Classic Ballroom Dance

This one's for those danceaholics who are glued to every episode of today's reality-TV dance shows, but prefer the old-school end of things — like when Jeanine Mason's solo dance to Carlos Gardel's sultry tango classic "Por una Cabeza" took top honors in 2009's So You Think You Can Dance. If you're already shuffling your feet in excitement at that idea, try some fancy footwork to the trilling mandolin of Nino Rota's waltz from The Godfather while visions of a grand Italian wedding dance in your head. Or take a trip back to the days of flappers and Fitzgerald while you swing your branches to hot-jazz guitar demon Django Reinhardt's "Charleston."

Kicking it old-school takes on a whole new meaning, in Next Steps.

If you want to get a grip on classic ballroom dancing — with the emphasis on classic — start swooping and sashaying to the sounds that started it all. You'll be seized by an unnatural urge to don a powdered wig when the poignant piano lines of Brahms' "Waltz In a Flat Major Op.39/15" start tingling in your ears. And if you think you've seen elegance before, just wait until you find yourself swishing stylishly across the floor in three-quarter time to the graceful glow of the waltz from Tchaikovsky's immortal "Swan Lake." But if you find yourself in the mood for a little Latin spice, start stomping and clapping in time to flamenco guitar god Pepe Romero's passionate prowl through Ernesto Lecuona's "Malagueña."

In ballroom dancing, you can't bring it until you swing it. Find out how, in Deep Cuts.

There's a reason why America's most beloved dance tradition is called "swing," and you'll start to feel that jazzy beat in your feet when you leap into the action with the brassy, bluesy, big-band bash of Count Basie's "Smack Dab in the Middle." Two titans of jazz, Woody Herman and Quincy Jones, come together for the coolest cutting session you've ever spun your pegs to, on "Woodchopper's Ball." And the Dean of classy dance music, Duke Ellington himself, has the final say when his orchestra comes wailing in with swing dancing's international anthem, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."

You've slo-mo'd every episode of Dancing With the Stars until even your dog knew all the steps by heart, but nothing rings your chimes with as much charm as boning up on all those classic clips of Fred and Ginger in black-and-white — the film stock and the clothes. Well, you're in luck, because we've gone through not just decades, but also centuries of songs tailor-made for tripping the light fantastic, and we've stacked them all up in one spot for your fleet-footed frenzy. Whether you want a steamy mambo or a sophisticated waltz, some bold, brassy swing or an up-close-and-personal tango, just direct your feet to this side of the street, where the most crucial cuts in classic ballroom dance await you.