Three generations teach ballroom dancing to children

Since the 1930s, the art of ballroom dancing has been taught at a special place called Steeple Arts Academy of Dance. 

The foxtrot, waltz and swing are taught to young adults who are in throes of the metamorphosis from children to young adults.

A ballerina turns slowly atop what might be the oldest building in Crestline Village in Mountain Brook.  This red building was a Methodist church decades ago.

Deanny Coates Hardy runs the academy.

“My grandmother started the studio in 1935 and my mother took it over in 1958. I never thought that I’d be running Steeple Arts Academy of Dance, but I’m so glad that I am.“

This is lesson number 5 of 10 lessons.  The students are 6th graders, boys on one side girls on the other. Shoes are well-shined, and the required gloves are white as snow.

“The ballroom dancing is a good venue to bring young ladies and gentlemen together and teach them how to talk to one another and learn social etiquette and manners,” Hardy said. “And within the class, teach them social graces and amenities as well as the ballroom dances of the foxtrot, waltz and swing.“

Miss Deanny runs a tight ship… no wasted time… with everything a purpose.  She said she teaches these lessons almost exactly the way her grandmother and mother did before her.

“Yes, absolutely we have a set belief and way that we like to teach this class, and we continue it year after year, generation after generation,“ Hardy said.

Miss Deanny throws a lot at the students each week. Where a gentleman places his hand on a lady’s back, how to hold her hand and how a lady positions her hand on the gentleman’s shoulder.

There are moments for introduction and greetings, and then it’s time for everyone to move onto the dance floor with all of this new knowledge and the desire to do well.

Concentration is key. There’s so much to remember and this is all so new… the music, the steps ... a real live girl in your arms. It can be overwhelming. 

But with each lesson, the steps come more naturally… you start to get the hang of it and you realize that girls really don’t bite.

And them some have confidence written all over them.

“You see their confidence build, and their self-esteem, and they get more comfortable with one another,“ Hardy said.

It’s no secret that moms and dads—mostly moms—sneak a peek in the window of Steeple Arts, especially during the first few weeks. They just need confirmation that their child is the most handsome or the prettiest one in the room.

It’s called ballroom dancing, and that is taught but a lot of time is spent on proper introductions, how to properly ask a lady to dance, and much more.

“Dancing is really a byproduct of what we offer at Steeple Arts, and our classes are about so much more,“ Hardy said.

At the end of the lesson, the gentlemen help ladies with their coats. There’s a right way to do that too.  The promenade is where the couples walk around the dance floor together… sort of a cool- down lap.

And every gentleman knows that you keep the lady on your arm until you escort her down the steps and off in the night, until next week, when the steps will be even easier and etiquette and social graces will be as easy as an old-fashioned two step.