Ballroom

Introduction

Ballroom dancing is the largest course group within Footloose. Courses are divided into five levels and given on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. In these courses, the famous dances of the ballroom and Latin dances are taught, such as the Quickstep, the English Waltz, the Rumba, and the Samba. Every week you can also dance on Wednesday evenings after the dance lessons. Every two weeks there is a pleasant dance evening, and in the weeks between, Orbit is open for more serious training. The dance and training evenings start after 21:30 at Orbit in Luna.

Together with other students you learn the first steps of the ballroom and Latin dancing during Bronze, of course, this is often accompanied by some uneasy laughter, but soon everyone knows how to find their way on the dancefloor. In the courses that follow, your knowledge of figures will be expanded and more attention paid to posture. At the end of each season, you can show what you have learned by participating in our Dance Exam event and be assessed by a professional jury.

The dance

Ballroom
Ballroom dancing or standard dancing is the collective term for a certain flow of ballroom dancing, all of which are danced in the same style. The international standard dances are the English waltz, tango, quickstep, slow fox, and Viennese waltz.

Ballroom dancing differs on many points from the Latin-American dances, for example in posture. There is in fact danced in pairs in a tight, upright posture. All ballroom dances are also ‘progressive’. In this context, this means that the dance distance is covered over the dance floor and people dance (counterclockwise) around the dance floor. Usually, the figures in the ballroom dancing are danced according to a certain program, but in principle, most figures can be danced one after the other in random order.

Latin
In the context of ballroom dancing Latin is formally used to refer to the five international Latin American ballroom dancing, cha-cha-cha, rumba, samba, paso double, and jive. Often the English term Latin American or Latin is also used.

Most Latin American dances are danced in pairs; every gentleman dances with a lady. In contrast to ballroom dancing, the Latin American dances are not very tight in the posture, but the posture is looser and one can “break” the posture. In Latin American dances moving the hips is important to give the dances the right character. The torso, hips, and legs should move independently of each other, wherein the ballroom dancing the hips should be kept right under the torso.

Course progress

In order to ensure proper flow within the ballroom courses, there are a number of conditions; For example, you have to complete all courses, with the exception of bronze, twice for six months before moving on to the next level. Exceptions may be made in consultation with the teacher.

If you have some dance experience, you can discuss it with the teacher to find the right level for you.

Teachers – Paul and Yvonne Melskens

The ballroom classes are taught by Paul and Yvonne.

Timeschedule

The complete overview of the schedule of all classes can be found here.

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