Formation dance is a style of ballroom dancing. It is pattern or shadow team dancing by couples in a formation team. The choreography may be based on a particular dance or a medley of dances. Formation dancing may be done for exhibition or for competition between teams.[1]
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Formation dancing originated in 1932 in London's Astoria Ballroom. It was Olive Ripman who introduced it under the name "pattern dancing".[2] Soon it became a competitive dance form.[3]
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 when Frank and Peggy Spencer's formation teams competed against Constance Millington's team.[4][5] 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.[6]
The choreography of a formation team includes both choreography of a dancesport 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 formation is a medley of dances that include the 5 International Latin dances: Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive, Paso Doble and Samba.
Standard or Ballroom formation is a medley of the 5 international ballroom dances Waltz, Quickstep, Tango, Viennese Waltz and Foxtrot.
The routines generally feature at least some free-form choreography in the walk on and walk off, which may include movements from jazz dance, ballet, 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,[7] Roberto Albanese,[8] Horst Beer,[9] David Mallabone and Rachael Holland.
The international governing body is the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) (which has Olympic recognition[10]). Competing teams must be a member of one of its member organisations such as the English amateur dancesport association ltd (EADA)
The following is a summary of the IDSF rules for European and World Formation competitions.
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 applies.
Other competitions of note are the Blackpool Dance Festival and the Donaupokal Invitational Competition Vienna. Germany is notable in having several leagues of formation teams, and holds several competitions each year.
This is a list of Adult Formation Teams currently competing in the IDSF World Ranking Competition. There are currently 22 Latin Teams and 18 Standard teams that compete annually in the World Cup
| Country | Latin Formation Team | Standard Formation Team |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | HSV Zwölfaxing, TSC Schwarz-Gold | |
| Belarus | DC Mara, Minsk | Univers Formation-team, Minsk |
| Bulgaria | Ogosta Dance | |
| Czech Republic | TK 1976 Most, TKG Hlinsko | TK CHVALETICE |
| England | XS Latin, Fever Dance Company Fever Latin Team Preston | |
| Germany | Grün-Gold-Club Bremen, FG TSZ Aachen/TD TSC Düsseldorf Rot-Weiß | TC LUDWIGSBURG, BRAUNSCHWEIGER TSC |
| Hungary | Valcer Dance Studio, Botafogo Dance Ensemble | SZILVER TSE, KODMON TSE |
| Lithuania | Klaipėda University DSC "Žuvėdra" (A and B) | |
| Moldova | DSC CODREANCA | |
| Netherlands | Dance East Oldenzaal, Double V Latin Formation Team | MOVING ACTION, Step in Time Formation Team |
| Poland | KS Kamion Dance Warsaw, Dance Formation A-z Przemysl, Dance Formation SPIN Wodzislaw Slaski, Dance Formation Takt-Chelm, LA CMG Radom | LOTOS-JANTAR, KADRY |
| Romania | Floris Dance Team | FLORIS DANCE TEAM |
| Russia | Vera Tjumen, DSC Tsveta Radugi | IMPULSE |
| Serbia | Dance Club Aurora | |
| Slovakia | KTS INTERKLUB MADIT, TC KOSICE |
Below are the First and Second Place results for the IDSF World Championships
| Year | Venue | Standard Result | Venue | Latin Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Stuttgart | Braunschweiger TSC, TC Ludwigsburg | Berlin | TSG Bremerhaven, Germany, TSC Schwarz-Gelb Aachen, Germany |
| 1996 | Berlin | TC Ludwigsburg, Germany, Braunschweiger TSC | Vilnius | TSC Schwarz-Gelb Aachen, Germany, Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania |
| 1997 | Kishinev | DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova, Ludwigsburg, Germany | Munich | TSC Schwarz-Gelb Aachen, Germany TSG Bremerhaven, Germany Deutschland Germany |
| 1998 | Berlin TC | Allround Berlin, Germany, DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova | Gothenburg | TSC Schwarz-Gelb Aachen, Germany,TD TSC Düsseldorf Rot-Weiß, Germany |
| 1999 | Elbląg | Jantar Elblag Jantar Elblag Poland, TC Allround Berlin Germany | Vilnius | Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania, TSG Bremerhaven, Germany |
| 2000 | Brunswick | Braunschweiger TSC, Germany, DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova | Wels (Stadt) | TSG Bremerhaven, Germany, Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania |
| 2001 | Berlin | DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova, Braunschweiger TSC, Germany | Bremerhaven | TSG Bremerhaven, Germany, Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania |
| 2002 | Kishinev | DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova, Vera Tyumen, Russia | Vilnius | Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania, TD TSC Düsseldorf Rot-Weiß, Germany |
| 2003 | Stuttgart | DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova, Braunschweiger TSC, Germany | Essen | Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania, TSZ Aachen, Germany |
| 2004 | Brunswick | Braunschweiger TSC, Germany, DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova | Minsk | Klaipėda University Team Žuvėdra Lithuania,
Grün-Gold-Club Bremen Germany |
| 2005 | Elblag | Braunschweiger TSC, Germany, DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova | Munich | Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team Lithuania,
Grün-Gold-Club Bremen Germany |
| 2006 | Moscow | Vera Tyumen, Russia, DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova | Bremen | Grün-Gold-Club Bremen Germany, Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania |
| 2007 | Stuttgart | TC Ludwigsburg, Germany, Vera Tyumen, Russia | Bremerhaven | TSG Bremerhaven, Germany,
Grün-Gold-Club Bremen,Germany (joined first), Klaipėda University Žuvėdra team, Lithuania |
| 2008 | Kishinev | DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova, TC Ludwigsburg, Germany | Wiener Neustadt, Austria | Žuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania, Green-Gold-Club Bremen Germany Deutschland Germany |
| 2009 | Ludwigsburg Germany [11] | TC Ludwigsburg Germany, Vera Tyumen Russia | Bremen, Germany [12] | Grün-Gold-Club Bremen Germany, Žuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania, |
| 2010 | Elblag, Poland [13] | FS LOTOS-Jantar (Poland), Braunschweiger TSC(Germany) | Moscow, Russia [14] | Vera Tyumen, Russia, Žuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania, |
| 2011 | Braunschweig, Germany | Braunschweiger TSC (Germany), | Vilnius, Lithuania | Žuvėdra Klaipėda University (Lithuania), Vera Tyumen (Russia) |