Slow Dancing the Night Away for 10 Different Crowds

On Tuesday night, after an extraordinary day, one final extraordinary convention: before 10 different crowds, at 10 different parties, the new president slow-danced with his wife. While across town celebrities paid $10,000 (£7,000) a ticket to attend VIP events, these were the real after-parties, in the function rooms of the Washington convention centre, where the president leant towards his wife and said "thank you".

If there's one thing guaranteed to dampen democratic ardour, it's that staple of Hollywood, the red carpet. In Washington this week anyone who had ever walked one charged into town for an event more glamorous than the Oscars.

On paper, the night's most desirable ticket seemed a toss-up between two charity balls. One, the Inaugural Purple Ball, was sponsored by Moët and Chandon, and guests expected included Patricia Arquette, Ed Harris and Ashley Judd. Tickets were $2,000 for a champagne dinner and $5,000 for dinner and a handshake with opera sensation Il Divo - the economics of which would tax the best treasury secretary.

The other ticket to have was for the Creative Coalition Ball (Anne Hathaway, Spike Lee, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon).

As it turned out, however, the real sense of celebratory abandon was at the 10 semi-official inaugural balls, where campaign workers and volunteers had paid about $160 to party before their dancing leader. Obama had pledged to be there. It was the golden ticket.

The democracy of this set-up was a natural part of inaugural fever, but also a quirk of geography: the poshest parties were in parts of town cut off by roadblocks so guests had to abandon taxis and walk the last few blocks, leading to the spectacle of fancy people clinging to escalators anticipating encountering their first ever subway platform. At one point the transport system seemed taken over by people in black tie.

At the convention centre rock stars were allowed to play the 10 balls. Beyoncé and Sheryl Crowe did. But it was not about them. When the Obamas and the Bidens danced it was a fittingly surreal end to an extraordinary two years. Joe Biden and his wife moved to Have I Told You Lately That I Love You; the Obamas to the old Etta James song I've Been Loving You So Long. The first lady looked so tired she could have been in a scene from They Shoot Horses Don't They? The crowd, tired, swayed with them.

It was, perhaps, the last uncomplicated moment before the descent of a weird paradox that made people look at the T-shirts they had bought that morning and think - "Am I really going to walk around with a photo of the president of the US on my chest?" - and ponder the move from outside to inside of a new establishment, as well as the question of who would get to go too.