ON WITH THE DANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

ON WITH THE DANCE.

A COUNTRY GATHERING. WALTZES AND LANCERS. BASHFUL YOUNG MEN. (By .BARBARA-KERR.) Tbu dance is supposed to commence at 7.30 p.m., so when we arrive one hour later we iind that it Is r. .ected to begin within tlie next quarter of an hour, for certain. The schoolroom is tjaily decorated for the occasion; a bouquut of. paper roses hangs from the oil lamp in the centre of the ''room; a jar.of peaeh-bloseom stands on the piano; a cluster of starry clematis (what desecration!) depends from a shelf; and a jar of kowhai-is set on the mantelpiece. A thin man, with a drooping moustache and pale eyes, walks round the room sprinkling "ballroom powder" from a perforated tin. Sneezes and coughs sound from various parts of the room, but in a few minutes the powder has settled and the sneezing stope. One or two youths slide around to give the floor a glass-like surface, if possible. An Old Favourite. The pianist thumps out the strains of the beautiful "Blue Danube." She is really quite a good pianist, but the piano is so ancient and minus so many notes that thumping is a necessity. The M.C. appears at the doorway—he has just arrived—and calls out "Gen'lenien take your partners for the first waltz, please." As yet no gentlemen have appeared, although the ladies are seated on-desk's a"d forms against the walls of the room. The gentlemen crowd into the small porch or around the vfindow until a brave soul goes in and takes a partner, then there is a rush for the best dancers amongst the ladies. The solemn expressions of the supposed merry-makers amuse visitors, but after an hour or two the rigidity of their faces relaxes and the company is apparently enjoying the dance. A tall young man supplies in enthusiasm what he lacks in technique, and as he prances about the room the wallflowers and chaperons tuck ■■ their- feet beneath, the seats.

. A red-faced youth sits glowering at •the dancers. Someone else is dancing with his "girl,", M'ho is enjoying herself immensely. She does enjoy being thought a flirt, though she certainly does not look like one! : The N lancers follow next. As there are not! enough couples to make up a set, the. M.C. goes outside and persuades some of the young men to dance. "Come, on, be a sport. Don't keep us waiting all night." Bashfully —or otherwise —the youths choose their partners. The M.O. shouts directions for : each figure, the ladies give excited little shrieks as the men swing them off their feet, the bovs looking on stamp to the music. With all this noise it is not to be wondered at that people passing along the main road think the dances in this place are rowdy, if not rough.

A scliottische, a one-step and the valeta are danced; then supper is announced. The youths in the porch, and those outside, come in and range themselves along the wall, and as far as possible from' where the ladies are seated. An abundance of sandwiches and cakes are handed around. in baskets, and eaten to the accompaniment of smoky tea, the water for which has been boiled in a kerosene tin over an open fire outside. An Inarticulate .Chairman. After supper everybody wears an expectant expression. A presentation is to be made. At least, an acknowledgment of. a presentation is to be made. The chairman.is a singularly inarticulateman, so to avoid having to make a speech in public he has presented the gifts a week beforehand! Possibly many New Zealanders, who have suffered from longwinded speeches at presentations, wish that; others would follow this example. Farewell gifts were- given to a family of- three, and the wife is to acknowledge them. She begins well, stops once or twice to ask. "What was! going to. say next, dad?" After making quite a long. speech she says, with an expressive wave of her hand, "Oh, I had it all in the cowshed this morning, but it's forgotten now!" Some of the younger dancers, eager to recommence dancing, are rather pleased that the remainder of the speech has apparently been left "in the cowshed." While some of the older ladies- go out to the shed to wash the cups and saucers, the dancing is resumed, and continues until the early hours, terminating with the singing of that old favourite of country dancers, "Auld Lang Syne," and then home to.milk. Quite a successful dance, with nothing more modern than a one-step on the programme I