The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1907 DANCING AS A PART OF EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 57, 30 November 1907, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1907 DANCING AS A PART OF EDUCATION.

Rhythm is, perhaps, the most fundamental principle of life. The physical phenomena of sound, light, and heat, consist of undulations according to rhythmical laws; the. heavenly bodies swing through space in rhythmical relations, with one another; the sea rises and falls in rhythm; the human heart keeps its measured pulsations in the very centre of one's being. In poetry, in music, in everything that man knows that is highest and most beautiful, in all the supreme products of the imagination, there is still to bo found some expression of this eternal principle., Dancing, is a translation into action of the human desire to respond to this principle and, even among the peoples lowest in the scale of civilisation, it is found as an essential element in every religious observance and iu every tribal festival. Marriage, death, harvest* spring, rain,

every notable event gains concreteness and actuality through the dance. It lias often been remarked that to a greater or less extent each child repeats in its own individual development the long history of the development of the human race, and it is only to be expected that the emotional life of the child will seek to find expression in the same forms as are instinctive to primitive man. Somewhat on the above lines Messrs. Gulick and Smith, in a late issue of " The World's Work," discuss in the abstract the subject of " Dancing as a part of education." They deal in the concrete with the work which has been actually carried out amongst the Manhattan children in New York. These dwell in crowded tenement houses for the most part, and their play-time has nothing better to offer them than a game of "hop-scotch" or "tig" among the dirt and bustle of the pavement. This, as the authors of the paper claim, required supplementing as quite inadequate for the needs of the juveniles in the matter of healthy play—so vital a necessity for their due development. It was soon found that the ordinary gymnastic exercises did not meet the case, although these had an important part in the school routine, and undoubtedly counteracted the ill-effects of constant bending over desks and similar matters. Such exercises, however, are solely for the body; play is for the whole-child, , for its heart, mind, and imagination, as well as for its arms, legs, and chest. It must be noted that the children under consideration were not underfed or cruelly treated physically, but it was felt necessary to brighten their dreary dull-grey little lives. Accordingly, the Girls' Branch of the Public Schools' Athletic League was formed, and secured the co-opera-tion of the teachers and permission from the School Board to use the gyni- , nasium. Many of the former, who had volunteered because they "thought it would be a good thing for the children," have since declared that the dancing-hour is the hour in the whole week to which they themselves most eagerly look forward, that it doe! them more good, and somehow means more to them than anything else they have undertaken. As for the feelings of the the authors say: "It

wouldi be hard to describe the dances themselves. One has to see them to get an idea .of the spell they possess for the children —how every muscle of their bodies responds accurately and_ eagerly :to the exhilarating, wellcadenced rhythm of the music; how the, dancers move back and forth, gliding or tripping, crossing and recrossing, now fast, now slow, according to some intricate scheme at which an outsider can only stare and wonder; with how much zest and abandon all the mimicry 'of the Swedish and Russian folk dances is entered into, the quaint cajolery, the dignified ceremoniousness, the whole gamut of ■ mimic social life." >

But how are these results brought about.? Given a suitable playground, appropriate music, and a teacher with, a. knowledge of the particular dance, 'the children, quaint little natural pantomimists as they are, will do the. rest. Their enthusiasm will be tremendo.us, but this will not surprise any intelligent person who has watched a crowd of children playing "I sent a letter to my love/' and the even more inane " Bingo." Compare with these the interest, fun, witchery—as the case may be—of the Indian corn dance, the cachuca, the Swedish hop mor.anika, the weaving dance, or, even for that matter, of the Highland fling or the poi dance. Most of these are mentioned as being performed by the Manhattan children by our authors, who state that less than a year ago the movement was initiated by one teacher in two or three experimental classes. In less than a year the latter have increased in number to (38, and contain nearly 3000 children, while 175 teachers from the public schools have voluntarily: and without any hope of pecuniary gain taken up the work after the regular school hours. The authors say in conclusion: "There is every revision , for believing that a country, in which the children had been given a chance to develop their natural _ instinct for rhythmical and harmonious activity, would have a national life far richer, deeper, and more beautifjil than one where the main emphasis' in education was . upon bare intellectual trailing for the purposes of ' practical success." It is at least worth thinking about." We re-echo the final sentence: it is at least worth thinking about.