re: #156 freetoken

I don’t watch those shows, but I understand your main idea. Competitive ballroom dancing includes Latin dance styles, which are only distantly related to the original (aka “native”) dance steps. It’s all about conforming to set requirements, like Olympic gymnastics routines, that presumably some largely Anglo committee decided on beforehand. I’ve watched DTWS only once, and it seems to follow the same format as ballroom competitions.

Is ballroom salsa “real” salsa (or tango, or rhumba, etc.)? Not really, because those are party or club dances done only for fun, not for prizes and fun. There are no rules for party dancing (except for ones like, “don’t grab your partner’s butt if she happens to be the host’s wife, sister or daughter, ese”). There are rules for competitive dancing.