Hi All,
Could any one tell me what would be an ideal ht range for a dance partner for me,
Im male and 180 cms tall.

It is really necessary to know which dance style you are into. If this is Standard . Wouldn't you say it depends more on where the hips are. We might have a shorter girl who has long legs or the other way around. Then there is the height of the arms in relation to each other. It may not affect the dancing skills but visually for competition the couple need to look good. There were a few words of advice just recently from one of our experts. And that is it can be a slight advantage, for the lady to be a shade taller, in there shoes, than the man. It gives more ease of movement and the lady can always come down through the knees a bit if necessary.

I would find it hard to accept that itwould give "a slight advantage" for the lady to be taller than the man (in her dance shoes). It's all very well to say the lady can come down through her knees a bit, but the man will be doing this anyway - especially if the couple want to take advantage of the improved movement that the taller lady should give - to ensure smooth swing dancing. so the lady will have to lower a lot more, and ultimately it will make life difficult for her.
Leg length is an important factor, but my opinion is that the lady, in her dance shoes, should be about 5-6 cms shorter than the man (in his dance shoes)

I struggled dancing Int. Std. with a partner that was 8 inches shorter than me for years. It never worked--we looked silly, she pulled on my shoulders, it was hard for me to keep my posture, our movement felt choppy, we fought, her arms and legs were much shorter--always felt weird. Probably need my head examined for trying to keep this partnership together. She was a romantic interest, so this motivates one to try anyway--we eventully broke up anyway. Guys save yourself lots of grief and don't do what I tried to do. Find a compatable height partner or you will be in for lots of aggravation--especially if you are trying to compete and improve. It doesn't matter much socially or maybe even latin, but if you are serious about Standard or Smooth--it really matters.

You dont have to be an Einstein to work out that if the lady is much shorter than the man and the man keeps his frame where it should be. The lady will always have a strained look about the shoulders. Or the man's shoulder and arm elbow positions if he accomodates the ladies height will never be in the correct place. Socialy its OK. Competition no.

I think "ballroom partner" was looking for a number. He's 180cms. What's the ideal range for a partner?

Partner height can be an issue, but I remember Christopher Joe (6' 3") dancing with short partners ( his first wife was small) & doing fine. . He had a technique for that that he taught in his classes.

We have a Junior couple. He is a couple of years younger than his sister and a least a foot shorter. I watch them spellbound . There technique is superb and very clever and they have been taught to place their pendulum points and woodpeckers in alternate corners. But in the main the timing is readable and somehow he manages to keep a good topline even though the height difference is great. There is i would say somewhere is a very skilled coach to go with that natural talent..

I was never lucky enough to have a skilled enough coach to help me with a shorter partner. I have heard of such coachs, but could never locate one that could help much with this problem. My partner now is 3 or 4 inches shorter and with heels she is about 2 inches shorter, plus her legs and arms fit mine. This is ideal for me. I very seldom have a posture problem when dancing with her or anyone this height. Dancing with a lady that's 5--
6 inches or more is a problem for me. The biggest problem is that if my or her posture or frame gets off just a little--everything gets out of whack and breaks down--I lose my posture and frame--she loses her posture and frame and she will begin pulling my shoulders down and we never recover, unless we stop adjust and try again. It is probably 3 times harder to dance with a shorter partner, probably even with a good coach--so why bother? Now, I won't consider it after failing miserably. Good Int. Standard is hard enough as it is with a trained and suitable height partner--why make it much harder?

4 inches and more would be a huge problem for me because i am so short