SWING DEVOTEES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 282, 29 November 1938, Page 7

SWING DEVOTEES.

•JITTERBUGS , WARNED.

DANCES FOR ATHLETES. HOT FOR LOUNGE LIZARDS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, November 8. The grotesque style of dancing which fca« modern America in its frrip has been roundly condemned not only by admirers «f graceful dancing, but now by athletic experts. The "jitterbugs" were warned r>y Dr. Edward A. Ward, of Snpinaw. Michigan, thnt the shag, big apple, Susie Q. and truckin' arc dancea for athletes, not for lounge lizards.

Dr. Ward, immediate pnst president of the American Osteopathic Association, naid in Detroit: "These dances are violent exercise and require as much training and as good physical condition a* tennis, basketball, swimming and golf.

"The liysteria for awing musir. nml the hopping, grimacing dances that yo with it, will pay its adherents with thick auklee, broken maladjusted feet and an exhausted nervous system, unless they recognise its dangers,' Dr. Ward told the Michigan Osteopathic Association.

Dancers doing these ultra-modern steps were advieed to have their hearts tested flret. Then, he naid, musclee should be conditioned gradually.

On an intensive scale these daneee cause profound emotional reaction, Dr. Ward said. "True devotees of swing," he said, "ae may be observed in any dance hall, roll their eye«, wet their lips, become almoet frenzied with emotion and completely forget all but the barbaric rhythm of the music

Far-reaching Effects. "Americans follow a highspeed life of nervous tension under the best of conditions'. This constant strain interferes with digestion and the operation of the heart, and has far-reaching effects on other organ*. Further, to dissipate our emotions needlessly seems senseless." In another part of the United States a churchman, with many gestures, said: "Jitterbug' orgies are leading the youth of America to the primrose path of hell." To thiu a Loe Angelee columnist, Edward V. Durling, retorted: "Xonsense. Swing dancing ■jives the young people an outlet for their well-known supply of energy. What really leads youth to the |>iimn*c path of hell is restraint of the ""don't do this' and 'don't do that' type. !>t the kids cut loose with all the ewing dancirur they want, say I." "Jitterbug" at Sixty. One remarkable factor of the "jitterbug" style of darning is that it hae won much popularity among those not considered in the "youthful category, and many men of t>o are included in its ranks. In one of the many "jitterbug" contests staged in California, one which took place in Los Angele* witnessed a j stalwart man of close to 70 years of a<re (striding across the ballroom floor 'indulging in the grimacing and etrange style of so-called dancing. He maintained his speed until he collapsed and was compelled to leave the contest to tho younger generation, which was making the r*peod at a rather high tempo. I The oft pondered topic, "Can a 60-Iyear-old man be, a 'jitterbug'? , ' was 'answered conclusively in Bakersfield, j Southern California, when Von Voss, 60lyear -old physical culture advocate, joined the "Hep Cate" at the Bakersfield Swingeroo.

Using the peculiar language of the ''jitterbug" habitues, Vosg enorted: "Nerts to this talk about age limit*. When that combo gets in the groove and starts to send, watch me go. There's not an alligator can beat me when the agony pipes give and the dog houees

groan." Yews introduced what he called hie "sexagenarian swing" dance in an attempt to win one of the 50 dollars in prize* and golden loving cup offered the best "jitterbug."

A large part of the downtown district of Bakersifield was roped off for the giant session.