Photo By Matt Borgerding

The prevailing attitude at a Flying Cloud Vintage Dance Academy ball is "if you can walk, you can do these dances." Costumes add to the period flavor.

"May I have this dance?" It's rare enough to hear those words today -- let alone from a gentleman with a handlebar moustache sporting white tie and tails. I recently had the pleasure of such invitations while attending a Flying Cloud Vintage Dance Academy historic ball.

It was the "Ragtime Ramble," with the evening's era spanning 1900-1918. Dances included: one-step, two-step, foxtrot, blues, maxixe (a Brazilian samba precursor with heel stomps), the hesitation waltz and a version of the tango -- simplified and cleaned up for delicate American tastes and general social dancing.

The moment I stepped into the Wyoming Fine Arts Center, I felt transported back in time. Couples dressed in elaborate, authentic Ragtime-era evening attire swept and swirled across the floor to lively melodies. Creative chinoiserie-themed decorations of colored lanterns and dragon murals filled the room. It was an atmosphere in which a mobile phone's ring would not only be disruptive, it would be grossly anachronistic.

For some Flying Cloud folks, myself included, getting dressed up in authentic period costume is half the fun. Many women even make their own outfits. Cindy DeHoff, the group's costume consultant said she found her hairpiece of fanned feathers at a fly-fishing store. The Flying Cloud academy is a diverse, friendly bunch of people from all walks of life.

Founded by Richard Powers in 1981, the nonprofit organization's mission is to re-create, teach and preserve authentic social dances from 1840 to 1950. Dwight Blubaugh, Flying Cloud's current president, was first "dared" to attend one of the organization's waltz classes. He claims, "I fell in love (with the waltz). I could not do it -- I was the typical two left feet and no sense of rhythm." He decided to keep at it, but only until he could do a nice, smooth waltz. Along came more dances he "needed to know" until he was hooked.

Flying Cloud offers open sessions of classes, each focusing on a particular era. A group session culminates in an historically faithful ball with a live orchestra, similar to the one I attended on April 30. They also have a performance troupe of about 10 couples.

The prevailing attitude is "if you can walk, you can do these dances." The one-step is essentially just that -- you step in time to the beats. Take quicker or slower steps in different positions and with turning variations, but its simplicity and possibility for endless variety contributed to its social popularity. Some of my dance partners enjoyed mixing unorthodox moves into one-step dances.

The Ragtime era represented a rapidly changing time for Europe and the Americas in terms of socio-political developments -- the onset of the First World War, the invention of the automobile, the women's suffrage movement and, of course, the birth of Jazz, one of the great American contributions to world culture.

The Era fostered the first uniquely American musical styles and social dances. Suddenly old standbys like Viennese waltzes and polkas seemed terribly old-fashioned. A new form, the hesitation waltz, was a bit faster in tempo. Some of the original elements remain, but more walking motion is integrated into waltz timing and turning.

Americans, who have always been fascinated by European social customs, were interested in what was new and exotic. This extended to rapid shifts in popular dances and fashions. This meant more options for women -- and for me, more choices for period-correct attire to wear to the ball -- sequins, bustles, plumes. I was pleased that by this time, corsets were no longer required. Men needed mainly concern themselves with tuxedo-related variants.

Several jaunty tunes the orchestra played have quirky names that sound unmistakably American: "Dill Pickles," "Dance of the Lunatics" and, my favorite, "The Teddy Bears' Picnic." Punctuated by playful, unusual percussion, some melodies reminded me of early cartoon music, while others sounded more austere, march-like or exotic.

During "The Grizzly Bear" (circa 1910), I shared a lovely dance with Dwight Blubaugh. I momentarily thought he was joking when he suddenly released my hands and ambled toward me in a full-blown grizzly bear charade. He explained that all sorts of animal dances were a real fad of the time.

The earliest known documentation of the one-step's existence dates from 1895 in St. Louis. A written description on a 1902 ball card from a Cincinnati venue provided evidence of its travel upriver.

Flying Cloud prides itself on the meticulous and thorough research of social dances in North America, with special interest in dances performed in local ballrooms. One important resource is the Cincinnati Historical Society. They turned up an extensive collection of ephemera -- dance cards, fliers, pamphlets -- materials that were not meant to last.

The dance taught during the pre-ball workshop was 1912's "Destiny Waltz." Destined not to be forgotten, it marks a rare historic dance for which the sheet music, the recorded music and not one, but two detailed dance sequence descriptions have been recovered. Blubaugh faithfully reconstructed the dance steps. Besides dancing, he shared what he enjoys most about the balls.

"You go not only to have fun for yourself, but to help everyone else have fun," he explains. My partners helped me have a delightful, memorable evening stepping into another era -- despite my breaking period custom to ask a man to dance.

I guess I'm a modern gal.