Sequence dance

Sequence dancing is a form of dance in which a preset pattern of movements is followed, usually to music which is also predetermined. Sequence dancing may include dances of many different styles. The term may include ballroom dances which move round the floor as well as line, square and circle dances.

Sequence dancing in general is much older than modern ballroom dances. With the exception of the waltz, invented around 1800, all dances in ballrooms were sequence dances until the early 20th century. After modern ballroom dancing developed, in England, sequence dancing continued. It included so-called 'Old Time' dances and also adapted versions of the new ballroom dances, and then versions of Latin dances. Sequence dancing is a competitive sport as well as a social pastime.

The British Sequence Championships is the most famous annual sequence dance competition and is part of the Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival. This is held in the Empress Ballroom, Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England, since 1949.

Modern sequence dancing has a repeat of the steps at every sixteenth bar, typically going on for five or six sequences in all. Specially performed sequence dance music in strict tempo is usually needed, although some 'ordinary' music may suffice provided it is played in 16 bar sections or sequences throughout. Ideally, sequence music will have a four bar introduction at the correct tempo and in the correct rhythm, followed by 5 or 6 sixteen bar sequences allowing all dancers to progress around the room and ending when the music finishes.

There are many different tempo types for sequence dancing, based on the classification of each dance. Each has an accepted speed of playing so that a typical programme of sequence dancing has a wide variety of activity. Sequence dances are split into 3 different sections; 'Old Time' – also occasionally seen as 'Old Tyme' – (now referred to as 'Classical'), 'Modern' or 'Latin' with the dividing line being somewhere in the early 20th century. New sequences are being devised all the time and the number which have been published as scripts is currently (in 2010) standing at over four thousand.

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