God help us if it leads to dancing!

Tory may have been adamant about keeping the U of A free of religious affiliation, but when it came to dancing, that was an entirely different matter. He initially forbade it on campus, preferring instead one of the most bizarre social customs of the day - the "conversazione."

It was a stiff affair even by early 20th-century standards.

Students would promenade around a large room making polite conversation against a background of music. In less than a year, however, Tory was forced to back down, recalls professor Will Alexander.

"Perfectly good dance music was being wasted, just blowing off like Turner Valley gas. A few daring souls thought of putting it to use, the president smiled assent, and in a few minutes a circle of chairs about 30 feet in diameter had been formed.

"Inside this there entered for the next waltz four valiant hearts who gyrated softly, while the promenaders from beyond the chair-backs eyed them curiously as one might eye a new specimen in a zoological garden. From such a tiny seed has grown the great dancing industry of the University of Alberta."

Rumour has it the rebellious trend was instigated by a few young professors and their wives.

Ellen Schoeck, author of I Was There, speculates Doc Alik was likely the first on the dance floor, since he was later remembered as an excellent dancer.

Today the U of A's dance club, the largest student group on campus, has some 1,800 members, bumping and grinding in every genre in the International Ballroom Syllabus, including Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Quickstep, Foxtrot, Tango, Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba, Jive, and Paso Doble. Tory must be rolling in his grave.