Is cotillion a black thing?
In American usage, a Cotillion is a formal ball, often the venue for presenting Debutantes. By the 1940s national black fraternities, sororities, civic and social organizations formed the black social structure in African American communities.
What does a cotillion symbolize?
Cotillions are balls held to present debutantes to their community. The traditional event represents coming of age. The fathers of the debutantes also have the opportunity of dancing with their daughters. This dance is viewed highly as it’s typically the most formal father-daughter dance prior to marriage.
How do you become a debutante in Los Angeles?
The process of becoming a Cotillionette begins with the completion of the Cotillinette Profile form and submission to the Los Angeles Links’ Cotillionette Chairperson. Each Cotillionette must be sponsored by a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of Links and must be a junior or senior in high school.
Is cotillion a southern thing?
Cotillion is a charming tradition in the American South that attempts to mold children into fine young ladies and gentlemen through a series of formal and informal dances. The program culminates with the Holly Ball, a Christmas dance where parents are forced to dress up and dance with their children.
Do cotillions still exist?
Cotillion classes are understandably still popular in the South—they’re an opportunity for children to learn all those manners and polite habits we highly value alongside their friends and classmates.
Do they still hold debutante balls?
Débutante balls exist in nearly every major city in the United States but are more common and larger affairs in the American South. The Christmas Cotillion in Savannah, Georgia, first held in 1817, is the oldest débutante ball in the United States. Many cities such as Dallas and Atlanta have several balls in a season.
What do kids do in cotillion?
The cotillion three-year curriculum includes elocution; proper seating; how to be a polite guest; introducing yourself; how to compliment someone sincerely; greeting people; how to make a proper toast, and dances, such as the waltz, cha-cha and swing.