The Olympians — Apolo Anton Ono, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Shawn Johnson — were amazingly strong. Johnson had the most to overcome, but the gymnast overcame and won the eighth season. For Ono, the show introduced him to a new set of fans, many of whom had never heard of short track speed skating before.

IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves took a lot of guff from his racing pals, but considering legal problems he was battling at the time, the show was a positive reprieve from the bad news.

Two other Dancing with the Stars winners were singers Drew Lachey and Donny Osmond. Lachey revitalized his career with a rocking second season win with partner, Cheryl Burke. The two generated a ton of tabloid buzz at the time. Burke won again in season 3 with football star, Emmitt Smith.

People know model and hostess Brooke Burke more now because of her win with partner, Derek Hough, than anything else. Her gig also won her this season’s co-hosting job alongside Tom Bergeron.

The asterisk goes to Kelly Monaco, soap opera actress and controversial season one winner. It was so debated that ABC held a dance off special in which, John O’Hurley won the trophy. It’s rarely discussed, however.

The Dancing with the Stars winners will get one more added to their number when the current tenth season concludes. The floor is open as to who that celebrity will be.

You can buy a fitness video that uses dance to create the perfect work out that targets all your major muscle groups. You can dance your way to having the body you have always wanted. Using a dance fitness routine is just one step in the whole weight loss process. Combining good cardiovascular exercise with a good healthy diet. It is a combination of the two that will really help you reach your weight loss goals. You can’t just exercise and not change your eating habits. It has to be a complete lifestyle change. That way once you lose the weight, you can keep it off and not gain it back like every other time you have.

I think it would be very beneficial to incorporate a dance fitness of some sort into your workout regime. If it does not really seem up your alley, then you do not have to do it, but it does give a bit of change from the usual workouts. Check out some fitness videos that incorporate dancing and try it for yourself.

Stop in at any of these clubs and you will see non stop dancing.  The crowd dancing almost continuously for hours. It is obvious that Salsa has many benefits and below are just a few.

1 – It’s very social and for many becomes their big night out where they meet up with friends, dance and have a drink and a bite to eat.

2 – For anyone who hates gyms, you can view these social events as a complete workout, based on my personal experience.

3 – It gets the heart rate going and the blood pumping.

4 – The legs, ankles, arms, shoulders and hips, in fact, the whole body, is being exercised all at once, all at the same time.

5 – It’s a great way of breaking new ground and learning something different with the person you love. Apart from socializing with a partner, there’s an opportunity to meet new people and add to your circle of friends.?

Sure, you can take ballroom dancing lessons for big events such as weddings and maybe even prom, but would it not be more fun if you and your significant other went ballroom dancing as a romantic date. Some fancy restaurants have dance floors with orchestra music playing and there would be a perfect opportunity to show others and each other what you learned when taking ballroom dancing lessons. If you can’t dance, do not let that stop you, the whole point of a dance lesson is so that you can learn.

There are ballroom dancing lessons for everybody from beginner to advanced so it doesn’t matter if you feel you have two left feet or if you feel like you are the best dancer you know. Look in the yellow pages or do an online search for dance studios in the area that have ballroom dance lessons. You don’t have to wait until your next special occasion to learn how to dance like the professionals.

Couples who take part in Latin ballroom dancing move together as a unit. The dancers stand facing each other with a small space in between. Sometimes partners close the gap between them to add to the romantic effect. Whether their bodies touch or not, they place their hands on each other to create an endless visual line. Unlike traditional ballroom styles, many Latin dances do not consist of moving across the floor. Instead, couples share an intimate space as they complement each other’s moves.

The music used in Latin style dancing has a unique flair and a consistent number of beats. It can be slow and romantic or lively and flirtatious. The music sets the pace for the dancers to tell a story through movement. The choice of attire varies with the manner of dance. Costumes range from classically elegant to stunning and extravagant. The flair of Latin style is conveyed through the combination of imaginative outfits, movement, and music.

Latin ballroom dancing is physically expressive, energetic, and breathtaking. It is a creative way to experience the flavor of Latin America and the beauty of dance.

It doesn’t stop there either as the pulling power of dance has inspired thousands of us to sign up for weekly Ballroom and Salsa classes or push back the furniture, roll up the carpet and learn ballroom dance steps in the comfort of our own home.

Wherever you are trying to keep in step, here are a few important pointers.

1) – Poise, this is one of the vital points to focus on when learning Ballroom Dance Steps or Latin American. Without the correct posture, you don’t have the right balance and, without that, you and your partner will not master the right holds, resulting in faulty footwork.

2) – Stick to easy ballroom dance steps to start with and ensure you have matching music to practise with.

3) – Make sure your knees and hips are nicely relaxed, thus making your moves to the music more fluid.

4) – Focus firmly on getting those first basic steps learned and practise them constantly, over and over, until they have become second nature. Don’t go for any fancy variations until this part is complete.

5) – It doesn’t matter whether you have amazingly nifty footwork if your body is all stiff and awkward. Fluid foot movements and a smooth flowing body working together will look really good so concentrate hard on getting these right.

6) – Remember the phrase “small step.” This is an important part of your dance bible rules. From a purely social dancing point of view, keeping your steps small means the dance will be much more enjoyable, far easier to lead and so very elegant and controllable.

7) – Never forget that, as you learn to drive, once you have passed your test you still have to negotiate heavy traffic. Dancing will be like this. When you swap your practice in an empty dining room for a busy dance hall or ballroom, so the man will have to focus on guiding his partner to avoid colliding with other couples. Therefore, the man must be confident with all the Ballroom Dance Steps.

In the early 16th century, many Africans were brought as slaves to various Latin and European countries. The Africans brought their culture, especially their native rhythmic dancing with them. For recreation the African slaves would make drums out of whatever was available. They would tap their hands and feet, making rhythms no one had ever heard before. The Africans would then bring those rhythms alive with the native dancing! Europeans already had their own unique type of music and dance. Eventually, the natives of other Spanish countries immediately fell in love with the beautiful african dancing, and began to copy it, and fuse it into their own native latin dance. The result was variety of unique and beautiful latin dancing styles such as merengue, salsa, bachata, lambada, cumbia, cha cha, rueda, and many others.

Many governments and religions tried to stop this fusion of African and European dancing. However they were not successful. Eventually as the centuries passed, latin style music and dancing branched out even more to different types of dancing. For example, the fusion of African and Brazilian dancing gave birth to “Samba”. The mixture of Haitian dancing in the Dominican Republic created “merengue”. The dances of the Africans mixed with the traditional dances in Cuba to create “cha cha”, and “rumba”.

Today, latin dance is more popular than ever. It has even become a part of American pop culture. It’s important to appreciate it’s unique history.

Returning as host is Tom Bergeron and joining him is Brooke Burke. Burke, who won season 7 with Hough, replaces Samantha Harris who quit the series. Burke has hosted before on such shows as Rock Star.

The talent for Dancing with the Stars 2010 includes Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek, NFL star Chad Ochocinco, reporter Erin Andrews, bachelor Jake Pavelka, singer Nicole Scherzinger, reality host Niecy Nash, controversial reality player Kate Gosselin, and Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson.

Already eliminated in the show’s first few weeks were actress Shannen Doherty, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and Australian soap opera actor Aiden Turner. Turner’s dancing partner was the often skimpily dressed Edyta, the only one of the dancers to have appeared on all ten seasons. Aldrin was the oldest competing member at age 80.

The judges remain the same for the current season. Len Goodman has the center seat and is bookended by Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Toniolo. They’ve all been on the show from the start.

Dancing with the Stars 2010 continues to evolve. This season has seen challenge dances by the judges and the first double voting from the judges where they gave two sets of marks, one for the performance and the other for technical merit. Viewers are loving it and eagerly looking forward to see who wins the trophy this year. ?

Tango dancing is popular everywhere today. Perhaps it is the wide leg movements, which seem to gracefully draw shapes as the dancers move across the floor, that attract more and more people to tango dancing and ballroom dancing in general. Maybe it’s the slow, sensual movements. Whatever the reason, it is something that anyone can enjoy.

It is a type of ballroom dancing that many new European immigrants began to take up. It is fun and the steps are fairly easily learned. However, learning and mastering are two different things. The beauty of tango dancing, though, is that each couple can interpret the dance in whatever way they want to. It is a great tension and stress relieving activity. It’s all about expressing yourself and letting the music and the moment flow through you.

This king of dance has a very interesting history; you might want to learn about. For instance, unlike some other forms of ballroom dancing, it was often done by lower and middle classes. Upper-class society frowned upon it. Therefore, the tango was not as widely spread.

Luckily, in today’s society, it is alive and well, though, although not quite the same as it used to be. It has been adapted many times, so it still has an air of mystery surrounding it. The original, traditional form of tango is hard to find, these days, but one thing everyone can agree on is that, no matter what version of the tango it is, tango dancing is one of the most romantic forms of dance.

The history of tango dancing is still disputed by experts. Many believe that it is a sort of compilation of dancing techniques from many different cultures and that it doesn’t have one true root source.

One reason that you should try it as a hobby is because it’s a skill that you will keep with you forever. Once you learn how to Tango Dance then it’s very unlikely that you’ll forget anytime soon. It’s a trait that will stick with you forever, you can probably even teach your children and grandchildren how to dance eventually.

Another reason is because it is a workout at the same time. How great is that? You can skip your daily workout (if you have one) by dancing instead! It sounds crazy, but it can be a very strenuous workout if it done for a long time.

Last but not least, is the fact that dancing the tango is a skill that most people will admire and want to learn about. You will be able to dance whenever a song comes on at a wedding or wherever else.