Apart Any dance position where the man and lady have no points of contact. Since there is no physical connection, the use of apart position is limited to visual lead and follow, or open choreographed dance routines. Arabesque A pose with one leg stretched straight out to the back and one arm usually stretched out to the front. The back ...

Accent the dominant beat of the music measure, usually the first beat of the measure. Bar A unit of music representing a group of consecutive beats. The number of beats in a bar or measure is measured by the time signature, and is determined by the ratio and relative strength of the naturally strong and weak beats occurring in the ...

Action A movement or type of movement (e.g. Pivoting Action, Lowering Action). Activate To set in motion (e.g. Activate the moving leg). Adagio slowly developed movements such as attitudes, arabesques, and developpes where only one foot is in contact with the floor. Allegro fast movements where only one foot is in contact with the floor. These include kicks and flicks. ...

Associate The first complete level of the International style syllabus, representing the foundation of movements and basic dance concepts. Bronze The first complete level of the American Medallist System, representing the foundation of movements and basic dance concepts. Fellow The fourth complete level of the International system, representing the highest level of achievement of syllabus patterns and concepts. Gold level ...

Alignment The direction that the feet are pointing in relationship to the room and to the line of dance. Alignment can also indicate the direction of the movement. Amount of turn The amount of rotation of the feet which occurs on one step, or between two consecutive steps. In the charts, rotation is measured in fractions of a full turn. ...

American Rhythm American Rhythm consists of: Cha Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, Bolero, Mambo American Smooth A subset of the American Style of Ballroom Dancing which includes the following 4 competitive dances: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz. American style The American style smooth dances allow the dancers to be in open positions allowing much freedom of choreography. The nine ...

Alemana An underarm turn in which the lady turns to the right under the right hand, used specifically in International Rumba and Cha Cha. Arc turn An underarm turn in which the lady turns to the right under the right hand, or to the left under the left hand. Balance step A step in any direction, followed by a close ...

Cabaret A special single-dance division of Dancesport in which couples dance an exhibition-style piece to their own selection of music. The dance may incorporate lifts and/or drops, and is not limited to the pre-defined dance styles such as Smooth or Latin. Closed division A division of competition which involves the dancing of figures specific to a syllabus, to the exclusion ...

Alemana An underarm turn in which the lady turns to the right under the right hand, used specifically in International Rumba and Cha Cha. Chase A figure where one partner pursues the other. Popular in cha cha. A visual “what-you-see-is-what-you-do” lead is used for this figure. Guapacha (Wah-pah-CHA) A rhythmic variation commonly used in certain basic Cha Cha actions, including ...

What’s the difference between a good ballroom dancer and a great one? Their knowledge of and ability to perform dance steps and movement is often equal. But you can see the difference between a good and a great ballroom dancer in their posture and body styling. This article highlights skills to work on to improve your body styling and posture ...