My top 10 Ballroom and Latin Dances

Two years ago I wanted to learn how to dance, and set about finding a dance class. I had gone to a single very strange Salsa class while living in France, but apart from that, I had no other experience. I was trying to decide what type of dancing I wanted to do, when I stumbled across a "Ballroom and Latin Dancing Class" in Cabinteely Adult Education Centre - which covered loads of different types of dances. Here's my rating of the 10 different types of dances we did in the last 2 years:

#10. Yearning Saunter
This dance was most definitely not my favourite. It is a sequence dance, meaning that each couple must do the same steps at the same time, or you will crash into each other. The dance is extremely slow and just...take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD46z4zzJn4

#9. Quickstep
Quickstep is basically a speeded-up Foxtrot, but it's so fast that the dance-floor always got a bit hectic because not everyone was moving at the same pace. The videos online make it look very smooth, because either they are the only couple in the room, or they are in a massive dance hall. It is definitely a dance that keeps you on your toes, especially as the lead in the couple. We are obviously not up to "Strictly" standard, so this is more accurate of where we are at with our Quickstep:

#8. Barn Dance
The Barn Dance is not one we did that often, but it is a bit of fun. This is a progressive dance, which moves around the room, but also at a certain stage of the dance, everyone switches partners, which always led to some laughs when people would go the wrong way and lose their partners. The video is very quaint but it is something like this https://youtu.be/PTaqFT42xj8 

#7. Samba
In the two years I've been doing dance, we only touched on Samba briefly, because it is such a difficult dance. I loooooove the music for it, and would really love to have learned more, but having looked at videos of it online, I can see why we didn't. The steps look so fast and really complex, it would be hard to teach it in the small amount of time we had. Take a look at the highest-scoring Samba from Strictly Come Dancing 2016: 

#6. Foxtrot
I can safely say I would not have had a clue how to dance to any Frank Sinatra-type song before, and I do enjoy the music. It looks something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZq9BwHhqFQ

#5. Slow-waltz
This dance was one I didn't like at the start, but since Christmas we have added loads of new steps into it and I enjoy it much more, and like to think that we look elegant when we do it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpMhcb9hHxQ

#4. Swing
Swing dancing is good fun, and I would put it higher on the list but it aggravates a shoulder injury I got from archery, because you're always swinging out of the one shoulder. It's a fast enough dance, with lots of turns, great music, and is one of only two dances where I do the woman's part! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHANNkKBSNU

#3. Rumba
The rumba is a slow dance but it always feels very elegant and is slightly different than the waltz, foxtrot and quickstep, in that you don't lead with your heel, but rather you are mostly on the balls of your feet. This is what gives the dance the round hip movements. We do some of the steps in this video (and some that aren't): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGSa63yR8r8

#2. Tango
Wow. The tango is such an interesting dance. And the music is fantastic. We only properly started into tango this year, and it definitely is hands-down the most complex dance. The rhythm changes all the time, so you really need to focus so much, but it is such a brilliant dance, I love it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVUdcHlA-UI

#1. Cha cha!!
Cha cha is the other dance where I do the woman's part, and I really love this dance so much. It is great fun, the music is great, it's really fast, and we have so many steps in it. We don't dress quite as fabulously as the dancers in this video, but you get the idea:

If you're thinking about doing ballroom dancing, I hope this post helped! In May I completed the 52 weeks necessary for the "skill" section of the Gaisce Award, so next week I will post a blog about my overall experiences of learning to dance.

Thanks for reading :)