Whitness of Ballroom Dance

Like most people I know, when I hear Ballroom dancing I think of white, upper-class, middle-aged Americans doing an tense, uptight, slow dance of some kind. The thought of "Latin" never really crosses my mind even though it should. One of the things I found interesting was "modern genres were most often characterized by my informants as 'elegant,' 'classic,' and 'beautiful.' They were discussed as manifestations of a shared past, as dances from 'our grandparents' generation.' Again this brings up the idea of tradition and authenticity. In folklore, tradition is a huge thing. People have a tendency to cherish the past/old and almost put it on a pedestal. It gives people a shared experience, bringing groups together for a common idea. This does not just apply to ballroom dancing obviously but everything that can be considered sacred.
Honestly, the whole whiteness thing in ballroom dancing wasn't really that far off in the sense of upper-class anyone. The author even states that he had trouble keeping up with his partner financially and in turn led him to feel slightly embarrassed. It can be hierarchical. On the other hand, when I thought of "Latin" dancing I didn't really think of upper-class or middle-aged. In fact I thought of normal dancing since it is something I grew up around and am used to. Latin dancing is more intimate than "modern" but in my opinion it also has less rules. More of feeling than technique. Something that jumped out at me was how Rita states that "perhaps I was born in Brazil in another life." People identify with dance, culture and the experience of it all. Again going back to tradition, people, especially in this article, wanted to feel like they were apart of something more. For them, dance was a way of doing that. Rita identified with the performance of "Latin" music and in turn she felt as if she could have been Brazilian in another life.