on’t Dance Grand Ball

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron was engaged to Lady Angela of Alpine Castle and she was the center of his social life. A number of Lady Angela’s friends said that a lot of the young men in Lilliland were very shy when it came to relating to women.

Lady Angela discussed this matter with the Baron many times and the Baron felt that it was the responsibility of the parents to teach their children the social graces.

One of Lady Angela’s friends said that within the population of young people in Lilliland there were an equal number of men and women. She felt that something should be done to move the socialization process along. She suggested a grand ball for the people who can’t dance or are too shy to dance or who feel uncomfortable on a dance floor.

Lady Angela got the Baron’s approval to use the Grand Ballroom and the Baron would obtain a band providing everyone could come free of charge. It was all agreed.

The women would, just this one time, ask the young men who were too shy to attend the ball. Two days before the Grand Ball all of the partners would have a practice dancing session in the largest room at Lady Angela’s Alpine Castle. Two dance instructors would be hired to teach all the young people to dance.

All the dance committee members thought that two sessions lasting two hours each just before the ball should make everyone happy. The parents of all the young people were very supportive of the event.

All the young men felt that they would only need to learn just enough dancing to comfortably get by on the dance floor.

The date was set for the Don’t Dance Grand Ball and the Baron, true to his word, made all the arrangements for the ballroom and the orchestra.

However, there was one small problem. After the second dance lesson, since all the young people could now dance, they wanted to change the name of the ball. Since the dance was being held in the autumn of the year, why not call it the Autumn Grand Ball, formerly known as the Don’t Dance Grand Ball. Everyone agreed.

The Grand Ball was a big success and everyone had a good time. Many of the parents thanked Lady Angela for having an activity to help their sons and daughters not to be so shy when invited to a dance.