Ballroom Dancing: A Supernatural Delight
By Carol J. Spears

It's a supernatural delight,
Everybody dancin' in the moonlight…
– From “Dancin' In the Moonlight,” sung by King Harvest

Dancing is one of the oldest known activities used by humans to express the joy of movement, individual personality and connection to all of life. Ancient cultures around the globe consistently used it in spiritual rituals, originally creating dances that mimicked the rhythms and patterns of nature. The fluidity of grasslands and trees undulating with the wind, the graceful steps of large mammals as they stalked prey or played and the rhythm of a mother's heartbeat may have inspired our early ancestors to dance around communal fires. The earliest known depictions of dance, dating from 5,000 to 2,000 BCE, were drawn on the walls in various rock shelters in India. Dancing deities, animals (monkeys) and male and female humans are represented. These types of ancestral dances not only involved physical movement, they also focused the human mind for spiritual experience and revelation.

Flash forward to 2006. Ballroom dancing is a chal-lenging yet thoroughly enjoyable way for modern-day dancers to claim this ancient human birthright – rhythmically moving the body, intensely focusing the mind. Since myriad types of ballroom dances are all lead-follow, there is the added social element of dancing with a partner. (In lead-follow dances the man plans the patterns and movements, communicating his intentions with his body, and leads the woman to follow his movements.) This partnership often develops an intuitive union between the dance partners. That feeling of connection and the process of becoming a single, physical, moving manifestation of the dance music can be completely exhilarating.

Really Fun Exercise!
Exercise studies reveal that people particularly stick with their workout over the long haul if it is an activity that they find enjoyable. Ballroom dance really can be fun to do, and a great aerobic exercise as well. As in other types of cardio workouts, dancing causes the body-mind to release endorphins, which elicit a natural feeling of well being. The popular 10,000 Steps Program offered by many communities (encouraging people to walk at least 10,000 steps each day for health benefits and weight control) lists dancing as an activity that racks up a whopping 6,000 – 7,800 steps per hour. Ballroom dance uses all of the major muscle systems – upper body, arms, neck, back, stomach, waist, legs and feet – and stretches ligaments and tendons. With the constant movement and stepping, dancing puts good stress on the long bones of the hips and legs, which helps guard against osteoporosis. Dancers adopt the habits of good posture, increase their flexibility and sharpen their sense of balance. And, what a mental workout! Learning new steps, patterns and dances, and then matching them to the rhythms of the music keeps both sides of the brain active, alert and engaged.

We keep things loose, we keep things light.
You can't dance and be uptight…
– From “Dancin' In The Moonlight”

There is something that happens when you hear the beat of a dance song, mentally counting it out as “one-two-three” or repeating “slow…quick, quick… slow…quick, quick” as you begin to move in specific ways with the rhythm of the music. While dancing, all worries, stress and cares seem to disappear. The concentration it takes to perform the ballroom dances brings one into a state of mind akin to meditation, that of being acutely focused and aware of the present moment of “one-two-three.” The result is the bliss of dancing – a wonderful way to take care of one's whole self.

Latin to Smooth
Not everyone is a Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers; however, the truth is that we all can dance. Some people find that hard to believe, failing to remember that dancing is as much a natural human ability as running, breathing and singing. Classes in ballroom dance are available at many Northeast Ohio dance studios or local community education centers. Most studios do not require that you bring a dance partner. In group classes, dancers switch partners regularly throughout the lesson so that followers get a chance to dance with all the leaders and vice versa. In private lessons, the teacher serves as one's partner; private classes also are available for couples who wish to increase their dancing prowess as a team. Many studios offer open social dances on weekends to provide a venue for students to practice their moves, meet other dancers, have fun and get a great workout.

Ballroom consists of a suite of different types of dances – one, if not all, will capture the heart, soul and (dancing) soles of most people. There are two major categories of Ballroom: rhythm (Latin) and smooth. The rhythm styles include the fast-paced East Coast swing and hustle, the sultry West Coast swing and the sensual Latin dances: cha-cha, rumba, bolero, salsa, mambo and samba. These saucy styles incorporate smaller steps and precise knee/hip movements that produce their distinctive style of sharp rotation of the hips in isolation of the rest of the body.

The hallmarks of the smooth dances – waltz, foxtrot, tango, quick step and Viennese waltz – are long, graceful strides that propel the dancers down the line of dance, swirling but always moving forward and around the floor in an elongated circle. The entire body of the dancer – head to toe – appears to move as one unit. To the dancer, this type of dance is like the rush and freedom of skating or skiing with the added twist of moving in unison with a partner, connected at the hip, both figuratively and literally.

Maybe that is what makes ballroom dance stand apart from other forms of exercise – the dynamic connection to another person. For the duration of a three-minute song, the dancing couple becomes entwined, uniting for the purpose of creating the living spirit of a visual artwork, expressing their human desire to celebrate life through rhythm and movement.

As the waltzing partners glide around their circle on a smooth wooden dance floor, there is a reminiscence of the joyful ritual dances of the ancestors moving around their own fire-lit circle. Perhaps today's dancers are not so far removed from them after all.

Carol J. Spears, a Reiki Master and Certified Music Practitioner of the harp, and an avid student of ballroom dance, may be contacted at (440) 639-9958. Her dance teacher is Tim Brown, co-owner of the Cleveland Ballroom Company in Beachwood. You may contact Tim for more information on ballroom dance and classes at (330)338-5099.

Photos courtesy of Christopher Hansen Photography, Aliso Viejo, CA.