The institution of Ballroom Dancing

In the early 1900's, dance movements from Cuba, Beunos Aires and Latin

America where copied, 'cleaned up', codified, and practiced under the Imperial Society of Teacher's of Dancing, in Britain. The jitter bug and fox trot were among the few. Certain movements from the collected 'raw' dances were said to be too sexual, improper, and eccentric. So, in order to allow the 'proper' class to practice these dances, some modifications were in order. Richardson, the founder of the notion, went along to codify the dances, so they had only had particular movements, and also a set tempo which they were to be danced at (much like how there is a particular way to drive a vehicle on the public roads, a particular speed to drive at, a particular direction to go up and down stairs in a subway station, and a particular direction to follow sidewalks in a city). This way, although dance was a leisure activity, it was taken very seriously and the society of teachers had a way in keeping their students, the wealthy british class, in control.

It is interesting to me how specific geographies are qualified by class, and the movements that come from this class are broken down to smaller movements, and one can filter out, or modify the "bad movements" and keep the "good movements". Latin American people's movements, which come from "inner attitudes" (Laban), are individuated in Britain, and the movements take on a new quality. Dance movement in this case becomes a quasi-object, where it is not the movement traces themselves which give meaning (pleasure) to the dance. It is the institutes power which give meaning to the dance (see J.D. Dewsbury, 'Performativity and the event: enacting a philosophy of difference') not the 'representation' of the movements.

This becomes curious because the ISTD rated some original dance movements (before the modifications) as x-rated, and improper, and toned them down, or modified them in some type of way, instead of ruling them out. The inner attitudes intended by the original creators of these dances are still embedded, quasi- in a sense into the modified dances, taught in Britain. It is a question of power and class., and it reinforces the point that it is important to see "larger social, cultural and geographical worlds continue to ascribe meaning to mobility and to prescribe practice in particular ways". (Tim Cresswell, "You can't shake your Chimie in Here".)

Just like architecture power structures have a way to prescribe ways of mobility for the individual body, the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance has a way to prescribe control of 'proper' movement, and 'proper' living upon a focused class, (corporation) of people.