Introduction to Standard Ballroom

Join us Saturday mornings to take your ballroom into International Standard technique. This rotating series develops the frame, footwork and body movement that define International Standard. It’s built for dancers who’ve found their footing and are ready to refine how they move.

Schedule

Saturdays – Community Classes

• 11:30am – Ballroom Fundamentals
• 12:30pm – Introduction to Standard Ballroom

Class Description

Level 2: Introduction to Standard Ballroom – Saturdays 12:30pm

Take your ballroom into International Standard technique with three of its core dances: Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot. Each month focuses on one dance, developing the closed hold and body movement that give Standard its connected, traveling quality, from the swing and sway of Waltz and Foxtrot to the sharp, grounded drive of Tango.

Some prior ballroom experience recommended.

New to Ballroom?
Start with Ballroom Fundamentals at 11:30am. This class covers the American Smooth dances and builds the timing and movement that prepare you for Standard. Our recommendation is to complete the full 3-dance rotation x2 (about six months) before moving up.

Pricing

• Community Class Rate: $15

Our Community Classes aim to provide more affordable options to our students and the general community at large.

Upcoming Schedule

• Oct: Foxtrot
• Nov: Waltz
• Dec: Tango

Dance Styles – International Standard

Waltz (International)

International Waltz shares the 3/4 timing and rise and fall you meet in the American Smooth Waltz, but dances it in a closed hold with full body swing and flight, traveling and sweeping through each figure rather than staying in place. It’s the anchor of this level, the slow dance where you develop the swing and sway that Quickstep and Viennese Waltz then demand at speed.

Tango (International)

Tango is the outlier in Standard, and dancing it well means setting the swing aside. There’s no rise and fall and no sway here. The movement is sharp and staccato, danced from a closer, more compact hold with a catlike, stalking quality and sudden changes of direction. It builds a different kind of control: precise footwork, sharp head movement and a grounded drive across the floor. After the flight of Waltz, it’s the dance that teaches you the opposite skill.

Foxtrot (International)

Foxtrot is the smoothest dance in Standard and the one most dancers spend years chasing. It runs on the same swing and sway as Waltz but moves in a continuous, gliding line across the floor, with long flowing steps and no visible break between figures. That seamless quality is exactly what makes it hard: everything has to stay level and unhurried while you keep traveling. It’s where the swing and sway you built in Waltz turns into effortless-looking motion.

Where Standard Fits in Ballroom

Ballroom is the umbrella term for a wide family of partner dances, and International Standard is one of its most refined branches. Standard is a smooth, traveling style: partners stay in a single closed hold throughout, never breaking apart, and move around the floor together as one frame. That unbroken connection is what gives Standard its sweeping, elegant look, and it’s the main thing that separates it from American Smooth, where partners can release and dance apart.