Abstract
Dance classes were a key site for negotiating Jewish gender roles. Beyond simply training young people in proper physical deportment, dance lessons also guided them through gender, social, and class expectations, including those related to more tender emotions. Traditionally pious Jews learned to dance so that they could participate properly in weddings and other festive community celebrations. Acculturated and upwardly mobile Jews took advantage of the opportunity dance lessons offered to mingle with socially advantageous contacts. In this sense, dance lessons rehearsed the importance of balls for courtship. Even before they began seeking out marriage partners, young people learned how to behave on the dance floor and practiced appropriate behavior with their dancing partners. While Yiddish texts question whether dance lessons are compatible with proper sexual morality, German texts are concerned with the possibility of embarrassing oneself in a dance class.
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