IS DANCING REALLY HEALTHY?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19957, 26 November 1926, Page 16

IS DANCING REALLY HEALTHY?

The answer to this question depends entirely on the dancer. We hear so much about the various ills and disabilities suffered by the community trom dancing in general that there are evidently pitfalls for most of us in this comparatively innocuous pastime. The soundest rule for everybody is to dance in moderation. Taken in moderate doses, a good dance after the day’s work is an admirable tonic. The evils of dancing are nearly ail traceable to the abuses of early morning parties, excessive smoking, and a resort to cocktails because they are fashionable rather than because they are enjoyed. Dancing for the average person can bo as healthy as tennis or any other outdoor pastime if a few simple prohibitions are borne in mind. It may pound ridiculous to suggest to people that they should avoid overcrowding ballrooms, hut if they want a healthy dance they will certainly have to do so. . Another point to bear in mind is your stylo of dancing. The Charleston has not helped matters in this direction. It has made dancing ugly, and ugliness, giving ns it; does very little pleasure, adds nothing of value to one’s individual well-being. Look after your dancing style, acquire grace and a (leetimr movement in the dances vou do, and you cannot but derive inspiration and physical improvement from the process. , . , Don’t dance for the sake of dancing, cither in summer or winter, or you will speedily be reduced to boredom. If you dance whenever yon feel the need of it you can never go wrong in your calculations. Perhaps it is true that we take our dancing too srlf-consciouslv and wonder whether wo ought to enjoy ourselves while the enjoyment is slipping away. But the warm and cordial atmosphere, the attractive lighting, the exhilarating music of an average ballroom are undoubtedly of enormous reeuperativo value to normal humanity, ami it is a sound instinct which makes for the dance Boor without paying too much attention to ulterior matters of health and sanity.—Home Chat. (Continued on page 17.)