Why is it necessary to wear Ballroom Dance costumes?

Question

Just curious why people wear special costumes while dancing dances such as the waltz, rumba, foxtrot, swing, etc. It seems silly to me, but there sure must be a reason behind it.

Answer 1

It's done for the visual effect. Ice skaters wear costumes too, as well as many other performing arts professionals. Costume completes the picture. Watch the same couple in their practice clothes in the studio and in their costumes during performance. If it is really good dancers the costumes emphasizes their dancing. If we are talking about beginners - - the effect is the opposite - they do look silly in costumes, they look better in normal clothes. (That's one of the reasons costumes are not permitted in beginner competitions.)
As to why it looks the way it looks - good part of it is a tradition, as WWD pointed out. Waltz was the dance that people danced at their parties. They wore tailcoats and those big dresses as their evening wear. However, you might be curious to know that Latin costume had changed dramatically over last 3 decades to reflect its charachter better. One can't really picture upper class British lady wearing this scandalist Latin outfit, neither dancing like that. In the old competitions, men used to wear tuxedos and ladies used to wear the the dress just like for Waltz but a little shorter, like knee length. They danced cha cha in it, can you believe? It was very moderate cha-cha, LOL. Competitive Latin dancing changed beyond recognition, so did the costume.

Answer 2

The roots of ballroom are in the English upper classes, so the tailsuits and ballgowns are a reflection of the normal dinner dress of that group. The Latin costumes have similar roots, though of course they're a different style of dance with a different background and therefore different clothing, but with them, the showmanship of competitions, trying to catch the attention of the judges, has had three generations of almost unchecked one-upsmanship to become somewhat extreme. The makeup has actually had a slight downward trend with television in the past few years, believe it or not, compared to the heavy theatrical make-up that the competitions have engendered. When not in competition, there's less need for the extremes.
None of this applies to the shoes, though. They're specialized, but purely practical, with the sueded soles being the most functional option for purely mechanical reasons.

Answer 3

It's not necessary to wear costumes! In fact, USA Dance, which governs competitive amateur ballroom dancing in the U.S., has prohibited the wearing of costumes in syllabus competitions. (Syllabus competitions are lower-level competitions in which the dancers must select the steps they do from a list, or syllabus, of permitted steps.) The reason for the ban is that the officers of USA Dance felt that more people would want to enter competitions if they didn't have to buy costumes.

Even in the higher-level "open" competitions, costumes are not required, although, since judges mark on overall impression, you would have to be far superior to all the other couples to win wearing "street clothes".

Answer 4

Well why do you wear special shoes when you go bowling, or dress up for nights on the town, it's easy to dance in, and it gives the special effect.