THE MODERN CHAPERON.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 18, 23 January 1933, Page 9

THE MODERN CHAPERON.

(By LADY ALEXANDER.)

"Thank heaven for chaperons," sighed a yoilng girl to me the other night when we were discussing the upheaval of a custom that has existed in ballrooms for the past 10 years—that is, the custom which has permitted even a nice girl to go to dances urichaperoned and dance with the partner who took her the whole evening. And her expression of relief is, I dare say, felt by the majority of girls, for the return to chaperons will by ho means diminish the pleasures of the girl who is fond of dancing. Rather her pleasure will be increased, for once again there will be the element of romance in her dance engagements which has certainly been lacking under this modern arrangement. In recent years it has been next to impossible for a girl to dance with anyone at a dance excepting the man who escorted her. Even if the man has been willing to relinquish her to another partner there lias been 110 one to effect introductions. I his is where the chaperon will come to I the aid of both men and girls. With the return of the chaperon it may be hoped also that there will be a return of programmes—those happy symbols of romance that girls used to cherish for many years among their treasured possessions as a memory of glamourous nights in the ballroom. Dance programmes were an important social feature of any ball, and it is a thousand pities that they ever went out. They afforded a variety of partners—a happy state of affairs that has been impossible since the "partner" craze arrived. Ballrooms are crowded with girls, and men who are beginning to realise that a great deal of fun is denied them by the one-partner habit, and that they are not getting the fullest enjoyment from dancing. They are often either disappointed or slightly bored with their partners, an almost inevitable situation when people are constantly in each other's company. Again, the modern method of telephoned invitations to dances at the last minute, into which practice the young people of to-day have drifted—often allowing a girl scarcely time to drag on a dance frock, and run a comb through her cropped hair—will be succeeded by another ceremonious custom that is a link with the past, for gilt-edged invitations requesting "the pleasure" are once again figuring as a prelude to private dances. One way and another the dancing girl of to-day has a much better time in store for her and she will be able to nnet many more partners than has been possible hitherto. Chaperons will figure principally in the process of helping things. along. They will fulfil the duties undertaken by their Victorian predecessors and prob-

ably then dance themselves instead of sitting out with a Ipt more "stuffy" chaperons and talking scandal. Although chaperons have from time to time been the subject of much bitter criticism, and many mutinous tongues have waged, war against them, they .yet have their uses and are beginning to be appreciated. A modern chaperon will not be the austere pillar of authority that was the Victorian chaperon.. The dutie» that the Victorian chaperon took upon herself were excessive. Primarily, she was supposed to be there to keep an eye 011 her charges, introduce them to partners, and conduct them home after the To this she added the self-appointed right to disapprove of any partner and to j nip what she considered undesirable | friendships in the 'bud. Her peremptory vetoes often showed little discrimination. The new chaperon is hardly likely to err in this respect. Though she will not forget her responsibilities when joining in the fun herself any more than the / Victorian ladies forgot theirs, she will I not act officiously. She is broadminded and astute enough to know what her Victorian predecessor often failed to realise —that youth cannot be effectively or permanently deterred by "can't" and "must nots." The 'delights of dancing with a pretty partner are often considerably diminished for the men by the necessity for a long journey in order to "drop" his partner at her home, and then, possibly, a further long ride to reach his own home. Not only is he relieved of this obligation by the presence of a chaperon, but the saving to the pocket of the young man of to-day, who rarely has any too much money, will be appreciable. Another improvement that the modern chaperon will effect is frustration of the temptation with which young people are faced after leaving a dance to turn to a night club. Night clubs are amusing sometimes, but not every night. A girl loses much of her charm when she agrees to visit such a place, for she allows her partner to see her tired and heavy-eyed —for it is impossible to preserve wild-rose freshness and beauty in night club atmosphere—and risks placing herself in a position that might warrant that epithet dreaded by every niceminded girl —"cheap."