The Cakewalk was originated when slaves imitated their white masters doing ballroom dance. This dance was their form of satire. The slaves would dance as couples starting with the men in the middle and the women around them in a square. They would high step and strut to lively Ragtime tunes and the slave owners would judge them based on the elegance of the men, the grace of the women, and the creativity of the couple as one. In the end, the winner was rewarded with a large decorated cake. Most slave owners would not have rewarded their slaves for imitating them, and they probably did not recognize they were being imitated. However, the cakewalk was a pastime the slave owners enjoyed. Cakewalk is where the phrases “piece of cake” and “that takes the cake” derived.