DINNER—AND DANCE MUSIC.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 29, 11 March 1914, Page 5

DINNER—AND DANCE MUSIC.

LONDON BY NIGHT. I never -thought that I should be reminded of;'' Cranford'' at the Trocadero,. Cranf ord was an excellent iplace! in its way,-and the Trocadero is ex- j celleht also; • but the ways of the two places stand—l have always thought—very far apart. But last night fur- j nished the link between them, writes Arthur Machen in the "Express." | It was somewhere about half-past i eleven of the night. The red and white and gold supper-room —all restaurants | should be red and white and gold, just: as all taverns should be ancient dark j mahogany —was filled with smart-look- j ing people. Some were in the stage of j oysters, some had already attained to j the grade of the fine, the black coffee, and the big cigar. The wise were relishing the delicate flavour of-the* Provencal olives and rejecting the briny Spaniards, whose sole merit lies in their size. It was altogether a typical scene of modern London by night; elegant, cheerful, and decorous. And then there sounded from the band in the gallery an old measure, sweet and gracidus; an air of the-kind that one associates with the plucked wires'"' of ancient, humming, resonant harpischords; and int6 the centre of the room amidst the supper tables two exquisite advanced. With their entrance was the entrance of the eighteenth century. And they forthwith began to dance the minuet de la and I thought of: "You and I remember the Assembly Room, I am sure, Miss Matty! and the minuets de la cour!" A BYGONE MEMORY.

There was something curiously delightful in this entrance of a past age intb a twentieth-century supper room. The minuet in "The School for Scandal", is very pretty, but it is part of a show and separated from us toy the footlights; at the Trocadero it w;as in our midst; the diverse of 1770 and 1914 met on the same floor. The lady in her ..stiff, flowery furbelows, with her powdered hair and the black patch on her .cheek, the gentleman in his wig and long, brocaded coat, his three-cornered hat poised gracefully in air; they bowed and sank and" rose and advanced and retreated as graciously as might be, and traced their dance pattern to the pattern of Mozart's music.

Then another couple gave us the Tango by way of contrast. A gavotte followed, danced by the brocaded pair, and then the Maxixe, which is a matter of queer skips and rushes. And neither Tango nor Maxixe struck me as worth the measures which the London children used to dance in back streets, to the music of the vagrant piano-organ. I do not understand why bishops and archbishops and cardinals bother themselves to ban these queer dances; they ban themselves- by their inherent stupidity; WILL THE FASHION LAST?

In the intervals of supper and of the dances I waa talking to the manager of the Trocadero about this new accompaniment of eating, "We have been giving these dances," he said, "since November, and I think we still stand alone as far as. the minuet is concerned. There are minuets danced at Claridge's, but these are done by the Minuet Club, and are not open to the public." ~, "Do you think that the fashion will last?" - r-

"Not very long; it's a passing fashion, and nothing The vocal concert may take its place; at present that is limited to Sundays. So far people like these dances well enough. I don't suppose the serious gourmand would care for them, but for the majority of people dinner is Jjjcind of entertainment. The plft£6 &jid the food and the band and the dance all count; but it is the companion who makes the success of the meal.'' - And the opinion of the' Trocadero management as to the dance utiring supper is the general opinion of the Restaurant-keepers of London. Several of the largest restaurants have steadfastly refused to meddle With the hew

mode in ahy shape. POOR TANGO! "We wouldn't go in for the tango under any circumstances," said the Ritz, •'' nor, indeed, for any dances during meals. We .have had many Applications from parties who have wanted to give tango dinners or suppers, but they have all been refused. And we do hot intend to introduce any singing." "We keep a restaurant, not a music hall," the Carlton declared.' "We do not intend to accompany our meals with singing, or cinematograph films, or dancing —hot even with the tango." The Criterion has a "Vaudeville Supper. " "No, not the tango," the manager said. " The tango is all over. We have two-step dances and waltzes. But' I don't think this will last for very long." And the Savoy has a "Tango Supper," and may try the minuet, but is also of opinion that the dance during supper is merely a passing craze. And, by the way, I must say that I could almost feel it in my heart to be sorry for the poor tango. Never was anything so detested; not a single restaurant that for the time harbours it has a good word to say for it, and one gentleman whom I interviewed went so far as to declare that if a daughter of liis learned it he would be tejnpted to kill her. I think that this is going somewhat too far; I would rather arrange that she should dance it before my'enemies, before those persons whom I "wished to condemn to the Malcbolge of boredom. MOZART AND THE MINUET.

But, on the general principle, it seems to me that any festive circumstance, such as music—if it be not too loud—or dancing, is commendable as an addition to dinner. If we lived as pure creatures of science we should take our food as we take our doses of medicine, without pleasure and without gladness of any kind. A man would be prescribed his dosage of proteids per diem, and he would swallow them in his bedroom morning and evening, as he swallows his ammoniated quinine and his liver pills. Happily, however, we have not yet descended to the depths of regulating our lives on strictly scientific principles, and I for one see nothing amiss in this addition of Mozart and the grave brocaded minuet to my oysters and Chateau Yquem.