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Ballroom dancing is judged on more than a dozen different points.  Some of those are, Posture, Timing, Line, Hold, Poise, Togetherness, Presentation and Power just to name a few.  With the number of dancers being evaluated judges rely heavily on the impression each couple makes in relation to the others.  With experience the judges learn to do so quickly.

Posture:  No matter how technically skilled you are, your ballroom dancing will never be graceful, elegant, or lend an air of confidence without the proper posture.  Proper poster also improves balance, gives you more control and makes for a smoother dance.  The old adage is “Persistent practice of postural principles promises perfection” gives you a clue to the importance of good posture in any ballroom dance.

Timing:  Just as bad posture can blow you right out of the water, if your timing and the music’s timing don’t match - you lose.   It wont matter how well you do anything else.

Line: The line refers to the line of your body from head to toe.  The line can make or break any ballroom dance.  Whether curved or straight, good lines will make you look graceful and elegant.

Hold:  Dancing with arms, hands etc., in an incorrect position or breaking a hold at the wrong time will cost you points.  Besides having your body parts in the right place you also need to keep your holds symetrical to your partner.  In some ballroom dances one of the worst things you can do is to break your hold.

Poise:  In smooth dancing, the stretch of the woman’s body upwards, outwards and leftwards into the man’s right arm will achieve balance and connection with his frame, as well as to project outwards to the audience.  Poise like posture and line has everything to do with the image you project as you move around the ballroom.

Togetherness:  When your bodies are correctly melded together you will be able to dance in total synchronization with your partner and appear to lead and follow with no effort.

Presentation:  The judges will be looking not only for how you appear to them but how well you sell yourselves to the audience.  Are you enthusiastic, happy, confident?  It has to show.  Even in dances like the Tango and the Paso Doble where the expressions are more somber you still have to appear assured and confident.

Power:  Energy is a wonderful thing and one of the most important things in dances like the Quick Step or the Jive however, if over-done it just becomes wild movements.

Judges, like dancers each have different styles and different ideas of the importance of various criteria.  One judge may put a greater value on technique while another thinks musicality and expression are more important.  This can cause a discrepancy between the scores of one couple coming from two judges.   Keep in mind that the judges see you for only a brief time so whatever happens to catch their eye is going to weigh heavily on your final scores.

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The Paso Doble, originally a Spanish folkdance, has the distinction of being one of the only ballroom dances that is only danced in the ballroom world.  You will find people in clubs doing the Waltz, or the Tango or the Quick Step but you won’t see them performing a Paso Doble.

Although bullfights can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece they weren’t a part of the culture of Spain until the 1700’s.   The excitement and tension of the bullfight, the pride and dignity of the matador as well as the flair of his cape are all portrayed in the Paso Doble.  Paso Doble is Spanish for “Two Step” which is a reference to the marching style of this dance with its 1-2 count.

For the ballroom competitions the Paso Doble is done with chest high, shoulders wide and down, head back but slightly tipped down.  The body leans slightly forward and the majority of the forward steps are done with the heel leading.   The dance is further enhanced with strong steps and dramatic poses.   The Paso Doble is one of the most dramatic of all the ballroom dances.

The Paso Doble is one of the few dances that is for the man.  The woman’s part in this dance is strictly a supporting one.  Depending on their interpretation she may take the part of the matador’s cape, or the bull, or in some cases even the matador at different times throughout the dance.

Some distinctive steps of the Paso Doble are the chassez cape (where the man uses the woman as the cape), the Apel, where the man stamps his foot as if to attract the attention of the bull (a very strong move) and the Arpel which is a movement that starts with stamping of the feet then the couples walk in opposite directions.

Ballroom Dancing - The Cha-Cha

The London dance instructor Pierre Lavelle, who was responsible for having the Cuban Rumba declared the official Rumba, while on a visit to Cuba, had noticed that sometimes there were extra beats added to the Rumba.  Upon his return to England he taught these steps as a completely new dance.   It has been suggested that the name Cha-Cha (or Cha-Cha-Cha as it is called by some people) was coined for the sound of the 3 quick steps after the forward and back step (or back and forward steps).  The steps for the Cha-Cha are taken on the beats accompanied by a strong hip movement as the leg straightens on the half beat.

The Cha-Cha is a fun, flirty, lighthearted dance that gets its distinctive “cha, cha, cha” rhythm because there are 5 steps danced to four beats.  Dancers work parallel with each other in well synchronized movements sometimes employing the “New Yorker”, a step where one of the dancers steps across the other and checks to change direction.  Cuban motion, the hip motion derived from alternately bending and straightening the knees, is an important factor in this dance.

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