PLAY IT AGAIN

Associate Clubs enjoy the resurgence of ballroom dancing.

By Anne Clarrissimeaux

Every time Associate member Peter DiFalco opens ballroom doors, the master dance instructor hears the music that filled the many grand ballrooms in which he spent his 60 years as a concert dancer. He remembers the many evenings spent dancing the fox-trot and listening to Frank Sinatra croon in a small nightclub near Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He has poignant memories of the 1940s and the romantic idealism of the time — of getting dressed up to go out for an evening of dancing cheek to cheek at places like New York City’s famous Rainbow Room or the glamorous Roseland Ballroom and the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. And he’ll never forget the time that a St. Louis audience, so taken with his performance, rushed the stage, begging for more. Then there was the snowstorm of 1952 that almost kept him from a show in Salt Lake City. After a cross-country drive in a station wagon, his on-time arrival made news and radio stations reminded listeners every few minutes that DiFalco’s show would, indeed, go on.

But DiFalco doesn’t spend too much time in reverie. Especially if it’s Tuesday night at the Carolina Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. That’s when and where he will be found teaching members the fundamentals of ballroom dancing. And an informal survey of Associate Clubs shows these aren’t the only members dressing up and dancing the night away. No doubt about it: Social dancing has made its way back to the ballroom floor.

“Anyone can learn to dance,” DiFalco says with a wink. OK, OK, he chuckles: “Sometimes, it is really difficult for men to learn to lead and for women to learn to follow.”

All joking aside, DiFalco teaches a new dance every six weeks. The favorites, he says, include the tango, with its long, gliding steps and intricate poses; the waltz, a round dance that has a strong accent on the first beat and a pattern of step-step-close; the fox-trot that combines short, rapid steps with occasional slides and glides; and, of course, the salsa variety, a combination of alternating forward and backward rock steps.

His classes at the Carolina Club consist of two types of dancers: those who are intent upon perfecting their skills and those who simply like to dance.

Where else can members cut the proverbial rug? True to Texas tradition, members at the Tower Club in Dallas and the Houston City Club can be found sliding and stepping to the basic pattern of the two-step. In fact, the two-step is so popular at the Houston City Club that the club has recruited an instructor who is a two-time world dance instructor specializing in country-and-western dancing. And once members conquer C&W, they are just a few steps away from the jitterbug. Lessons fill up quickly.

Dance lessons aren’t needed, claim the members at the Lakes Club near Phoenix. For more than a decade, the club has presented a live band three times a week. The evenings of dinner and dancing attract as many as 150 members who most often request the music of the 1940s and ’50s.

“Most people love to dance and move to the music,” DiFalco observes. “Dancing has a unique way of bringing people together.”

Strike up the band.

FANCY FOOTWORK
Counting steps can be confusing enough without having to learn the names of the dances. Here’s a little help that’s as easy as 1-2-3.

Fox trot: Combines short, rapid steps with occasional slides and glides.
Jitterbug: A jazz variation of the two-step that originated at the Savoy Ballroom, where it was known as the Lindy.
Polka: A Bohemian folk dance with a hop on the fourth beat.
Salsa: Combination of alternating forward and backward rock steps.
Tango: A Spanish dance developed in Argentina that includes long, gliding steps and intricate poses.
Two-step: A series of sliding steps with a basic pattern of step-slide-step.
Waltz: A round dance that became widely popular in the 19th century that developed from a German-Austrian turning dance.