Latin Ballroom

Latin ballroom dances entail the samba, cha-cha-cha, rumba, paso doble and the jive. With their heritage in Latin American (Samba, Cha-Cha-Cha, Rumba), Hispanic (Paso Doble) and American (Jive) cultures, they each have their distinguishing traits but coincide in expressiveness, intensity and energy. 

At EDS Latin Ballroom classes, you learn different dances at several levels. By the time you reach the advanced level you’ve learned all the dances and you get to master new moves. 

what’s the difference between standard and Latin ballroom?

There is a difference between international standard and international Latin, these two differ in, among others, posture, music and atmosphere. We teach both styles in separate classes. We encourage our Ballroom enthusiasts to join both the standard and Latin class as this will prepare them to compete at NTDS and ETDS tournaments.   

Beginner (bronze)

The beginners level is the most basic level of ballroom dancing. For new students, this is the starting point. In this level, the goal is to teach the student rhythm, good balance and how to move their body. Furthermore, the student learns how to dance with a partner and work as a team. When the student completes this level, dancing should start to feel more comfortable. In other words, the dancer is able to talk and dance at the same time. The dancer is also able to recognize which dance would fit the music they hear. The footwork, leading and the following techniques are the basis of this level. 

Latin: Cha-cha-cha, Jive and Rumba

Intermediate (Silver)

Once the student completes the bronze level, dancing should start to feel natural. In the intermediate/silver level, the student is expected to know the basics of the ballroom. The dancer learns to make bigger movements with more styling and turns. During these classes, the dancer can practice and perfect their partnering skills, balance and techniques. While the beginning silver steps are more difficult than bronze, they are still fairly easy and most dancers can execute them with varying levels of success. 

Latin: Cha-cha-cha, Jive and Rumba, Samba

Advanced (Gold)

In the advanced/gold levels the dancer is expected to possess excellent balance, the ability to play around with the timing of the music and more complicated steps. Dancers at this level have even better balance and perform even more difficult patterns than silver level dancers. At this level, it becomes very apparent if the dancer has not established a good foundation in their dancing, because they are unable to perform many of the steps at all, let alone well.

Latin: Cha-cha-cha, Jive and Rumba, Samba, Paso Doble