Figure 1.-- This is the beginner's class (4-6 year) old at the De Rham studuio in 1968. The children are Christian Curry and Alexandria Loeb.

Ballroom dancing, a form of partner dancing, had its origuns in Europe and America until the 20th century basically just followed the European trends. There were various forms of folk dancing, but European ballroom dancing is what dominted American dance floors and partner dancing into the 20th century. Then new dance forms became popular, in part becuse of new musical forms. This began with the Tango which arrivded from Argentina. Then began jazz began to become popular in mainstream America. The first truly American form of couples dancing was the Fox Trot which emerged from Rag Time music. After World War I, jazz became an important part of the Roaring Twenties. New dance forms appeared. the music and dances were loosely called 'Swing'. The driving force for these new dances was jazz. This was a musical form emerging from the African American community. The specific trendy dances were fast pased and bouncier: the Charleston, Lindy Hop, and Shag. The rising American industrial economy comtinued to raise American incomes and affluence. All this prosperity meant that there were many families that had risen drom very limited circumstances to the prospeous middle classes. Wealthy families also ensured that their children acquire what might be loosesly called 'culture' and tis included manners and dancing. So the rising middle class wanted the same for their children. This certainly did not mean Swing dances. Mothers wanted culture, not bounce. Mist mothers thought that their boys had quite enough bounce to begin with. The Swing dances were seen by many as not only the opposities of culture, but distastefully risque. What mothers wanted was sedate ballroom culture for their children. This generally meant dressing the children up in their party clothes and sending them off to dancing lessons. This usully mean grade school children who unlike the teenagers ewere below the age of resistance and had no interest in Swing. This was all fine with the girls who loved the idea. The boys were much less interested. This merited an episode in Booth Tarkington's Perod Schofield series. This did not mean that ballroom dancing disappeared. New forms of ballroom dancing appeard and accomplished dancers becoming big-time Hollywoods stars (1930s). Fred Astarie and Ginger Rogers were surely the most famed dance team of all time. A good exmple of the dancing classes for children was the De Rham studio in New York. This basic dynamic contnued into the 1960s, after which patner dancing became increasingly free form.

Created: 6:16 PM 7/13/2022
Last updated: 6:17 PM 7/13/2022