A FIRST LOOK INTO THE BALLROOM -- BEGINNING OUR EXPLORATION

The dance world and community is a vast landscape made up of artists from all walks of life. Many are trained in a combination of dance forms from classics like Ballet, Jazz, and Contemporary to cultural dance forms and social dances. Either way, each artist's experience in this art form is unique and made up of the connections they make between themselves and the forms they practice.

Yet, there is a common belief that many of these forms are separate and inhabit their own space within the world of dance, untouchable by others. Well, I am here to say that simply cannot be true, and my experiences within the world of dance have reassured me of this.

As I share personal observations, insights, and discoveries that I've made in my nearly 10 years as an artist, we will learn, explore, share, and connect deeply to the dance forms we know and love and leave with a newfound appreciation for the connections that bind our experiences in this art form.

The main points I wish to speak on are the Positioning of the body, the correlation of Rhythm, the relationship of Shape, the similarity in Quality, and the foundation of Partnership.

POSITIONING

One of the first discoveries I made regarding Ballroom's relationship to other dance forms was in the POSITIONING and sequencing of the body. Whether that be in the position of the feet in Latin styles mimicking positions from Ballet, or in the use of similar or same names for certain movements across dance forms, many similarities can be seen within the body before the dancer even begins their movement.

RHYTHM

Another realization I've made in my time as an artist concerns the relationship of RHYTHM and music across many dance forms. There are very easily recognized examples of this such as the Waltz rhythm that is used in Ballroom, Ballet, and some Modern practices, or the many Afro-Caribbean and other Latin rhythms heard in Ballroom, cultural, and social dances, but there is also the general relationship of music and movement within these styles which we will explore further with future blogs.

SHAPE

One of the latest insights I've gained is in the similarity of SHAPE within dance forms. Shape and Space are two of the key elements of dance concerning the positive and negative space made with bodies. This element is used in Ballroom with two moving bodies to expand the possibilities of shape and space. An example of this can be seen in the arc-like shaping of Standard styles similar to the shaping in Ballet, or the S-curving arms in Latin styles that appear in Latin Jazz and Latin cultural and social dances.

QUALITY

Another new discovery I've made is regarding the use of QUALITY that is shared across dance forms. Observed in the attack of movement in a Cha-Cha, Jive, and different Jazz styles, or the smooth flow of Waltz, Rumba, and some Modern techniques, the relationship of quality in dance can transform movement entirely and breathe new life into a dance. It is the relationship of these similarities that we will explore later on.

PARTNERSHIP

PARTNERSHIP is one of the broadest topics I've made a connection to with Ballroom Dance and other forms. While not every dance form uses coupled dancing or dancing in partnership, there is a constant partner in every dance whether you know it or not. Steve Paxton, the creator of Contact Improvisation once explained that no dancer is truly alone, as the space they inhabit acts as their partner, and by adding another body you produce a kind of quartet between body, space, body, and space. It is this relationship between partners that we will explore to find out how partners work together in multiple forms and why.

There are many other aspects of dance to comment on including expression, performance, costuming, and others, but the five above will serve as the basis of this exploration.