Hello, all! I'm a (non-dancing) musician reading up on ballroom dances in order to optimize the dance repertoire for a couple of big bands.

It's clear that the competition tempo range for American style foxtrot (SSQQ) is 120 - 136 beats per minute. However, how fast tempos can be played when it comes to social / nightclub dancing? E.g. is 'In the Mood', normally played around 168 bpm, feasible for foxtrot? Is even 'American Patrol' at 184 bpm doable as foxtrot or is this quickstep-only territory?

As for the other end of the scale: How slow ballads can we play while the steps still work -- 70 bpm, 60 bpm or even as slow as 50 bpm?

I'd also like to know the practical min and max tempos for quickstep (competition tempo range 200 - 208 bpm).

Thanks in advance,
Fred

Fred. If you were to go to Dancesport Australia. Then Rules of Dancesport Then find your way to Tempi. To save you the trouble here are the Tempos for the International Style Standard Dances in bars per minute not beats.
Waltz 28 30. Foxtrot 28 30. Tango 31 33
V. Waltz 58 60. Quickstep 50 52..The Waltz and Foxtrot are being danced at the lower end of the scale. In demonstrations slower still, as much as 25bpm for the Foxtrot.