Popular New Dance

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 41, 18 February 1938, Page 11

Popular New Dance

THE SWING “My impressions of Sydney fashions, and London j’or that matter, too, were black and geld,” said Miss Jane Barrett, who arrived in Auckland recentty. “Everybody 'ias plain black frocks for both day and evening wear, and with them they are displaying an enormous amount of go Id bangles and gold chains. The effect is rather striking.” Miss Barrett herse! f was dressed in navy, relieved with a. small white cap, states the Star. Dancing is Miss Barrett’s main interest in life. Before leaving England she was a member of Miss Phyllis Hayler’s studio at the Empress Rooms in London. “The Sydney dancing is good,” she remarked, ‘‘but it lacks the finished style of the English. I do not know anything about the other Australian cities, but in Sydney their style is semiAmerican and lacks the dignified restraint of the London dancers. Just before I left Sydney they were trying to introduce si revival of the tango and I attended the-first tango tea held with this object at the Trocadero. ” Among her other dancing activities Miss Barrett had given demonstrations in London with Charles Thiebault, the famous originator of swing dancing. “Swing is just beginning to take hold of Australia,” she explained, “and I don’t think it will be long before Auckland dancers are enthusiasts, too. Of course, swing dancing is not so very different from the ordinary ballroom methods, but it is useful on small, crowded floors wheer there is insufficient space for the proper execution of ballroom steps. It is the'natural outcome of the craze for swing- -music,” she said, “and I think that it should be very popular here.” As well as teaching under Miss Phyllis Havler, Miss Barrett) ran a branch school in Sussex. She was also hostess at tie- Red Burn, an English club which is very popular among tho hunting enthusiasts of England.