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Stanford Viennese Ball 2013 - Opening Committee Waltz

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Two very well-known wedding songs are "Love Me Tender" and "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You," both performed by Elvis Presley. These songs, while traditional at weddings, set the perfect tone for a slow waltz. The waltz is a careful collaboration of steps involving walking and side to side motions - these songs provide the exact tempo and beat for this style of ballroom dancing. The modern ballroom dances vary in tempo (beats per minute) and rhythm (structure); however, they all involve a couple dancing in a closed hold. A closed hold involves 5 bodily points of contact between the couple. Three of these points involve the hands, his left hand holding her right, her left hand on top of his right upper arm (for the Tango her hand would go behind his arm) and his right hand on her back resting on her left shoulder blade. Each of these unique dances has specific steps and characteristics that make it different from other dances - but there is one aspect that remains constant throughout each style of dancing. No matter what dance style is being performed, you can bet they are being performed by a couple. Every ballroom dance involves a man and a woman, usually remaining in contact throughout the entire routine (although there are some ballroom dances where contact is broken, but the couple reunites by the dance's end). Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers awed the world with the beauty and grace of their dancing. There was even a joke at one time that Ginger Rogers should have gotten top billing since she did everything Fred Astaire did and she did it backwards in high heels! In 1935 Shirley Temple tapped her way through The Little Colonel with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and in 1939 after Judy Garland watched dozens of "munchkins" dance and sing to celebrate the wicked witches demise she joined with the scarecrow, tin man and lion and they danced their way to the land of Oz. Some go a step farther saying the dance is a pantomime of sex with the man dancing very fast in a very sensual yet aggressive manner with greatly exaggerated hip movements, and the woman responding with a defensive attitude. Whichever is correct, the Rumba is the most sensual of all the Latin ballroom dances. One place you may want to consider looking into for ballroom dance lessons is a local college or university. Several colleges now offer ballroom dancing as a credit for physical education, and often they will invite the public to attend the classes. These classes are typically about one hour long, once or twice a week, and last for about four to five months. 

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