Oh, here’s one I can answer! I should say that my knowledge is mostly based in the swing era dances of the 30s and 40s.

Partner dancing was extremely popular across the US in small towns and big cities throughout this era. Most children were exposed to partner dancing of some sort through classes, whether in public/private school or a dance school. Partner dances were extremely popular with the youths and young adults as it was an easy avenue of courtship.

Schools, churches, and various clubs all hosted dances as fundraisers and other types of events very regularly. Through my research of partner dancing around the Carolinas I’ve gathered hundreds of newspaper articles advertising dances for rotary clubs, sororities, etc. There could easily be multiple well attended dances per week. These articles specifically can be found in “The Gamecock” (USC student newspaper), “The State” (Columbia, SC newspaper), and “The Charlotte Observer” (Charlotte,NC) amongst other primary sources.

Now, this is not to imply that every teenager/ college student was an incredible partner dancer. The dances were often structured with song styles cycling so everyone could find something to dance to. An example would be

Song 1: Foxtrot Song 2: Waltz Song 3: Two- Step Song 4: Foxtrot Etc

This meant if you knew a couple moves of Foxtrot and nothing else you could still participate in the dance. It was common that the dancers may only know a half dozen steps or so. You can find examples of these dance setlists by researching Dance Cards.

Also, similar to the fad dances of today, dances would explode in popularity for a few years and slink away into the background. A few examples would be the Charleston in the 20s, Collegiate Shag in the late 30s, and Lindy Hop from the 30s-50s. Whereas the 1910s & 20’s teens were dancing trendy ragtime & early jazz dances (turkey trot, e.g.), the 30s & 40s were doing styles of swing dances often local to their region (Carolina Jitterbug, e.g.) with a bit of crossover from some national widespread styles like the Big Apple, Lindy Hop, and Collegiate Shag.

Dancing was a major hobby for young people and there were times where whole stadiums would be packed with thousands of people watching swing dancing competitions. Madison Square Garden had a major competition for decades called the Harvest Moon Ball where thousands would watch the best dancers compete. Footage of these competitions and their popularity can be found online.

All this to say, it was very popular and in any town you went there was a good chance many of the young people would at least know a few steps, enough to have fun with their peers.