Public ballroom dancing goes back to the late 18th century, when the first Assembly Rooms opened in spa towns such as Bath and Cheltenham, where the rich went to take the health-giving waters. These were exclusive places, open only to the upper classes. The 1816 rules for admission to the Cheltenham Assembly Rooms laid down that "no person concerned in retail trade, no theatrical or other public performers by profession be admitted".

The wicked waltz

Early dances, such as the minuet, were highly formal. Men in knee-breeches and women in ballgowns advanced towards each other and retreated, or walked hand in hand, following a complex pattern of steps. Everything changed in 1812 with the introduction of the Viennese waltz, a dance in which couples danced with intertwining arms. Many found this new "close hold" shocking. The Times denounced the waltz as an "indecent foreign dance" and an "obscene display" and, in 1813, Sir H Englefield wrote a set of verses attacking it:

What! The girl I adore by another embraced?
What! The balm of her breath shall another man taste?
What! Pressed in the dance by another man’s knee?
What! Panting reclining on another than me?

Despite such attacks, the waltz could not be stopped. With its strong 1-2-3, 1-2-3 rhythm, it was much more fun to dance than a minuet, and it has remained the longest surviving dance. All ballroom dances which succeeded the waltz would use a similar close hold.

Polka craze

Throughout the 19th century, new fashionable dances were introduced from the continent. In 1844, there was a craze for the sprightly polka, a Czech dance with hops and steps, introduced from Paris. At the same time, the first tea dances were held in London where a number of new, and less exclusive, Assembly Rooms were opening.

Seaside dance halls

The late 19th century saw the rise of the British seaside holiday, and more new dance halls appeared in resorts such as Blackpool. In 1897, the magnificent Empress Ballroom at the Blackpool Winter Gardens opened, followed two years later by the Tower Ballroom. The fact that Blackpool needed two big ballrooms shows just how popular dancing was becoming.

Torrid tango

In the 20th century, many new dances were introduced from the Americas. The first craze was for the tango, a sultry Argentinian dance introduced to London society in 1912, when it was danced at the Gaiety Theatre by George Grossmith, as part of a show called The Sunshine Girl. Along with the tango came a revival of tea dance, as dance halls advertised "tango teas".

Foxtrot and quickstep

The tango was followed in 1914 by the foxtrot, thought to have been named after Harry Fox, a US music hall performer. Originally a trotting dance with lots of kicks and hops, it was made smoother by English dance teachers. The dance was distinguished by a slow-quick-quick rhythm, and could be danced to any music with four beats to the bar. Partners held each other closely and did not move a great deal, making it the perfect dance for a crowded ballroom or nightclub.

The foxtrot and its speeded-up form, the quickstep, brought a new freedom to dancing, which was well suited to the jazz music now crossing to Britain from the US. By the 1920s, couples were performing a wide variety of steps, often improvising them. At the same time, popular dance halls and dance-hall chains were opening everywhere in Britain. Dancing had become a mass entertainment.

Standard steps

The new dance styles alarmed the ballroom establishment, and led to confusion in dance schools, as different teachers taught different versions of the same dance. Philip Richardson, editor of Dancing Times, complained that excessive freedom on the dance floor amounted to "artistic bolshevism".  In 1920-1921 he called a series of conferences of teachers, to settle upon standardised steps. Richardson founded the Committee of Ballroom Dancing, which sanctioned only four official dances - the waltz, foxtrot, quickstep and tango - and banned "illegal steps" such as side kicks and lifts.

Novelty dances

Traditional ballroom dancing went out of fashion in the 1930s and 1940s, with a new fashion for social dances, with synchronised movements to novelty songs: the Lambeth Walk, the Chestnut Tree and the Hokey-Cokey. From the 1940s, there were new Latin American dance crazes, for the rumba, mambo and cha-cha-cha. The young also began to jive, at first to trad jazz and then to 1950s rock'n'roll. The greatest threat to ballroom came in the 1960s, as teenagers began to dance individually, using simple steps, such as the twist, which did not need to be taught.

Come dancing

Ballroom continued as a minority interest and, from 1949 until 1995, dancing competitions were broadcast on television in Come Dancing. This was given a new format in 2004 as the hugely popular Strictly Come Dancing, with celebrity competitors. As a result of this and similar shows, all over the country, people are now learning to foxtrot, tango, quickstep and waltz. The Blackpool Tower Ballroom has never been more crowded.

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