Hundreds gathered at Civic Hall in their finest dancing attire on Sunday to waltz, swing and twirl in auspicious surroundings.
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Barb Spence and Gary Johnston, who met on a train to Melbourne a few years ago, were excited to be at the grand Art Deco venue, which provided some traditional charm as this year's setting for the Ballarat South Senior Citizens annual ball.
"It is fabulous to see it open again," said Ms Spence. "It is such a lovely hall," said Mr Johnston.
Mr Johnston described the event as a "blast from the past", and said they had danced an alpha waltz, the Chicago swing, the red rose saunter, and a twilight waltz on the gleaming hard wood dance floor.
"I hope they have regular dancing here," said Ms Spence. "it would be good to have a dance here once a month. They would get a good crowd."
There were more than 250 dancers that came along for the afternoon of dancing, socialising and taking lunch at the Civic Hall, which re-opened earlier this year after a multi-million dollar revamp to restore it to its former glory.
The appeal of dancing beneath the high ceilings of the well known dancing venue on Doveton Street was clearly strong for many members of the group.
Numbers at the annual event tripled for this year's fixture with people keen to take a twirl down memory lane at a venue many may remember from its early years.
Trevor Oldaker was another of them, describing the event as a nostalgic one for he and his dancing partner Debbie Cameron.
We've been meeting a lot of people who all used to dance here. It's absolutely fantastic
- Trevor Oldaker, dancer
"We've been meeting a lot of people who all used to dance here. It's absolutely fantastic," he said.
"There are couples that have met here and got married - I am going back 50 years ago."
"It's a brilliant dance hall, and it's great to see it up and used again.""
Various prizes were handed out during the day, including for the most elegant couple - won by Ron Medson and Brenda Fraser won - and senior lady of the ball, which was claimed by Annette Lloyd.
Tickets only cost $5 and were subsidised by a grant from the City of Ballarat council as well as the Victorian Seniors Festival.
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