The rhythm moves America, ballroom rhythm that is. The past year saw a huge revival of the sophisticated pastime.

For the past several years, every season of television programming has been dominated by a theme. First it was reality tv, then fashion make-overs, and now ballroom dancing.

From the moment Dancing With the Stars, a reality show in which viewers vote for the best performance by a celebrity and their professional dance partner waltzed into our living rooms, America has been fascinated with ballroom dances such as the fox trot, rumba, and tango.

The popularity of Dancing with the Stars even inspired copycat shows such as Ballroom Boot Camp in which three regular people subject themselves to a rigorous five-week dance training program that prepares them for a real ballroom dance competition with a professional dance partner.

All of a sudden, ballroom dancing has become the thing to learn: sophisticated, romantic, and sexy, urging young and old to fill up ballroom dance classes like never before. According to CNN, 30 million people were involved in ballroom dancing last year.

Not only is dancing fun, it is also a calorie sizzler leading many to incorporate it into their New Year’s resolutions to trim the fat and you have to admit doing the swing with your sweetheart is a lot more appealing than running hills on a treadmill.

Whatever their reason one thing is clear, from New York to L. A, Americans are dancing the night away.