History of Dance Sport

Dancesport denotes competitive ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of wheelchair dancesport at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.

Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizations at the national and international level, such as the World DanceSport Federation.

The name was invented to help competitive ballroom dancing gain Olympic recognition The physical demand of dancesport has been the subject of scientific research.

1. HISTORY OF DANCE SPORT Name: Ibrahim L. Soliman Teacher: Ms. Helen Dequina

2. A brief history of Dancesport Ireland Ltd.

3. The Irish DanceSport Federation, the Governing Body for DanceSport in Ireland, was initially founded in 1937 with the title ' The Irish Society of Amateur Dancers '. The Hon. Chairman at its founding was Mr George Begley recently deceased. George and his wife Madge later became well known as Exhibition dancers on the International circuit and reached the pinnacle of their careers in 1953 by winning both British Exhibition Championships at Blackpool.The pictures on the right show George and Madge competing in Blackpool in 1953.

4. In 1958 the Society was re-inaugurated and restyled, as a limited company by guarantee, under the title ' The Society of Amateur Ballroom Dancing Ltd '.  In 1974 it was recognised internationally as the Governing Body for Amateur Competitive Ballroom Dancing in Ireland and accepted as the sole Irish member of the International Council of Amateur Dancers, the body which is now known as the International DanceSport Federation. This is the Governing Body for DanceSport world-wide and is recognised by and a member of the International Olympic Council.

5. In 1992, in line with the emerging trend of distinguishing between DanceSport, i.e. competitive Ballroom Dancing, and Social and Medal-Test dancing, the Society was again re-named, on this occasion to the  'Irish DanceSport Federation '. A link with the original title is Mr. Barney Meehan who has served on Council under all three titles. In its earlier years and indeed until the mid 1980's DanceSport was confined, with a few notable exceptions, to Dublin and the surrounding areas. Since then, the Federation has made great efforts to spread the DanceSport Gospel to other areas of the country, and now has affiliated bodies in each of the four provinces. The affiliates are known by their titles of the Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster DanceSport Boards.They each have the delegated responsibility of looking after the interests of DanceSport in their respective areas.

6. In 2006,the Leinster Board was disbanded due to lack of members. Dancers in the Leinster area may now become direct members of Irish Dancesport Federation.

7. History - Waltz The forerunner of the waltz was the Boston, which had been imported from the USA in 1874. However, only from 1922 onwards did this dance become as fashionable as the Tango. The strange thing about the Boston was that couples danced next to each other and not like we are used to doing now. Immediately after World War I the Waltz got more shape. In 1921 it was decided that the basic movement should be: step, step, close.

8. When in 1922 Victor Sylvester won his championship English waltz his programme consisted of not more than a right turn, a left turn and change of direction (Less than what is learnt by a present beginner). In 1926/1927 the waltz was improved considerably. The basic movement was changed into step, side, shut.  As a result of this, many different variations were now possible to dance, which were standardised by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). Many of these variations are still danced.

9. History - Tango This dance comes from South America (mainly Argentina), where it was first danced in "Barria de Las Ranas", the ghetto of Buenos Aires. It was then known under the name of "Baile con corte" (dance with a rest). The "dandies" of Buenos Aires changed the dance in two ways. First they changed the so-called "Polka rhythm" into the "Habanere rhythm" and secondly they called it Tango.

10. From 1900 onwards several amateurs tried to introduce the dance from Argentina into Paris, but without success. The Paris teacher Robert made great efforts to make the Tango popular. Still, the path of the Tango was not strewn with roses. There were many supporters but also many opponents. Especially the French bishops were against this dance. They pointed to the tempting and sensual nature of the Tango, and those who danced it were said to endanger the holy sacraments.

11. In 1924 Dr Boheme from New York even discovered a new disease: the TANGO-foot. The press, too, came with strange news. On 30 may 1915 the New York Times published an article with the following headline: THE TANGO-DANGER, BIGGER THAN GERMAN IMPERIALISM. Nowadays such messages would raise a few eyebrows.

12. History - Viennese Waltz We can return to the 12th an 13th centuries to see the beginnings of the Viennese waltz in the "Nachtanz". The Viennese waltz originally comes from Bavaria and was called the "German". However, other people question this origin of the Viennese waltz. An article which appeared in the Paris magazine "La Patrie"(THe Fatherland) on 17 January 1882, claimed that the waltz was first danced in Paris in 1178, not under the name waltz but as the Volta from the Provence.

13. Presumably this is a dance in 3/4 rhythm, which the French regard as the forerunner of the Viennese waltz. The first waltz-melodies date from 1770. It was introduced in Pairs in 1775, but it took some time before it was danced everywhere. In 1813 Mr. Byron condemned the waltz as being unchaste. In 1816 the waltz was also accepted in England. But that the struggle against it was not yet over was shown in 1833, when a book about good behaviour was published by Miss Celbart. According to her it was allowed for married ladies to perform this dance, but she called it "a dance of too loose character for maidens to perform"

14. History - Slowfox The Slow-foxtrot came into being long before the Waltz. The dance has a lot of variations which later, adapted or not, were imported into the Waltz. This dance is one of the most natural dances from which the jury members can see whether a couple can dance or not. the movements are natural and faithful to the normal walk.

15. At the end of World War I the (slow-)foxtrot mainly consisted of: walks, three-steps, a slow walk an a sort of spinturn. At the end of 1918 the wave arose, then known as the "jazz-roll". The American Morgan introduced a sort of open spinturn, the "Morgan-turn", in 1919. In 1920 Miss Josephine Bradley danced withe Mr G.K. Anderson, a dancer with with many natural talents, to whom we owe many (slow-)foxtrot figures. In imitation of these wonderful dancers the feather-step and the change of direction were introduced, more or less by chance.

16. It is impossible to imagine our present Slow-foxtrot without these two figures. The on-end dancing of steps dates from 1922. The making of "heelturns" was not known yet. It was Mr Frank Ford, winner of the "star-championships", to whom we owe most "new" figures which are still danced.

17. QUICKSTER The Quickstep is derived from the Foxtrot. During the twenties many bands played the Slow Foxtrot too fast, 50 Bars/min, the large open steps from the Foxtrot could not be danced on this speed. The English developed from the original Charleston a progressive dance without kicks and made a mixture with the above mentioned fast foxtrot the called this dance "the Quicktime Foxtrot and Charleston".

18. The English couple Frank Ford and Molly Spain danced on the 'Star' Championships of 1927 a version of this Quicktime Foxtrot and Charleston without the characteristic Charleston knee actions and made it a dance for two instead of solo. The figures were Quarter Turns, Cross Chassées, Zig-zags, Cortes, Open Revers Turns, and Flat Charleston. In 1928/1929 the Quickstep was definitly born with the characteristic chassées steps.

19. Cha Cha Cha The Cha Cha evolved from one of three versions of the Mambo, a dance born in Cuba and introduced to the West in 1947. The "Triple Mambo", one of those versions, became very popular in the early 1950s and was subsequently renamed the Cha Cha. As music always dictates the dance, the tripple or split-beat steps were inserted when a slower version of the Mambo was being played.

20. History - Rumba Many Africans came to the Americas because of the slave trade. They brought with them their own culture. (read "dance")  The Rumba developed as a Cuban dance. This dance has been standardized, in spite of the fact that there are many Cuban Rumba variations. In its recent form of basic figures, this dance contains the age-old premise of the lady, trying to dominate the gentleman by means of her womanly charms. In a well choreographed dance you will always find elements of teasing and Withdrawal.

21. The gentleman is being seduced and then rejected. The sensual and erotic movements of the lady are being answered by the gentleman through his movements, his desire for her, and his attempts to prove his manhood by physical domination. Unfortunately, at the end he never succeeds.

22. History - Pasodoble Without a doubt a Spanish dance, but also discovered early in Mexico. Play the music and instantly everybody is transported into a Spanish ambience. It will quickly conjure up a bullfight. It is obvious that the gentleman represents the "torero", the bullfighter , but erroneously one sometimes sees the lady as "el toro", the bull. She in reality portrays the "cappa", the bullfighter's red cloth. This dance was already popular here in 1920.

23. History - Jive It is an exquisite, swinging dance which conquered the West after 1940 under the name of Jitterbug. Also the Bebop, Rock ‘n Roll and the American Swing influenced this dance. It is a fast dance. With this dance, contest participants are able to show that, after four dances, they still are not tired (the Jive is the last dance in a series of five) and that they still can go full steam. Sometimes this turns out to be only an illusion.

24. Formation Dancing Formation dancing originated in 1932 in London's Astoria Ballroom. It was Olive Ripman who introduced it under the name "pattern dancing". Soon it became a competitive dance form.

25. Formation team contests began in the 1930s in England, and spread to many other countries. International matches have taken place. Formation dances were an important part of the BBC TV program  Come Dancing  when Frank and Peggy Spencer's formation teams competed against Constance Millington's team. The peak of popularity was in the 1960s, and is now growing from strength to strength with formation teams from all over the world competing against each other.