Formation dance is a style of

ballroom dancing Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

. It is pattern or shadow team dancing by couples in a formation team. The

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

may be based on a particular dance or a medley of dances. Formation dancing may be done for exhibition or for competition between teams. There is also a type of formation in Bhangra.

International style ballroom: dance sport

History

Formation dancing originated in 1932 in London's Astoria Ballroom. It was Olive Ripman who introduced it under the name "pattern dancing". Soon it became a competitive dance form. Formation team contests began in the 1930s in England, and spread to many other countries. International matches have taken place. Formation dances were an important part of the BBC TV program ''

Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', contestants were not celebrities. The show was created by Eric Morley, the ...

'' when Frank and

Peggy Spencer Margaret Ann Spencer MBE (née Hull; 24 September 1920 – 25 May 2016) was a British professional ballroom dancer, choreographer, competition adjudicator, and organiser. Peggy married Jack Spencer in 1940, and had two children, Helena and ...

's formation teams competed against Constance Millington's team. The peak of popularity was in the 1960s, and is now growing from strength to strength with formation teams from all over the world competing against each other.

Choreography

The choreography of a formation team includes both

of a

dancesport Dancesport is competitive ballroom dance, ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair. Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesp ...

routine of an individual couple and the overall pattern of movements of the couples on the floor. All couples are expected to follow the beat of the music and movements should be executed simultaneously. Teams are marked on their synchronicity Latin

Dancesport Dancesport is competitive ballroom dance, ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair. Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesp ...

formation is a medley of dances that include the 5 International Latin dances: Cha Cha,

Rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...

, Jive,

Paso Doble Pasodoble (Spanish language, Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military ...

and

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...

. Standard or

Ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

formation is a medley of the 5 international ballroom dances

Waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

Quickstep The quickstep is a light-hearted dance of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal a ...

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

Viennese Waltz Viennese waltz (german: Wiener Walzer) is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in b ...

and

Foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

. The routines generally feature at least some free-form

in the walk on and walk off, which may include movements from

jazz dance Jazz dance is a performance dance and style that arose in the United States in the mid 20th century. Jazz dance may allude to vernacular jazz about to Broadway or dramatic jazz. The two types expand on African American vernacular styles of dance ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, or any other type of dance. This is clearly marked by a gong. A complete routine usually lasts a total of 6 minutes. Formation routines allow dancers to show off their own technique in addition to their ability to move as a team. Unlike individual competitions tricks such as "round abouts", "chain reactions" form a large section of the choreography. Shapes (also known as patterns or images) that are an accepted part of choreography are diamonds, squares, diagonals, circles and lines. The routine is judged by the distribution of competitors across the floor, how "readable" the patterns are and the transitions between these patterns. Specialist formation choreographers include Ona Skaistutė Idzelevičienė, Roberto Albanese, Horst Beer, and Rachael Holland.

Competitions

The international governing body is the

International DanceSport Federation The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF), is the international governing body of DanceSport and Para DanceSport, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Interna ...

(IDSF) (which has

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

recognition). Competing teams must be a member of one of its member organisations such as the

English amateur dancesport association ltd The English Amateur Dancesport Association (EADA) Ltd is a volunteer-led organisation which represents the interests of Amateur Dancers (including Ballroom, Latin American, Sequence dancing and Freestyle) within England. EADA provides support an ...

(EADA) The following is a summary of the IDSF rules for European and World Formation competitions. *Each member country may send 2 formation teams to compete in each of the 2 international styles (Latin and Standard). *These are selected by national competitions, such as the British National Championships at the

Blackpool Dance Festival The 8-day Blackpool Dance Festival is the world's first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, held in the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England since 1920. It is also the largest bal ...

. *International competitions have a minimum of 4 countries *The usual sporting anti-doping rules apply. *All competitors must be amateurs. *Each team must contain between 6 and 8 couples. *In the standard section Men's dress must be black or midnight blue. *In Latin men may wear coloured shirts but all men must dress the same. *In standard formation, solo work is restricted to 8 bars. This does not apply in Latin where solo work usually plays a part. *Lifts are not allowed in the main "judged" part of the routine, but are usually allowed in the walk on and walk off, which is clearly marked by a gong. *A routine is a maximum of 6 minutes long including entry to and from the floor (a walk on and walk off). Only minutes of this is judged so a gong is used to clearly signify which sections are to be judged. *Competing teams are judged by those experienced in formation. In early rounds, judges mark if they believe teams should go through to the next round. In final rounds teams are ranked and the

skating system The skating system is a method of compiling scores in ballroom dance competitions. It is used for the final placings of competitors and is based upon a method that prioritises 'majority' and 'overall performance' as given by judges scores to solve ...

applies. Other competitions of note are the

and the Donaupokal Invitational Competition

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Germany is notable in having several leagues of formation teams, and holds several competitions each year.

Formation teams, 2013

This is a list of Adult Formation Teams competing in 2013 in the IDSF World Ranking Competition. There were 22 Latin Teams and 18 Standard teams that compete annually in the World Cup

Results

Below are the Winners of IDSF World Championships

References

External links

current IDSF Latin Formation ResultsXS Latin, Currently the Englands Top Latin Formation TeamTSG Bremerhaven Latin Formation Team GermanyInternational Governing bodyInformation about formation dancing in The NetherlandsDouble V NetherlandsFormation Dance on YouTube

Irish Ceili dances
{{DEFAULTSORT:Formation Dance Group dances Competitive dance Ballroom dance Dancesport