The Waltz evolved from the German and Austrian peasant dance called the Ländler and became fashionable in the suburbs of Vienna around the 1780s, spreading to many other countries in the years to follow. Johann Strauss wrote the first waltz music. Danced in 3/4 time, the dance is characterized by...
Viennese Waltz
The Viennese Waltz is the oldest ballroom dance, initially appearing in Germany and Austria in the late 18th century, and later spreading to England, under the name of the “German Waltz” in the early 19th century. Johann Strauss wrote the first Waltz music which was fast and required greater technique...
Tango
Ballroom Tango origins come from the slums of Buenos Aires in the late 19th century. In the infamous Barrio de las Ranas, Argentine gauchos and migrating blacks traded cultural rhythms and dance steps in brothels. While Tango was performed very different in each dance partnership, the dance was eventually standardized....
Quickstep
Quickstep developed in the 1920s in New York City out of foxtrot, charleston, shag, peabody, and one step. Danced in 4/4 time to ragtime era jazz music, Quickstep has a lot of movement across the floor while dancers appear very light on their feet. The dance includes hops, runs, chasses,...
Foxtrot
In 1914, Harry Fox danced his version of trotting on the stage of the Ziegfield Follies. Soon after it was popularized in New York in the 1930’s and became the more refined dance we know it as today when it traveled to England. The English smoothed out the dance and...