Ballroom dancing is back.
Sunday's "I Love to Tango with My Tea" event drew more than 30 dancers. The afternoon tea dance and social were held at the McRaven Ballroom at Capital Ritz.
Ballroom dancing is one of the many things that ended when the pandemic hit early last year. Dance studios all around the country closed, including the only two in Columbia.
Sunday's $10-per-person event featured classic ballroom, club and Latin dances with light refreshments.
"Tea dances are generally held on Sunday afternoons," Larinda McRaven, owner of McRaven Ballroom, said. "It actually was the precursor to things like brunch. It's still a really big thing in England."
McRaven has been ballroom dancing professionally for the past 30 years. She teaches in Jefferson City when she's not traveling the country teaching and judging at competitions.
"It's incredibly social. It's an easy, fun, healthy time," she said. "There's no alcohol at my events. It's easy for the kids to come to. We trade partners, so you don't need to come with your spouse. You can come solo and still have plenty of people to dance with."
About half of her dancers come from Columbia, she said.
The event featured dancers of all ages. Ballroom dancing essentially is an umbrella term for partner dancing. McRaven planned to play everything from waltz, tango, foxtrot, cha-cha, rumba, swing and salsa at the event.
Lilith Jones, entering seventh grade, said she especially enjoys Vietnamese waltz dancing, which is about twice the speed of a traditional waltz.
She's been ballroom dancing for about two years, saying it's a fun type of dancing that has an elegant look.
Goldie Holzer has attended McRaven's classes for about seven years and has danced most of her life. She and several others practiced performing a burlesque-themed dance they planned to perform at Sunday's PorchFest JCMO event. "I just love to dance," Holzer said.
Many of the dancers Sunday hugged and socialized after seeing each other for the first time in awhile.
"A lot of them haven't been able to dance in the last year, obviously," McRaven said. "The whole ballroom industry took a wicked hit. You couldn't touch, you couldn't gather, you couldn't travel. So it was really a hard time for people for who this is their social outlet.
"People are really clamoring for something to do, somewhere to go. There are no studios left other than this one and one at the Lake, and that's it for Mid-Missouri," she said.
