I am not in the Ballroom competion domain but attend the American College Dance festivals where university dance students perform works that are adjudicated by dance professionals of diverse races, but still predominantly white. I've noticed that the festivals are attended by a majority of white/caucasion students who are dance majors. I would attend to agree with Timenroom that the issue is based on cultural and social upbringing, exposure to an extracurricular activity requiring additional financial resources. Not much different then you would see in ballet, gymnastics or volleyball, but will see more people of color in soccer, basketball, football or in regional Hip Hop or Lindy dance competitions.

dance has NO color bar.. one only has to look at salsa,, the most diverse cultural dance , people wise , on the planet.

heres context, for those that do not understand , the "rhythms " we dance, are ALL african in origin .

In fact, many of the Rhythm dances are in existance due to the ingenuity of the American ( and latino ) black population .

The standard and smooth dances are seldom as popular with non white countries , primarily due to the music to which they are accustomed ( Tango apart ).Also, location plays a large role.. major cities are much more diverse in the social structure than many smaller towns .

To realise... dance to latinos, for e.g. is a cultural gathering of friends and relatives.. its part and parcel of their lifestyle, something that is sorely lacking in most whiter communities ( an exscuse to drink, in many cases, lies top of the list !)

"heres context, for those that do not understand , the "rhythms " we dance, are ALL african in origin ."

Viennese waltz ??

"The standard and smooth dances are seldom as popular with non white countries"

I'd argue they are more popular in the far east than they are in US and perhaps even Europe, especially in terms of participation by ordinary people (vs teenagers on the track to being pros).

Terence. I will disagree that the rhythms we dance are of African origin.Traditional African rhythms are not even remotely conected to anything that we class as Ballroom Dancing music, The dancing also. There is enough on youtube to convince anybody that there is no conection what so ever. I do play the African Rhythms on an African Djembe Drum.

I think that true dancers in general see no race.....dancing crosses cultures and ethnicity....Just keep dancing.

I have a slight variation on the question, based on several years of enjoying ballroom dancing competitions on PBS. I'm curious why so many of the top American- and Canadian-based dancers are originally from Eastern Europe? Is ballroom dancing part of their early education? Just curious - and envious.

It is in some, really quite a few of the Eastern European countries....under the now toppled USSR. I should say it was and in some places still is :~}

In other countries today it is what you do with your kids like putting them in Soccer etc.

At least that is what I have been led to believe and seen in some of my work in schools there.

:~}

I once saw a Russian couple interviewed on TV and the woman said there were only two choices when she was growing up Ballroom or Hockey. We have a young man at our studio who is Russian by birth and immigrated to go to university here. He started dancing in high school. Until the dancing TV shows became popular here, I bet there were many people not even aware that ballroom existed, let alone danced by people today.

My guess is that if you look really hard, you can find someone who doesn't want to dance with you because of your color. (Or your religion, or your National Origin.)

My guess is that some of the oldest dancers still have these predjudices.

However, dance discrimination is far more likely due to your hight, or your looks, or your weight.

If you smell bad, people will not want to dance with you.

Most importantly, if you can dance well, most people will want to dance with you.

Beleive me, if you can lead a woman around the floor, you will have plenty of partners.