The first unofficial DanceSport World Championship took place in 1909, and the first Formation Team was presented in 1932 by Olive Ripman at the Astoria Ballroom in London.

DanceSport was first broadcast on TV in 1960.

During the 20th century, many new dances were introduced to the ballroom. The Tango was derived from two dances, a solo dance from Spain and an Argentinean courtship dance that was originally considered taboo among polite society in Argentina.

Ballroom dancing has recently increased in popularity due to the presence of competitive dancing on television screens around the world.