Washington attends ball in his honor, May 7, 1789

On May 7, 1789, the first US Presidential inaugural ball for George Washington in NYC took place. It was not an "official" ball, but it was a dance held in his honor. The inaugural ball and inaugural address have become long term traditions though not constitutionally mandated. From the article:

"Washington attends ball in his honor, May 7, 1789

On this day in 1789, George Washington attended a ball in his honor, a week after being sworn in as the first U.S. president.

Another decade passed before the practice was revived, with the inaugural of James Madison, the fourth president. Madison’s vivacious wife, Dolley, threw a gala for 400 people at Long’s Hotel in Washington. Tickets cost $4.

Since then, inaugural balls have become more or less a quadrennial presidential fixture.
However, Woodrow Wilson, in 1913, and Warren Harding, in 1921, both passed up balls, citing the need to economize.

Franklin Pierce canceled his in 1853 because of the recent death of his son.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was another exception, choosing to work through the night rather than attend his first inaugural ball in 1933. He canceled the next three galas because of the Depression and World War II.

At the first ball, Washington danced with many ladies who were considered the cream of New York society. New York was the temporary site of the newly established federal government.

Eliza Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton, the treasury secretary, recorded her impressions in her memoirs. She wrote that Washington liked to dance the minuet, a dance she thought was “suited to his dignity and gravity.”

The record number of inaugural balls attended in one night by a president is 15, set by President Bill Clinton in 1997.

George H.W. Bush ran a close second, making 11 stops in 1989.

Aside from informal events, 10 official balls were held for President Barack Obama’s Inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009. Ticket prices topped out at $5,000.

They were the only balls Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended that evening, putting him in third place."