New Energy.

The 1960s were an important era for dance, with innovative work from New York City Ballet choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, the emergence of Rudolf Nureyev as a major star, and the critical and popular acclaim of Martha Graham's company. But dance (especially ballet) was a minority art, considered too highbrow for mainstream American tastes and little viewed outside of New York. That image changed abruptly in the 1970s. With bursts of new energy from Broadway (Bob Fosse and A Chorus Line), movies (John Travolta), popular music (disco), and modern dance and ballet (Mikhail Baryshnikov, Twyla Tharp), dance was suddenly everywhere. By the end of the 1970s it had taken its place as one of the most popular art forms in the United States.

Boom.

Attendance at U.S. dance programs was about one million in 1964-1965. Attendance shot up...