Kung Fu Ballroom, an approach to partnership dancing that emphasizes the use of technique and personal responsibility in dance.

The name started as a joke about a particular training drill in which a balanced movement is taken in slow motion so the student can feel what's going on within the body throughout the motion. The controlled movement coupled with internal awareness looked briefly like a very strange Tai Chi movement, and so became the Tai Chi Cha (it was a Cha cha application of a Cuban motion drill). For a while afterwards, there were a couple of jokers calling me sensei and making martial arts references. A little reading led to my discovery that Kung Fu is, literally "achievement through great effort," more frequently translated as "skill from effort," which also describes my approach to dancing. For way too much information on this, see this page.

Many people want partnership dancing to be instantly easy, and it can be, with a certain lack of technique. For those who just want a fun time dancing, and don't particularly care about the aesthetics or quality of the partnership, that's great and there are plenty of teachers who can supply that. It's like a night out for fun--few expectations and no obligation, with only a little effort from the people involved.

Some people want something more.

For some, dancing in partnership is fun and social, but they take a greater responsibility toward their dancing and their partners. Leaders strive to actually lead their partners, not just through a series of cues or figures, but through every single step. Followers work to follow not the patterns, signals, or even intentions or their partners, but each movement of their partner's body. They contribute equally to the energy required for movement, they maintain a common center of balance, they work with each other to create something which neither could do alone. This requires mutual trust, mutual skills, and mutual support, elements which give some people trouble and which encourage growth that extends far beyond the dance floor.

These involve complex skills based on a few simple ideas.