Dancing in the US and UK

Many people in the US and UK enjoy dancing, and music is usually played at parties and other celebrations so that people can dance. Schools often have dances or discos for their students, and in the US most schools have a special formal dance at the end of the school year, called a prom.
Charity organizations and UK universities have formal dances called balls where women wear long dresses and men wear dinner jackets. When young people want to dance, they go clubbing, meaning that they go to night clubs with their friends. American line dancing is extremely popular in the UK, and is done by people of all ages in pubs or community centres.

Ballroom dancing is a formal kind of dancing done in pairs or groups to special music, such as the waltz or the foxtrot. Ballroom dancing is usually done by older people, and considered old-fashioned by many young people.

A dance-band is a group of musicians who play music for dancing to. A dance floor is a special floor for dancing on. A dance hall is a large public room where people pay to go and dance. Dance halls are rather old-fashioned now and are connected in people's minds with dancing before the 1960s. Many older style dances, where people waltz etc, are now held in hotels.

Dance studio is a large room usually with mirrors on the walls and bars to hold onto where people learn or practise danding.

Dancing girl is a professional woman dancer in a place of popular entertainment. People sometimes use the expression "Bring on the dancing girls" meaning "Let's add some more excitement to this occasion!"

Social Events: Tailgate Party

A tailgate party is a party before an American football game where people eat and drink in the carpark of the place where the game is played.

Social Events: Cocktail Parties

A cocktail party is a party for which you usually dress formally and at which there is no dancing. Alcoholic drinks are served, and there is usually something light to eat suh as quiche (a rich unsweetened custard pie, often containing ingredients such as vegetables, cheese, or seafood) and canapés (an appetizer consisting of a thin slice or piece of bread toasted or fried in butter or oil, on which anchovies, mushrooms, caviar, cheese, or other savory foods, are served). Cocktail parties are thought of as an upper class activity for fashionable people, or they may be held at a formal public occasion, for example before a press conference or at the launch of a new book.