ICBDA is an independent, open organization of teachers and dancers dedicated to Choreographed Ballroom Dancing.

The dancing activity supported by ICBDA consists of ballroom dancing done in a way similar to what the performers do on "Dancing With the Stars", except the dancers need not memorize the routine.

As the ICBDA website states, "The dance routines and dance figures conform predominantly to international ballroom standards." Dance rhythms include Rumba, Cha, Waltz, Quick Step, Tango, Mambo, Bolero, Jive, West Coast Swing, etc.

A choreographer writes a dance routine to music, using standard ballroom figures. Dance clubs throughout the world practice these figures and dances their club members like during "teaching" sessions. At dances, as the music plays for a particular dance, the "cuer" states the figures for the dancers to execute. (Thus, once dancers learn the individual standard figures, they need merely to listen to the cuer and need not memorize the routine.)