Social Dancing at the White House

Social dancing was especially enjoyed during the terms of Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley and its popularity within the White House reflected the changing times. While President Harrison enjoyed a form of waltz, known as "The German," McKinley at his Valentine’s Day Dance preferred the new two-step, such as "Goo-Goo Eyes," which illustrated the merging of ragtime and social dance as the century turned. But many distinguished performers appeared at the White House at this time, too. They included the great soprano "Black Patti" (Sissieretta Jones); the violinist, Joseph Douglass, grandson of orator and statesman, Frederick Douglass; and the composer and cellist, Ernest Lent, whose Piano Trio in B Major was probably the earliest serious chamber music performed at the White House [see more below]. The Lent ensemble played for President and Mrs. McKinley and seventy guests after a dinner for the Supreme Court in 1898, thus setting the stage for the state dinner/musicale pattern that would become the focal point for modern entertaining at the White House.

Landmark Era Performances

1892: John Philip Sousa completed a distinguished 12-year period as the director of the U.S. Marine Band bringing world fame to "The President's Own." He conducted the band's first sound recordings, initiated its first national concert tour, and started to write the marches that earned him the title "The March King."

1898: The Lent ensemble played for President and Mrs. McKinley and seventy guests after a dinner for the Supreme Court in 1898, setting the stage for the state dinner/musicale as the focal point for modern entertaining at the White House.