American Smooth

American Smooth includes Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, and Peabody — the same core dances as International Standard, but danced under a different technical framework developed by the American dance industry in the mid-20th century. The defining difference is the freedom to open: partners can separate, turn away, and create picture lines that are simply not possible in the closed-hold Standard style.

This openness makes American Smooth particularly well-suited to theatrical and showcase performance. Many of the most iconic ballroom performances on television and film draw from the Smooth aesthetic — the sweeping dips, the dramatic separations, the moments where partners come apart and then reunite. It is a style that rewards both technical precision and performance instinct.

Musically, Smooth dances share their tempo ranges with their International counterparts, but the expanded movement vocabulary means the music can support a wider range of emotional expression. A Smooth Foxtrot can be playful or melancholic; a Smooth Tango can be theatrical or intimate. The music choice shapes the entire character of the dance.