Classic sociological study In 1932, The University of Chicago Press published The Taxi-Dance Hall: A Sociological Study in Commercialized Recreation and City Life by researcher Paul G. Cressey. In its examination of Chicago's taxi-dancing milieu of the 1920s and early 1930s, the book, utilizing vivid, firsthand interviews of taxi dancers as well as their patrons, brought to light the little known world of the taxi dance hall. The study is now considered one of the classic urban ethnographies of the Chicago School. Vocabulary As taxi dancing evolved to become a staple in the American nightlife of the 1920s and 30s, taxi dancers developed an argot of their own. In his 1932 sociological study, Cressey took note of the specialized vocabulary in the Chicago dance halls: Modernity Although the ticket-per-dance system of taxi dancing has become nearly nonexistent in the United States and around the world, some nightclubs and dance instruction establishments continue to offer dancers who may be hired as dance partners. Most often these dance partners are female, but sometimes male. Instead of being called taxi dancers, the dancers are today usually referred to as "dance hostesses." Dance hostesses are often employed to assist beginners to learn to dance or may be utilized to further the general goal of building the dance community of an establishment. In social settings and social forms of dance, a partner wanting constructive feedback from a dance hostess must explicitly request it. As the hostess's role is primarily social, she (or he) is unlikely to criticize directly. Due to the increased profile of partner dances during the 2000s, hostessing has become more common in settings where partners are in short supply, for either male or female dancers. For example, male dancers are often employed on cruise ships to dance with single female passengers. This system is usually referred to as the Dance Host program. Dance hostesses (male and female) are also available for hire in Vienna, Austria, where dozens of formal balls are held each year. Volunteer dance hostesses (experienced male and female dancers) are often used in dance styles such as Ceroc to help beginners. United States There remain a handful of nightclubs in the United States, particularly in the cities of New York and Los Angeles, where an individual can pay to dance with a female dance hostess. Usually these modern clubs forgo the use of the ticket-a-dance system, and instead have