Weddings
The "first dance" of a married couple is a popular element at many post-wedding celebrations in modern European and American traditions. Exactly like an old-fashioned ball, the idea is that the married couple, as the guests of honor at a dance, open the dancing, not that they perform a choreographed duet for spectators. First dances, because they are intended to open the dance for all guests, are inappropriate and therefore omitted when there is no other dancing planned for the guests. Sometimes, to further the traditional gender roles of father-daughter relationships in weddings (similar to 'giving away') the bride and father of the bride may share a dance either as the first dance or after the husband-wife one.
In the past, the first wedding dance was commonly a waltz. In modern times ballroom dancing is no longer a widespread skill, and rehearsing the "first dance" has become a lucrative business for dance studios and independent dance instructors. Today more popular dances include the foxtrot, merengue, and swing. Alternatively, many couples just do a "slow dance". More recently, some couples have been known to introduce a surprise into their dance to shock and humour their audience e.g. by dancing to a song in a mock disco style.
Read more about this topic: First Dance