and Viennese. Thus the steps of these dances are by default the ballroom dance steps. These dances in totality form what is ball room dance. We will tip toe now to check out some of these dancing steps.

Basic Steps in Ballroom Dancing
As previously mentioned, the above dances make up the ballroom dance as a whole, so steps in these are steps for ballroom dance. Thus, lets take a look at these dances, beginning from the lesser known.

Paso Doble
This dance mainly involves posturing and high gestures by the man, the lead, in fluid, circular steps around him by the woman (follower). Here are the basic steps-

* The dancers start off in a closed and rigid dance frame.
* The man is the lead, who left hand holds the woman's right hand, held away on the side, out of the body.
* The lead's right hand is at the follower's back, with her left hand at his bicep.
* This rigid and close hold through the entire set of steps is imperative.
* the lead then steps forward with the left foot, letting his body go towards the center of the dance floor. The right foot will simultaneously moves ahead.
* He is on the balls of his feet, the beats numbering 3 to 8 are stepped in a chase, (chasse).
* One of the cape move follows this, when the lead takes 3 steps in a counterclockwise circle.
* This circle is tight and he then finishes with the side steps back against the line of dance.
* The chest and head need to be held up and these moves should be quick and sharp.
* The follower primarily is a mirror image of the lead's steps.

Quick Step
The basic nature of quick step is slow quick quick. Here, the slow takes beats 1 and 2 and quick quick takes 3 and 4. 'Slow' steps are done on heel and maximum 'quick' steps are taken on balls of feet. Some of the Quickstep Steps are

* Rise and Fall
* Lock Step
* Natural Hairpin
* Running Finish
* Outside Change
* Chasse'
* Hover Corte'
* V-6 Combination

Try this out if you are looking for an enjoyable dance form!

Foxtrot
Foxtrot is seemingly akin to quickstep, but a bit different. It is a travellign dance. You need an upright posture, just like in Waltz. Long steps during slow counts and short lively steps when there are fast counts is how this dance progresses. Start with standing upright with your feet together. Then you need to walk forward, while counting aloud and stepping to the rhythm. The rhythm goes like slow-slow-slow-slow, or step-pause-step-pause-step-pause-step-pause. Then you can have quick steps forward and have a combination of 2 steps from these 3. Its fun!

Salsa
Well, do I need say anything about this classic Latin dance full of passion and grace? These are basic steps involved in salsa dancing.

* Forward basic move
* Back spot turn
* Underarm turn to right
* Cross body check and turn
* Underarm turn with head loop

Read more on learn salsa dance steps.

Jive
Jive is a form of swing dance and is one of the 5 international Latin dances. The primary form of this dance is a 6 beat pattern and has 8 weight changes. The man again is the lead. The ballroom dance steps in jive go like this -

* Counts 1 2 - Rock step: left foot step back, right foot replace
* Counts 3 a 4 - Chasse to the left
* Counts 5 a 6 - Chasse to the right

This was how to ballroom dance when it is Jive. Read more on latin dance.

Waltz
What I do is say about this beautiful dance form? It is just enthralling to say the least! The techniques of rise and fall are what make this dance so unique. The dancer basically moves on toes, relaxing through the knee and ankle, ending on flat foot. The couple has to glide effortlessly around the floor.

Cha Cha Cha
Another of the delightful dances to be a part of ballroom dance steps is cha cha cha. It has originated in Cuba. The man again leads. The fundamental norm of the steps for cha cha is that steps in all directions have to be taken with the ball of the foot in contact with the floor first, followed by the heel, which is lowered when the weight is totally transferred. Once the weight is released from the foot, from the floor, the heel should be released initially. This allows the toe to maintain contact with the ground. Read more on

* Cha Cha Slide Dance
* Cha Cha Slide Dance Steps

Apart from these there is Rumba, Viennese, Samba, and a few others. All these are a part of ballroom dance steps and these are the reasons that ballroom dance is so amazing! Read more on samba dance steps.

This is where I sign off! Have a ball of a time dancing!