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.Spencer, Frank and Peggy 1968. Come dancing. Allen, London. Chapter 3, p33. 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".History of Dancesport by Dancesport Ireland Soon it became a competitive dance form."Classes and Cultures: England 1918–1951", by Ross McKibbin (2000) , p. 405
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.Peggy Spencer Talks to BBC about Starting Formation DancingISTD History of Formation 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 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,Biography of Žuvedra Coach Roberto Albanese,German Wikipedia Biography of Roberto Albanese Horst Beer,German Wikepdia Biography of Horst Beer and Rachael Holland.
Competitions
The international governing body is the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF) (which has Olympic recognitionCertificate of Olympic recognition of IDSF ). 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. 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. 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 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.
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 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 TŠ Starlet Brno, TK Chvaletice EnglandFiver Latin Team Preston XS Latin (TDE Manchester) Germany Grün-Gold-Club Bremen, FG TSZ Aachen/TD TSC Düsseldorf Rot-Weiß TC Ludwigsburg, Braunschweiger TSC Hungary Gála TE, Botafogo Dance Ensemble Szilver TSE, Ködmön TSELithuania Klaipėda University DSC "Žuvėdra" (A and B)Mongolia "Star" formation Mongolia, Moon dance formation Mongolia Ulaan Sarnai Mongolia, Khatantuul MongoliaMoldova Codreanca Netherlands Double-V (A and B), Dance Explosion Step in Time, Dance Impression, Old-Forest 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 Vracar Formation Team Slovakia KTS Interklub Madit, TC Košice Wales Ystrad Fawr Latin Team
Results
Below are the Winners of IDSF World Championships
YearVenueStandard ResultVenueLatin Result1995 Stuttgart, Germany 1. TC Ludwigsburg, Germany Berlin TSG Bremerhaven, Germany 1996 Berlin, Germany1. TC Ludwigsburg, GermanyVilnius TSC Schwarz-Gelb Aachen, Germany1997 Kishinev, MoldovaDSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova MunichTSC Schwarz-Gelb Aachen, Germany1998Berlin, GermanyAllround Berlin, Germany GothenburgTSC Schwarz-Gelb Aachen, Germany1999 Elbląg, PolandJantar Elblag Jantar Elblag Poland Vilnius Žuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania2000Braunschweig, Germany Braunschweiger TSC, Germany Wels (Stadt) TSG Bremerhaven, Germany2001Berlin, Germany DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova Bremerhaven TSG Bremerhaven, Germany 2002 Kishinev, Moldova DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova Vilnius Žuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania2003 Stuttgart DSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova Essen Žuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania2004 Braunschweig, Germany Braunschweiger TSC, Germany Minsk Žuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania2005 Elblag, PolandBraunschweiger TSC, Germany MunichŽuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania2006Moscow, RussiaVera Tyumen, Russia Bremen Grün-Gold-Club Bremen Germany2007 Stuttgart, Germany1. TC Ludwigsburg, Germany BremerhavenGrün-Gold-Club Bremen, Germany2008 Kishinev, MoldovaDSC Kodryanka Kishinev, Moldova Wiener Neustadt, AustriaŽuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania2009 Ludwigsburg Germany 1. TC Ludwigsburg, Germany Bremen, Germany Grün-Gold-Club Bremen, Germany2010 Elblag, Poland FS LOTUS Jantar Elblag, PolandMoscow, Russia Vera Tyumen, Russia2011Braunschweig, GermanyBraunschweiger TSC, GermanyVilnius, LithuaniaŽuvėdra Klaipėda University, Lithuania2012Ludwigsburg, GermanyBraunschweiger TSC, GermanyBremen, GermanyGrün-Gold-Club Bremen, Germany2013Tyumen, RussiaVera Tyumen, RussiaBremen, GermanyGrün-Gold-Club Bremen, Germany2014Braunschweig, GermanyBraunschweiger TSC, GermanyBremen, GermanyGrün-Gold-Club Bremen, Germany2015Ludwigsburg, Germany1. TC Ludwigsburg, GermanyWiener Neustadt, AustriaGrün-Gold-Club Bremen, Germany2016Pécs, HungaryVera Tyumen, RussiaBremen, GermanyGrün-Gold-Club Bremen, Germany2017Braunschweig, GermanyVera Tyumen, RussiaVienna AustriaDUET Perm, Russia
See also List of DanceSport dances Swedish Dancesport Federation WDSF World Formation Latin Championships
References
External links
current IDSF Latin Formation Results XS Latin, Currently the Englands Top Latin Formation Team TSG Bremerhaven Latin Formation Team Germany International Governing body Information about formation dancing in The Netherlands Double V Netherlands Formation Dance on YouTube Examples of Historical Costumes