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Ballroom
dancing is a type of social dancing that has come to be a competitive sport.
The dance mostly involves two dancers that are paired together. Competitive
ballroom dancing is called Dance Sport, too. The rules differ from country
to country. The four main styles are international standard, international
Latin, American smooth, and American rhythm.
Ballroom
dancing began most likely in the late 1700's to the early 1800's with the
Viennese waltz. This dance formed from folk dances of southern Germany
and Austria, and then came to the U.S. and England. The faster version
of the fox trot is called quickstep. The rumba, which came from Cuba, became
popular in the U.S. and Europe in the 1930's. The Spanish paso doble originated
in the 1930's. The popular dances in the 1930's and 40's were swing, jive,
jitterbug, and the Lindy, which is a variation of the jitterbug. In the
50's many Latin dances became popular internationally. Some of the 1950's
dances were the mambo, cha-cha, and Cuba's bolero. Also there was the samba
from Brazil.