ballroom dance, type of social dancing, originally practiced in Europe and the United States, that is performed by couples and follows prescribed steps. The tradition was historically distinguished from folk or country dance by its association with the elite social classes and with invitational dance events. In the 21st century, however, ballroom dance is present in many parts of the world and has practitioners in virtually all segments of society. It is performed in various contexts, including invitational and public dance events, professional dance exhibitions, and formal competitions.

Standard ballroom dances include the waltz and the polka from the 19th century and the fox-trot, the two-step, and the tango, among others, from the 20th century. Other popular dances—such as the Charleston, swing dancing, the mambo, the twist, and disco dancing—have also visited the ballroom repertoire at various points in the tradition’s history. Owing to the social and stylistic breadth of the ballroom tradition, the term ballroom dance has often been loosely applied to all sorts of social and popular dancing.

Early ballroom dance and invitational events

The social origin of ballroom dance lies in the European court dances of the 17th and 18th centuries, although many of the dance steps were adapted from folk traditions. Initially, court dances were performed facing the throne, a practice known as “fronting the state,” because it was unacceptable to turn one’s back on a ruler. As court etiquette relaxed in the 19th century, however, dancers were required to face the ruler only on the most formal occasions or when they were being presented to the court. Otherwise participants danced in circles or squares throughout the ballroom.

During the first half of the 19th century, most ballroom dances, such as the polka and the waltz, were an integral component of social events known as assemblies—planned evenings for a limited group of invitees connected through family, neighbourhood, or affiliation, such as a regiment or a hunting group. Socially respected figures, such as the patriarch of a landowning family, the master of the hunt, or the colonel of the local regiment, were the usual sponsors of these events, and strict rules of etiquette were followed throughout the evening. For dancing, each woman was given a decorative souvenir card on which to list her partner for each dance; following protocol, a man would wait to be introduced to a young woman before asking for permission to enter his name on her dance card. Descriptions of behaviour and expectations at such events are settings for key plot developments in many 19th-century novels, notably those by Jane Austen, Henry James, Louisa May Alcott, Gustave Flaubert, and Leo Tolstoy.

At a typical assembly, dances were performed to live music in a specific order that was set and announced by the orchestra leader. Faster dances, such as gallops and polkas, alternated with slower ones. The music was frequently adapted from operas, ballets, or national folk (or folk-derived) dances, such as the Polish mazurka, polonaise, or cracovienne. Published music for social dance was frequently named for celebrities or special events. Although dance formations ultimately depended on the dimensions of the ballroom, most assemblies included circle (or round) dances as well as various dances generically known as germans, which were performed by lines of couples. Steps to the dances were usually learned from older family members or from friends, or occasionally from teachers, who were frequently also musicians. Dance manuals, which were published by music engravers, were also available. The steps of ballroom dances were much like those of other social dances, but the settings, social class associations, and social protocol of the two traditions differed radically. Indeed, events held in public dance halls and concert salons were commercial—rather than invitational—initiatives, and they did not adhere to the elaborate systems of etiquette that governed ballrooms.

The structure of ballroom dance events changed significantly during the later 19th century, particularly in terms of the structure of dance events and styles performed, as well as the transmission of the tradition. Invitational events were organized for a select few, such as New York City’s so-called Astor 400—the popular label applied to the invitation list for social leader Caroline Schermerhorn Astor’s Patriarch Ball (c. 1872–91). Such events combined a reception, at least one repast, and lengthy dance sets that alternated round dances with an elaborate type of german called the cotillion. The cotillion consisted of a series of short dances or dance segments that mimicked social behaviour, with couples presenting each other with flowers or souvenirs, for example. By the end of the 19th century the cotillion had become so commonplace that its name had come to designate the ballroom dance event itself.

Not only did the style of ballroom dance change in the 19th century, but so too did its mode of transmission. In the 1870s individuals as well as families established studios and joined professional associations to teach steps, patterns, and musicality, thus stabilizing the profession of dance master. The association that later became the Dance Masters of America was founded in 1884. Certain dance masters, such as Allen Dodworth and his family in New York and A.E. Bournique in Chicago, were favoured by the social elite.

Meanwhile, the printing and distribution of dance manuals moved from music engravers to publishers of self-help books, etiquette books, women’s magazines, and clothing pattern books such as those issued by the company of Ebenezer Butterick. Books aimed at potential invitees were often miniaturized to fit in a pocket or a small handbag. A separate line of manuals and a growing number of professional periodicals were sold to dance masters and to cotillion leaders, who managed the order of dances and other activities during the evening.

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