Saturday night fever!

In a small rural town in NSW, classic monthly ballroom dances are building community - and sparking some romances along the way.

- CAROLINE GLADSTONE

It's a hot Saturday evening in the Northern Rivers hamlet of South Gundurimba.

The temperature has cooled a little from the 33 degree peak, but it's still not a time for exertion in most people's books.

However, 30 dancers gather in the old community hall, beneath a corrugated iron roof bedecked with fairy lights and ceiling fans, to dance the night away.

For many in the group it's the second or third time they've put on their glad rags this week – an array of full-skirted dresses or sparkly tops and flowing pants – and headed to one of the old-time dances across the region. That's no mean feat for the participants, as each night has a program of some 36 different dances performed over a three-hour period, with a short break for the bring-a-plate supper.

While fleet-of-foot and young at heart, the dancers' ages range from 70 to their early 90s, with Elizabeth Fairfull and Ray Musgrave holding the title of the oldest on the floor, both turning 92 this year. Ray stresses he's four months younger than his partner, who he met at a dance two years ago.

When not treading the hardwood boards of the 115-year-old South Gundurimba Hall, 10 kilometres out of Lismore, the dancers do the rounds attending similar gatherings at nearby Mullumbimby, Rous Mill and Ballina. While most are monthly dances, Ballina has a large enough population to run weekly events on Wednesday nights, which attract around 40.