A taxi dancer is a paid dance partner in a ballroom dance. Taxi dancers work on a dance-by-dance basis. When taxi dancing first appeared in taxi-dance halls during the early 20th century in the United States, male patrons typically bought dance tickets for a small sum each. When a patron presented a ticket to a chosen taxi dancer, she danced with him for the length of a song. She earned a commission on every dance ticket she received. Though taxi dancing has for the most part disappeared in the United States, it is still practiced in some other countries.
Poster for the film Ten Cents a Dance (1931) with Barbara Stanwyck as a taxi dancer
Lobby card for The Taxi Dancer (1927)
The Roseland Ballroom was a multipurpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theater district, on West 52nd Street in Manhattan.
Roseland Ballroom in July 2007
Postcard promoting the club's "Fall Opening" of October 9, 1945
ARO building
Final Roseland Ballroom marquee