Hi,

What's the difference between Ballroom Dance and Social Dance?

( or What's the definition of Ballroom dance and Social dance?)

Thanks!


CP

You are asking a question about subsets and categories really. All ballroom can be danced socially but not all social dances are ballroom.

Social dance is something that people come together to dance, it can be in pairs, alone, formation, whatever, and purely for social reasons. Much of the ballroom you see on television is not social, but rather competitive or for artistic impression. Of course I've seen social dancing in the media, but it often falls in other categories.

Some may suggest that the beginning steps of each dance are the only social, but really they are the basic foundation of social so that the dancer can move down the floor. Many social dancers spend a lot of years learning amazing moves that are very advanced. I see the difference as being very much the motivation that drives the dancer.

There really is no difference between the two, except that, as has already been mentioned, ballroom dance is a lot more competitive. Social dance can be done by everyone and can be as basic as you like!

Word origins and semantics..

The very word " Ballroom " denotes a space where dance activity may be possible ( I say poss. because they are used for other events )

The word has come to mean different things to different people,, essentially, somewhere , a place, that provides a floor or space and music, for our dancing pleasure .

In the world of teaching, there are specific nomenclatures for WHAT we teach..i.e.

Standard.. Latin.. Smooth.. Rhythm.. Salsa.. T./Arg.. Polka, VW. etc.

ALL of these may be danced in a ballroom or other appropriate venues, in a social or competitive setting.

So, by their very nature and usage, are they not ALL ballroom dances ? .. or are we back to semantics ? (even salsa is danced in studios, that are rented out, and are more classified as ballroom venues ).

The "social " dances that some countries teach, would be considered at one time, to be of a Competitive nature, and are now mainstream Q.step is a classic e.g.( B.R. or Social ?.. actually both )

When my wife and I go to a social dance, it means we are going for pleasure and recreation, and quite likely would dance with other friends, etc., and spend little or no time worrying about tempo or whether we did a ronde or a shadow twinkles properly.
If we were going to a setting in which very good dancers congregated and the music was strict tempo, we would consider that more along the lines of ballroom dancing because we would be working on technique, studying other couples and trying to do the dances as well as possible.
As Terence eludes to, you could say we are doing ballroom dancing at both events, and you could also say both are really social dancing because we're not really competing or dancing for an audience. But that's basically how we view the difference.
For an historical definition, I think the onset of the term social dancing came when people started "slow dancing" with those of the opposite sex. Prior to that, most primitive dancing was done by groups of the same sex -- mostly tribal rituals and such.