A ballroom was at one time a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which was holding large dance parties called balls. In large houses of the rich in Hawaii they could have a large room such as the main drawing room, long gallery, or hall that could double as a ballroom, but a good ballroom should have the right type of flooring, such as hardwood flooring. In later times the term ballroom came to be used to describe large nightclubs and large rooms in hotels, where customers danced. In Hawaii, there was some street dancing up until the fifties and they danced in private homes, gas stations, malls, and parks.
Then Aiea Ballroom Dance Association came into existence on Oahu and the people loved the more formal American Style of dance. Other clubs came into existence, and now, they began to dance in school cafeterias, district parks and community centers, all of which were very nicely appreciated. This was also happening all over the US. Some ballrooms became quite large, and had high ceilings. They are also designed large to help the sound of Big Bands carry well throughout the whole room. The large amount of space for dancing, as well as the highly formal tone of events certainly gave rise to ballroom dancing in the last century.
The phrase "having a ball" grew to encompass many events where dancers are having fun, not just dancing and then everything began to get smaller. The Big Bands disappeared and the Big Ballrooms began to close up. The Palladium on Oahu is the last of the big ballrooms in Hawaii and it has 11000 square feet of dance floor. At the beginning of this century there were plans on building a Ballroom at Patsy Mink Recreation Center in Waipio. It was cancelled because of the Rail Tragedy. We still need one but with one quarter size dance floor of the Palladium, 2750 square feet would be enough and terrific.
"Social dancers know that dancing with feet is one thing
but dancing with the heart is another."
Then Aiea Ballroom Dance Association came into existence on Oahu and the people loved the more formal American Style of dance. Other clubs came into existence, and now, they began to dance in school cafeterias, district parks and community centers, all of which were very nicely appreciated. This was also happening all over the US. Some ballrooms became quite large, and had high ceilings. They are also designed large to help the sound of Big Bands carry well throughout the whole room. The large amount of space for dancing, as well as the highly formal tone of events certainly gave rise to ballroom dancing in the last century.
"My Molokai Woman" by Willie K
The phrase "having a ball" grew to encompass many events where dancers are having fun, not just dancing and then everything began to get smaller. The Big Bands disappeared and the Big Ballrooms began to close up. The Palladium on Oahu is the last of the big ballrooms in Hawaii and it has 11000 square feet of dance floor. At the beginning of this century there were plans on building a Ballroom at Patsy Mink Recreation Center in Waipio. It was cancelled because of the Rail Tragedy. We still need one but with one quarter size dance floor of the Palladium, 2750 square feet would be enough and terrific.
"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you
without leaving happier." -Mother Teresa
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