I think a thing that is criminally overlooked in a lot of fantasy world building (and when it's done it's often done badly) is dancing. Like dancing was such an important element of polite society. It played such a huge role in people's lives. Like literally for a lot of European history you really didn't have someone who'd explicitly teach you manners (as a noble/upper class person) bc that was the job of your dance teacher. In the baroque era how to walk properly, how to sit properly, how to greet people on the street, that was all considered a form of dancing.
And it was in many ways considered almost a more important skill for men than for women at times. On the one hand because dancing teaches you a lot about balance and if you are living at a time where sword fighting is in any way still considered a relevant prestigious skill for men, you should really have impeccable dancing skills. A lot of sword fighting manuals explicitly talk about how it is good for a fighter to also be able to dance well BC it will drastically improve their footwork. And also all that complicated footwork in many dances? If you're wearing a long dress nobody is gonna see what your legs are doing. But if you're wearing pants or (more likely) hot pants and stockings, people will see what your feet are doing and judge you for it.
It was considered the thing that teaches you how to move your body with grace. How to keep your posture.
I am exhausted by the amount of times I've had to read about feasts in novels without there being any mention of dancing. My brother in Christ THE DANCING IS LIKE THE MAIN REASON FOR HAVING A FEAST. Dancing was how you met people, how you snuck in a conversation. When Elisabeth Bennet complains, that Mister Darcy doesn't talk while dancing this is BC that is what dancing was for. Especially Playford Longways are notorious for this BC in most of them one couple has very little to do while the other is dancing a lot. These days many dancing masters use variations of these dances where couple two has more to do, because these days the balls where these dances are danced are generally not to find a potential partner in marriage but rather BC you enjoy dancing.
Also, especially the earlier you are and the more important your court is, the order people were in at the beginning of these dances was set by status. And you most certainly knew your place in those longways. And especially the earlier ones would also generally have the first couple or the first two couples start and then initiate the dance with more and more people as they made their way down the Longway. Le Pistolet is a wonderful example for this.
Nowadays, in the historical dancing community, we usually don't do this anymore except for role playing reasons. Because again: We dance for fun and with equals.
So please please please, make your characters dance more. And don't make them not dance bc they are not 'girly' and don't make them be bad at dancing without there being a good reason for it and without other people making it a thing. (Aka if they can't dance BC of a disability, that is fine/they might experience ableism over it. If they can't dance bc of their low standing or BC they can't be bothered to learn, this will be considered a moral failing. We have plenty of letters and diary entries of people gossiping about other people not knowing the fashionable dances.). They can not like dancing. They can be bad at it BC they have two left feet and no sense for rhythm. But please make them dance. And if you point out particularly bad dancers, please, maybe consider also pointing out incredibly good dancers.
While we're talking about this: Class is of course a very important factor here. The Remnants podcast has a few wonderful episodes that include people who have swindled themselves into upper class circles, avoiding dancing because they know that dancing would immediately blow their cover. Similarly, a king would always know the newest steps and have perfect etiquette, or at least be expected to. But if your character is the child of some minor noble from god knows where, there will be a little more lenience. At least face to face.
Or at least this is the historical precedent. You, the author, can of course do whatever you want forever. But you should ask yourself how it could happen that a ruler who grew up in the middle of high society didn't end up with decent etiquette education, or how someone with no ties to these very high-status circles did, and how the rest of your world would react to that.
For some examples through the ages: we have Lo Spagnoletto, a 16th century Italian dance written down by Cesare Negri, La Bourgogne (one of the more important dances of the Baroque era, here without period clothes, but notice both the arm and foot work. I am learning this one right now and even the feet alone are so difficult to get right) or the Quadrille Francaise, one of the most important dances of the 19th century, here in a version that is like I learned it, although very ballet-like (and I am told very Italian, but the person I learn 19th century dancing from is on a lot of balls in Italy so it makes sense that he has that style of dancing. This is another thing: even when dances themselves were widespread different styles still emerge and are still present/redeveloping today. 19th century dances are danced differently in Russia compared to say the UK) or here in a version that doesn't require quite as much waiting by having all four couples do everything at the same time.
Now, do note that these (except for the Quadrille) are generally considered to be the more difficult dances of their time. At least in the modern historical dance community. Many people dance only Arbeau (a French 16th century dancing master who wrote perhaps the most well known 16th century source on dancing, the Orchésographie) and John Playford (who published the Arbon dancing master, which is a very important source for baroque dances, although it should be said, that Playford is often danced with very simple steps, BC his descriptions are very minimal and this isn't wrong per se, but depending on the specific era this is BC it was assumed that people knew the proper steps that are described in more detail in other dancing manuals of the time. But again, these steps changed throughout time and while just about anyone at Versailles would know the newest fashions and follow them, someone in some backwater castle in Scotland didn't necessarily)
If you have any questions about dancing please feel free to ask me. I am far from an expert but I have been doing this for many years now, I have read some dancing manuals and I have experience with dances spanning several centuries.
