THE FOLK-DANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21153, 9 April 1932, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE FOLK-DANCE.

A SANE REVIVAL,

BY KOTATtE

Mark Twain, with his tongue in his cheek as usual, found in the British Empire tho complete fulfilment of tho Scriptural beatitude: "Blessed arc tho meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Mark was actually hurling a barbed gibe at what lie, in common with the majority of our critics abroad, considered tho worst feature of the English character, our calm assumption of inherent superiority. Tho Englishman in this view moves complacently through a world of divinely-ap-pointed inferiors, himself wrapped closo in the armour of proof his own exalted opinion of himself provides. It is not a ma tier to bo argued about. There if is, in the ultimate constitution of the, universe. But tho matter cannot be settled with an airy wave of the hand. Granted that there is some justification for so widespread a resentment —and where a judgment is repeated endlessly in different generations and nationalities there is almost certain to be some sure ground for it in actual fact—there are other aspects of our national character that make the problem much more complex. If the Englishman has tho highest opinion of himself, he counterbalances it by a self-depreciation unique among the great nations. No man is so prone to praise the choice blooms in his neighbour's garden and to belittle what he has grown himself. Ihe English passion for Free Trade is one expression of this instinct of self-contempt. And no phase of our national life is entirely free from our curious tendency to exalt what comes from abroad at the expense of what we have produced ourselves.

Far Birds. This defect in tho national character is nob any longer accepted as an immutable ordinance of fate. " Buy British " is the slogan to-day. " Givo New Zealand made articles a Chance " is our narrower local version of tho samo battle-cry. And it was time a new standard was raised in tho field to givo a rallying point to patriotism. • I confine myself, however, to the operation of this new spirit In one small field. It is only in the last few years that England has realised that she had a rich treasure of_folk-dances, English in origin and inspiration, thoroughly English in character, tho medium through which tho heart of rural England expressed itself joyously for hundreds of years, a genuine rovelation of tho essentially English soul., "Cecil Sharp is tho name most closely linked with tho re-discovery and revival of tho English folk-dance. Tho movement met with the usual ridicule. Once, the critics affirmed, the old dances were a natural part of tho English scene. They grew out of tho simplicities 'of a lifo that has passed away for ever. There is no place for them in- tho modern world. It is useless trying to turn back tho hands of tho clock. The man puts aside tho toys and games of his childhood, and tho nation outgrows the interests and pastimes of its youth. But the real strength of England lies in that rich stream of national life, nourished on English soil, moving <iown tho centuries quiet, strong, irresistible, carrying all the whims and follies, the fads and fancies of a dozen different epochs, itself steady and almost unchanging, the supreme fertilising agency in our national history, tho bond of continuity that links age with age. Any sincere expression of that English genius is an inalie.nable portion of our national inheritance. It cannot bo out-grown, though it may bo forgotten. But deep will always call to deep, though a thousand transient flippancies scream and chatter, and distract the wayward fancy for a time.

Imitation. English taste, led by tho unfortunate English sense of inferiority, during the nineteenth century substituted for the na-tive-grown dance the foreign importation. Tho process of borrowing had begun much earlier. The Elizabethans, who expressed moro fully than any other age both English self-assertion and English self-de-preciation, looked to Italy and France for tho cultural refinements of social life. They felt they wero able to hold their own in tho fields of thought and action, but they acknowledged sadly that they wero barbarians in social knowledge and practice. Tho nineteenth century, and still moro the twentieth century, abandoned all pretence of local patriotism, and frankly went to France or Germany or Poland or America for their dance forms. The tomtom of tho. jungle came to live in tho hollow thudding of the banjo, and later in the raucous bleat of the saxophone. The shufflo and scuffle of the flat-footed negro became le dernier cri of the English ballroom. It is interesting to notice that a hundred years ago Byron of all people protested against the introduction of the waltz from Germany; he thought it would j)lay havoc with English morals.

But tho modern folk dance movement is not concerned with tho sophisticated atmosphere of the drawing room or the dancing-hall. Its aim is to reinstato in public favour the old dances of the open air and the village greon. Even in New Zealand the results of Cecil Sharp's enthusiasm are increasingly manifesting themselves. The children aro being taught the folk-dances in the schools, and are getting all tho enjoyment out of them that has marked their use all down tho ages, and that contributed in no small measure to tho making of the long-lost Morrio England. In Christchurch some enthusiasts have gono out into tho highways and hedges, and found that the old dances still had thoir old appeal where any casual group could bo gathered to join in them.

Types. There aro three main types of English folk-dances. The first, the Morris Dance, is primarily a man's dance, though in its present form it makes provision for women as well. It began as a ritual dance, and probably dates back to tho days of Druidic Britain, and its movements had their rise in the worship of the prehistoric nature-religions. Later it developed into a, spectacular dance, and became an indispensable part of the ritual of public holidays. It was never a social dance; it was a pageant, a procession, a spectacle. It demands, says Sharp, vigour, agility, and powers of endurance, yet its characteristic marks are grace and control.

The Sword Dance is also in its origins religious, and seasonal. Like tho Morris it is spectacular rather than social. Tho Country Dance, actually the " contra" dance, with partners set over against each other, is tho survival of the old circle dance round somo object of special veneration —the maypole, for instance, or the midsummer bonfire. In all its forms it is pre-eminently social. Men and women have always equally joined in it. It has taken on a hundred different forms. Forgetting all its ancient past, it has become tho folk-dance of fun and jollity. It above all expresses the sheer joy of living. It is simple, homely, intimate. In its infinite variety, in its simplicity, in its friendliness, it of all tho types of folk-dance is likely to appeal to the public of to-day, and to lead them back to the genialities and kindlinesses of more spacious times.