Social dancing is partner dancing that is informal, relaxed,

and danced for the enjoyment of the partners rather than

to meet the criteria of a dance school or an audience. Social
dancing is danced for enjoyment, socialization, recreation and
health. The test for social dancing success is how much the
dance partners have enjoyed the dance - not how they have
danced in the eyes of others or how "correctly" they have
danced.

Social dancing is different for American ballroom dancing

which is sometimes called social ballroom dancing. Ballroom
dancing is meant to be danced in ballrooms, and social dancing
is suited for dancing on small or crowded floors, such as dance
floors found in restaurants and pubs. If ballroom dancers wish
to use their dancing skills in social dance environments, they
do need to change and adapt their style and steps. Tips on how
to adapt ballroom dancing skills to social situations can be
found under Floor Craft.

Types of Social Dances

Spot or Slot Dances

Spot or slot social dances are dances a couple dance in one

spot or slot. Once a couple establish their dance spot or slot
on the dance floor, they do not drift around the dance floor.
Spot or slot dances are best suited for nightclub dance floor.

Salsa, Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba, West Coast and East Coast

Swing, Jitterbug, Charleston, Lindy, Blues, Street Hustle,
Nightclub Two Step, Nightclub Freestyle, Tango Nuevo, Neo
Tango, Hip Hop and related dances are examples of spot or
slot social dances nightclub type dance floors.

Progressive Dances

A progressive dance is a dance that travels around the dance

floor in an anti-clockwise direction. Progressive social dances
generally need a somewhat larger floor than those best suited
for spot dancing - a floor size that permits travelling around
the dance floor - but not one as large as a dance hall or
ballroom.

Traditional Argentine Tango, Country Two Step, Social Waltz,

and Social Foxtrot are examples of progressive social dances.
The close embrace, small steps and absence of embellishments
in milonguero style Argentine Tango makes it well suited to
dance progressively on smaller floors.

Adapting to the Dance Space

It is not uncommon to see a progressive and spot social

dancers sharing the same floor on the larger social dance
floors. In this case, the progressive dancers dance along the
edge of the dance floor while the spot dancers occupy the
centre. For instance, Country Two Step dancers can dance on
the edge while Swing dancers can dance in the centre of the
floor.
However, in order to dance a progressive or travelling dance in
a small space, it is necessary for progressive dancing to be
customary in that dance place. If spot dancers dominate the
space and dance along the edge, a progressive dancer should
not push their way around the dance floor. In these situations,
it is best for everyone to dance a spot dance. A Waltz, for
example can be converted to a spot dance by using steps and
patterns based on the box step. Instead on dancing a
progressive Foxtrot, dancers can dance Swing or Freestyle
Nightclub. Tango dancers can dance Tango Nuevo or Neo
TangoTango that uses circular spot patterns such as the
molinete (circular grapevine around the other partner), the
calecita (the carousel - a walk around the other partner) and
short walks, rather than the progressive caminar (a
progressive walk).

The Quickstep, Standard or American Tango and

International ballroom style dances in general, are not suited
for small dance floors. When dancing on small floors, dancers
trained in ballroom style dancing must learn to change their
style to social style dancing and adapt to the situation.
Dancing ballroom style on small dance floors can be
dangerous.t Samba patterns and not use
progressive/travelling patterns.