Ballroom Dancing Regains Popularity

By Rich Iberle

Ballroom dancing, which originally starting in the West, has since become increasingly popular around the globe. Ballroom dance has known many ups and downs in popularity, but over and over again, ballroom dancing has come back to be a popular form of social dancing. Early in the twentieth century, it was Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire that influenced the popularity of ballroom dancing in the United States with their movie portrayals of the dances, which increased the popularity of ballroom dancing around the country. In recent years, ballroom dancing had become less popular in the United States until various television programs incorporated these dances and renewed the interest of America in ballroom dancing.

One television show that has helped to increase the popularity of ballroom dancing in the past few years is the program, “Dancing with the Stars,” which is aired by the ABC network. This program takes internationally known dancers and pairs them up with other types of stars, such as movie stars and sports stars. The couples then compete and are critiqued by a panel of judges and then the people of America vote for their favorite couples. This show became a very popular show that allowed viewers to vote for their favorite dances to get them involved in the show. The first season of this show ranked #6 among television shows in popularity and the show will soon begin its fourth season with the show still amazingly popular among its viewers. “Dancing with the Stars” has proved to be not only an entertaining show, but also a very informative show that is teaching the public more about ballroom dancing as well as sharing the experiences of celebrities that are learning these dances.

Another television show that has helped to revive interest in ballroom dancing is the show, “So You Think You Can Dance,” aired by FOX. This show begins each season by going to major cities all over the country and auditioning dancers to perform in the show. Finalists are chosen and the show begins to choose the best dancer in America. This show is basically run very similarly to American Idol, but is geared towards dancing. The final dancers that dance in the show have to pick a dance style out of a hat, and much of the time, it is a style of dancing that they are not familiar with. The show broadens the dance knowledge of the competing dancers as well as broadening the knowledge of those that are watching as well. In 2006, this show was rated #1 for people between the ages of 18 and 49, which was an amazing step for this show. Nigel Lythgoe, the creator of the series, and the other judges on the show have made it clear that they want “So You Think You Can Dance” to be a show that awakens the interest in dancing and that increases what the general public knows about dancing.

Both of these shows have been able to show the amazing benefits of dancing to the general public. Some of the benefits that people can experience when they start dancing include physical, mental, and social benefits. Physically, dancing is a great method of exercise that can help to strengthen the heart. Not only is it a great cardiovascular workout, but dancing also helps to strengthen the legs and results in toning the entire body. Dancing is also a great method of weight loss that will help keep you in shape while also being an exciting and fun activity. There are various mental benefits that can be experienced by dancing as well. Dancing has been found to be an excellent method of stress relief and also helps give people a healthy sense of self-esteem and self-achievement as well.

Perhaps you have seen these television shows and are increasingly intrigued by ballroom dancing. If so, you may want to consider getting involved in dancing yourself. Learning ballroom dancing can provide you with great benefits that will change your entire life, and whether you want to dance socially or even competitively, it will be an exciting adventure. If you want to learn more about ballroom dancing, you should visit www.dancecrazy.com for great information and excellent instructional videos that can have you dancing the night away in no time.