SWAY AND SWING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 227, 24 August 1938, Page 12

SWAY AND SWING.

NEW ZEALAND DANCING.

AUCKLAND, Aug. 22. When interviewed Miss Phyllis Havlor, who is on a visit to Australia and. New Zealand for the purpose of conducting examinations for the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London, declared that from what she had seen during her visit to New Zealand, she found it hard to comment on the style of dancing in New Zealand. “Of course,” she said, “those dancers whom I have examined compare quite favourably with dancers in other parts of the world, but they are hardly representative of New Zealand’s true dancing style and even lack the finished poise and carriage that is essential for the perfect ballroom dancing. In New Zealand you seem to have adopted the sway and swing that is so big a feature in American dancing, and which lacks , the grace and' smoothness of the English style. /“England,” she continued, “is universally recognised as the home of good ballroom dancing. At conferences that the society holds in London, Germans, Danes, Swedes, Frenchmen and representatives from all countries conic to learn the latest style, and English instructors are sent out by the society to teach in other lands. Deferring to the craze for “The Dig Apple,” and its English version The Lambeth Walk.” a dance derived from the strut of the cockney, Miss Haylor said they were just games, which were fun at a party, but they could hardly be called dancing. She was verv sorry, she said, not to have had a better opportunity to sample New Zealand hospitality, but her visit had been a rush from one examination to 'another, with tlie evenings spent seeing various dance places, and having seen these she realised why New Zealand dancing was of such a standard, as the crowded floors gave little scope for trying any sort of steps.