Rudolph Valentino. Ray Charles. Jerry Lee Lewis dancing on pianos, for God's sake! Dance in Seattle had anything but a boring 20th century. We were prowling around the internet this morning and discovered that today is the anniversary of the date the city banned a really bizarre but popular 1920s and '30s fad called "dance marathons" within its city limits. That was enough to pique our interest, and we've spent the day researching what was happening in the world of dance during the 20th century. Here are some of the highlights, thanks in large part to our favorite local history website: HistoryLink.org.

1914: Nellie Cornish founds the Cornish School of Music (later broadened to "School of the Arts") on Capitol Hill. The famous Martha Graham, avant garde dancer, would be one of her first dance instructors; as of 2008, Cornish is still one of few nationally accredited schools of the arts.

May 30, 1923: Suave actor Rudolph Valentino and his second wife, Natasha Rambova, dance the Argentinian tango at the Hippodrome on 5th and University after judging a local dance competition/beauty pageant. Three years later, Valentino would die young and become the stuff of Hollywood legend.

Dec 1, 1924: City of Seattle Ordinance #48022 is signed into effect, placing new restrictions on licenses, "places of amusement," entertainment venues and "certain occupations." These restrictions will affect the city's dance venues until a 1977 ordinance lifts the regulation of underage dance halls.

July 23-August 11, 1928: Seattle proper's first and last dance marathon is held at the Armory. Shortly thereafter, such events were outlawed by city ordinance on Sept 5, 1928. The ban meant the dances just moved over the city boundaries into unincorporated King County, where one particularly epic dance-off lasted 1,545 hours straight in 1931. The disreputable but appealing marathons were finally banned by Wash. state in the late '30s.

So much more after the jump, including the spicy CD destination club Birdland and Seattle Bandstand!

"Pole Dance With A Partner" by Seattlest Flickr Pool Contributor smastrong. Dang.

1941: Lemeul Honeysuckle opens the Savoy Ballroom in the Central District, a predominantly African-American dance and music venue which would change hands and names throughout the next twenty-odd years but which was the hot after-hours jazz and R&B club in the '50s. Notable jammers: Ray Charles, the Dave Lewis Combo, Jimi Hendrix and Ron Holden. The Savoy Ballroom, known since 1955 as Birdland, finally closed its doors in winter of 1964.

March 16, 1958: Seattle Bandstand first airs on KING-TV. The show, like the national American Bandstand phenomenon, features local teens dancing to the "King Size Ten," or the top ten radio hits of the week; the show was such a commercial success that Yakima Bandstand, Spokane Bandstand, and Portland Bandstand soon followed. Seattle Bandstand broadcast live weekly on Saturdays until 1961.

1960s: Parker's Ballroom, now a sports bar on Aurora, is in full swing as a rock n' roll dance club. Famous people are showing up all the time, including a certain man fond of saying, "Great balls of fire!" HistoryLink's got the story:

Besides whipping the crowd into a riotous frenzy, the maniacal Lewis also had the poor judgment to leap upon the house's new piano (as per his usual live routine) to dance. Well, so the story goes, Mrs. Shoemaker rushed out on the stage mid-song driving the rockabilly wildman down with a broom and publicly scolding him for scratching her instrument with his shoes. As a direct result of that incident the management swore that there would henceforth be no more rock 'n' roll dances at Parker's.

1972: Pacific Northwest Dance, now known as the Pacific Northwest Ballet, is created under the leadership of Director Leon Kalimos and "ballet mistress" Janet Reed; two years later the School of Pacific Northwest Dance opens. With two reputable dance schools (Cornish and the PNB School), Seattle's identity as a fine arts center for the Northwest is cemented.

May 1985: Controversial church/teen nightclub The Monastery closes after allegations of child prostitution, drug use, and other illegal activities involving minors arise. By 1986, minister/owner George Freeman is in jail. The Monastery controversy and other factors lead to the Teen Dance Ordinance, which goes into effect on July 29, 1985 and places drastic, scene-numbing restrictions on underage dances and shows.