THE COUNTRY DANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 10

THE COUNTRY DANCE.

OLD STEPS FAVOURED. CONTRAST WITH THE CITY. A BACK-BLOCKS EXPERIENCE* Whatever the latest dance in the city, the country still retains the dances which were wont to gladden the hearts of our < fathers in the good old days. The foxtrot may change, the Charleston and the Black Bottom may come and go, but the waltz, the schottische and the onestep still hold sway in the back-blocks. The back country has not yet tasted "jazz." Hundreds of Aucklander? are looking forward to a night of revelry on Satur- . day, when the New Year will be-"danced in" as has been done many times before. The cabarets will be open wide that night. There will be a spirit of goodwill and freewill abroad—King Carnival will be duly enthroned. The country, too, will celebrate, but along different channels. While city people are responding light-heartedly to "So Blue" and "Moonbeam, Kiss Her for Me," country folk will be gliding and twirling Ahrough the old waltz tunes. These quaint, old-world dance evenings are not easy to find. One has to penetrate far into the scattered settlements or seek the back-waters where communication with the outside world is haphazard. The country dances are all on similar lines, tha description of one is applicable to the others. Typical Bncls-blocks' Dance, It was a plain and fancy dress ball in an isolated district on the western coast of the Middle North. The hall, 1 a typical wooden structure, was well filled, not only with dancers, but aJso with admiring matrons. Evidently the willing helpers had prepared the hall in ' the afternoon —there was plenty of ! greenery round the walls. 1 The orchestra occupied a corner of the stage. It consisted jof a piano, upon 1 which a Maori youth, rising 20 years, 1 strummed out the music. Dressed .in white with a flowing sash at bis side, ' he presented a Hawaiian effect. This native —as far as can be remembered his ' name was Jack--took his pleasures rather | sadly. He was wedded to the instrumeat and hardly left it during the whole i evening, which lasted until about 3 a.m. Vamping was bis specialty and this the dancers really enjoyed. He scorned the modern pieces, giving what seemed to i be an endless repetition of "Doodle, De 1 Doo" and "Show Me the Way to Go ; Home." On one occasion ho unbent 1 sufficiently to oblige with a vocal refrain but, being a great believer in the orthot dox, he was above punctuating the re--1 gular words with any "wow wows." * Jack played by ear. He did not pick i his pieces, but merely glanced at the > programme which rested in front of him r and set off at a nerve-racking pace. He professed ignorance of the latest pieces 5 for which he was very sorry. However, ; he was apparently a well-known char- ■ acter in the district, and had evidently ■ served in a similar capacity at more than i one dance. A great favourite, he was * sure to please with whatever he chose to 1 play.. The Programme of Dances. To a city person, the programme was startling. "Jazz"- did not enter into it at all. There were approximately 16 dances in all—the list being a repetition of waltzes, valetas, la rinkas, d'alberts, schottisches, and one-steps. At first it looked very much as though the visitor would be forced to sit out the whole evening. Thanks to a high school training he knew the waltz. That helped him, 1 and for other dances he managed to improviso a jerky foxtrot which could not 3 have been other than ugly. But those [ who have never sampled the _ country dance are always out of the swim when they aro faced with the old dances. Bei- * tween it and its city counterpart, there - is a world of difference. As it was a fancy dress ball, many had ' come in costume. There was, of course, ' the inimitable cowboy, the _ harlequin, ' and the Indian rajah and his princess. > The Spanish beauty was there with E mantilla and all, and old English dresses j were not wanting. At most bal'ls there is always one person at least to imper- ' sonate a member of the opposite sex. It i was so in this case. But it was a good impersonation, carried out successfully by an English, public school boy. It is marvellous how these youthful English workers have spread over the country. They are met with everywhere, often in the most out-oi'-way places. The "hip-pocket flask," which is said to degrade the city dances, had its prototype at the ball in a keg of beer brought along by a party of youths. The amount they consumed was not calculated to harm them in any way. The Journey Homeward. The danca was enjoyable, and the only drawback was when the visitor found that he had missed the motor-lorry which was to take him back from the ball. It is not pleasant to be stranded three miles from home at 2 a.m.. with no means of conveyance. But the country is re- [ nowned for its open-handedness. A - newly-found friend was quick to offer a i bed for the night, The offer was as i quickly availed of. The young folk in the country, even i the girls, often ride a considerable dis- , tance to attend a dance. In the winter, when the roads are bad, horses form the i only means of conveyance. Their homeward journey over somewhat Harrow and I dangerous roads is sometimes a risky busii ness. In this case, the visitor had to proceed on horseback over a road, with . which he was not acquainted. It was an ■ uncanny experience—on one side high i banks rose to meet the sky, while on the other the faint gurgle of water sounded far below at the bottom of somi deep gully. The terrors of darkness are great, and it was a distinct relief when the end of the journey was reached^,