How ballroom dancing gripped Britain
HistoryExtra podcast
00:00
Mecca, the British Experience of Ballroom Dancing
Mecca perpetuated the glamorous Hollywood ideal. By devising a series of designs for their ballrooms, they emulated this contemporary version. Butlins and the Butlins Holiday Camps used the same luxury branding favoured by mecha. They were aimed at working classes who were for the first time having paid holidays. All the camps in general had three ballrooms and you could go to lessons all day, go dancing all night. People were happy to believe in the idea of the spaces that were there.
Play episode from 37:50
Transcript
