Catching up, and lots of dancing!

We stay busy year-round at our etiquette school, Perfectly Polished, even in the long post-holiday winter days. And right now, we have dancing on our minds—not just teaching it, but planning for the dances we hold for our students. This means spending quality time with our college staff...

...to help plan fun events like the Cotillion Club Tea Dance...

...teach our students during our regular classes...

...and of course, we're already planning for our annual Spring Formal! It's a great way to get through the winter!

Perfectly Polished Spotlight: William

Our etiquette school, Perfectly Polished, opened in 1985; today, we teach around 4,000 students a year in 12 area counties. We've loved watching our students grow up over the years. Sometimes, they become young adults who help us teach our younger students! Join us in spotlighting some of these young adults who make Perfectly Polished so special...

We are pleased to continue our series in spotlighting members of our Perfectly Polished student staff, especially those who have been with us since they were some of our youngest Perfectly Polished students! Today, we spotlight William English. William began taking Perfectly Polished lessons in third grade; now he's a third year student at UGA.

No missed opportunities!

"There is one story that I get to tell every single year around a month before the Spring Formal and it's one of my favorites. When I was a young seventh grade man, I had this beautifully massive crush on a girl named Caitlin. I wanted to dance with her at the Spring Formal so badly but I was terribly nervous to ask her (even though Ms. Lassiter does an amazing job teaching confidence). The boys got to ask the girls for the first dance, but I got scared so I didn't ask her. The ladies got to ask for the second dance and she didn't ask me which was OK! The boys had to ask the girls for the third and final partner dance and it was my time to shine and ask her. I would honestly like to tell you that I asked her for that dance. But I didn't. I didn't get to dance with her at that Spring Formal and I would never get the opportunity to dance with her again because she moved to North Carolina later that year. As heartbreaking as this was, I am very thankful for it because I learned from it, and now I get to tell this to students to encourage them to ask the partners that they desire. And if they don't, then there is a good chance they will move to another state."

Pushing through reluctance

"In all seriousness, if it wasn't for the persistence of my family, I would have ended my relationship with Perfectly Polished many years ago. I would 'forget' my tie and slacks at home, and by the end of the school day, they would be waiting on me in the office along with a note from my mother. My father would pre-tie my neck ties before he would leave on business trips to ensure that I had one to wear at that week's class...it is truly a family effort... I eventually realized that it was actually pretty enjoyable. I had the opportunity to dance with girls which is never a bad thing! I was beginning to really start implementing the table skills into my everyday life, putting me on the receiving end of many compliments at the dinner tables of family friends."

Staying power of social skills

"Perfectly Polished has been one of the single most powerful areas of my life that has had the most real influence on developing me into the man that I am today. And I chose to be an instructor at Perfectly Polished so that maybe the students will see how vital the program is to one's development and future."

Spring Formal Success!

What a fantastic Perfectly Polished Spring Formal!

Our Lead Dancers opened the night with a line dance—a very bright and neon one! (It ended with a bit of a bang.)

We had a record number of Perfectly Polished graduates return as floor leaders, who have the job of helping all students find their dance partners. It was great to see not only our most experienced dancers again—but also some of our youngest, who had the supreme confidence to make something up and keep going with a smile if they forgot a step!

Thanks to all 600 students and 3,000 folks in the audience who made it a success. Let's do it again next year! (More photos from our professional photographer, Duane Stork Photography, are here.)

Almost Spring Formal Time!

We're just a week away!

We are all working so hard for this year's Perfectly Polished Spring Formal, held at UGA's Stegeman Coliseum. We need a big space for it—600 students will be dancing, and we expect our usual number of around 3,000 guests in the audience. 

Our students have been perfecting numerous dances—the shag, waltz, fox trot, cha-cha, and so much more.  In all, we'll 23 different dances, including special numbers from Perfectly Polished staff, and some very special moments in which our students dance with their parents and siblings.

Our first Spring Formal was held in 1990 with 98 students. It's wonderful to see how we've grown, reflect on all those memories, and still have fun anticipating the dance each year. 

We can't wait!

Dessert & Dancing

Georgia's recent ice storms meant that Perfectly Polished had to delay our Valentine Dessert and Dancing event until recently—but for the 75 high school students attending, it was definitely worth the wait!

For nearly 20 years, we've held this party as the last hurrah before our big Spring Formal. And we live up to the Dessert and Dancing name! The evening features three courses of desserts...

...dancing...

...and signing dance cards in advance of the Spring Formal. 

It's a great opportunity to use all of the table manners they've learned over the years with Perfectly Polished, and we see it in action: gentlemen standing when ladies come to the table; entering the chair from the right; placing silverware in the "I am resting" and "I am finished" positions...our students always look forward to it, and so do we!

Perfectly Polished in a Year

As the school year winds down, so does another year of Perfectly Polished - the business we have loved and nurtured since 1986. It's the perfect time to reflect on some of our favorite memories of the 2012-2013 school year. In no particular order:

Working with the Ron Clark Academy....The Mystery Mistletoe Dinner Dance with the seventh graders....Training Week!...The Three-Course Dining Tutorial, where even the children had a great time (really!)...The Cotillion Club Tea Dance with the eighth graders....Our Valentine's Dance....The Spring Formal....Watching our students and staff keep cool on Conan!

We can't wait to see what the next school year brings!

You are cordially invited....

...to our Spring Formal! 

Perfectly Polished will "Light up the Night" on Saturday, March 30, 2013, 6:30 p.m., at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, GA. Last year, around 3,000 guests came to see 600 of our fantastic students dance, our staff receive awards, and Perfectly Polished graduates assisting on the dance floor. It is a wonderful night and we hope you join us this year!

Just see how we've been getting ready...

Hope to see you there!

Spring Formal & Dance Cards

Our next Spring Formal is right around the corner! (Remember last year's?) You can expect to see more behind-the-scenes updates of our Perfectly Polished staff leading up to the big day, but for now, we'll bring up a very exciting aspect that may be new to some readers.

Dance cards!

One of our staffers is filling out dance cards—trying to figure out how to dance with several young women on the same night. Can he do it? Of course!

These young ladies have their dance cards filled out. Hooray!

What are dance cards? Simply put, they're a way for women to keep track of all the people with whom they plan to dance! When dance cards were popular in the 19th century (especially in Vienna), they were not actual cards—more like small booklets in fancy cases, containing listings of the songs and composers of the evening, as well as blank spaces to record names of all the gentleman suitors! These dance cards made beautiful souvenirs, as you can imagine, but most importantly, they helped young women remember who their partners were for any of 10-20 waltzes of the ball.

Dance cards of the past could be quite fancy; before World War I, the dance card cases might be covered with precious metals and jewels. Americans were using dance cards by the 1900s, but theirs tended to be more humble paper booklets.

And what about the dance cards that we use? We use a simple booklet, printed in black and white, with room to write down names of future dance partners. Our students end up dancing with over 20 different people at our Spring Formals, giving them a chance to meet a wide range of people. And they still make great souvenirs!

Spring Formal!

We love our Spring Formal.

It’s a wonderful way to end a school year. Our students show their dance moves to an adoring crowd. We give awards to staff members. We get to see Perfectly Polished graduates again as they return to assist as floor leaders. As we watch them help current students find their dance partners and make sure everyone has a fun, safe time, we are so proud.

It's raining men!

A little bit country...

We held our first Spring Formal in a school gym in 1990 with 98 students. This year, we filled UGA’s Stegeman Coliseum with around 3,000 people to watch 600 students dance.

Umbrellas and cotillion dresses

The theme was “A Night of Thrills,” which meant that students danced to songs ranging from Harry Potter music to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” —complete with hilarious costumes and the immediately recognizable choreography from the video. It was a hit! (No one can accuse our dance of being boring.)

Cuz this is thriller, thriller night!

Nights like these remind us of something important: learning manners and social dance is FUN.