To lounge in the dressing-room, smoking and chatting with other
gentlemen is both unfair to the hostess and essentially rude in the
matter of ballroom etiquette. The true gentleman would rather decline an
invitation than be unfair to his hostess and her guests in this respect.
PUBLIC DANCES
Very often public dances are given in honor of some special occasion or a
celebrated guest. They are very much like private dances, except that a
specially appointed committee fulfills the position and duties of the
hostess. At most public balls, the committee is composed of men and
women who wear badges to indicate their position, and who stand at the
door to receive and welcome each guest. These men and women do not dance
the first dance, but wait until later in the evening when they are quite
sure that all the guests have arrived; and then they are always back at
their duty during the intervals between dances.
Guests arriving at a public dance greet the patronesses with a smile of
welcome and a word or two, but rarely offer their hands to be shaken
unless the ladies serving as patronesses take the initiative.
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