When it comes to Ballroom and Latin dancing there are few different groups of dancers. They can be loosely divided into three groups:
Competitive Dancing
First you have your competition dancers. At some stage someone thought it would be a good idea to turn Ballroom and Latin dancing into a sport and see who's the best. These dancers have a dance partner with which they rehearse choreographed routines in order to compete in "dancesport" type events. If you've never been to a dance sport competition it's very entertaining. There's the glitz and the glamour of the "smooth" section which includes dances like the waltz and and the foxtrot and then there's the "rhythm" category of dances which includes a number of Latin styles such as Rumba and Cha Cha as well as Jive. Generally competition dances specialize in either smooth or rhythm.
Sequence Dancing
Sequence dancing is a style of social Ballroom and Latin dancing in which all the dancers form a circle on the floor and all dance a small choreographed sequence in unison. Loosely based on the same dances the competition dancers perform, the Balmoral Blues and the Sally Ann Cha Cha are examples of dozens of different dances they choose from. Generally sequence dancers stick to one partner and because this style consists of choreographed set routines it doesn't allow much room for creativity of improvisation.
Social Dancing
Finally there's us... the social Ballroom and Latin dancers. We also dance many of the same dances as the competition dancers, however we dance social "freestyle" versions that are not choreographed and require someone to lead and someone to follow. Accomplished social Ballroom and Latin dancers can dance a variety of styles and can dance confidently with different partners, adjusting their difficulty level to suit who they are dancing with at the time. This style of dance has its own skill set which includes good timing and musicality, creativity and improvisation and the ability to adapt to different partners. Without many of the rules of the other styles, social dancers are free to explore and develop new step patterns, styling and timings to evolve the dance styles in an innovative and inventive way. And there are also many more dance styles social dancers are free to explore including styles such as Salsa, Bachata, Zouk, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Kizomba and many more that have become popular in Australia over recent years. If social Ballroom and Latin dancing sounds like fun (it is) then we're the dance studio for you.