The Decay of the Dance.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12254, 13 May 1903, Page 3

The Decay of the Dance.

It has been declared by aome very high authorities that the day of the dance is doomed beyond hope of redemption, and ihat the tinis is rapidly approaching when tJxs nali n» a siocial function will he altogether cut of date. 4ad this, iti s» ne of tne fact that ihe j»-«,dern. duncu lar excels in all external jiaruruutrs the aiiaa of thirty or forty >«ar:? iijjo, the demands of guests v/ere indefinitely sinyjler, and no fortune was req'uireil to be lavished on flowers for the proper decorations of the rooms and stairways of tfhe host's residence. Then, indeed, all timt was wanted was a good floor, no scarcity of partners, and good music to hear, whether the iiiddler could be seen or not. But nowadays the music filters through ferns and clustering exotics, and anybody would be shocked to see the movement of an arm plying a bow.

But the' final responsibility for the decline^ of the dance rests, after all, on the heasd of the male guest, for it is an indisputable fact that nine out of ten men in these degenerate days vote such occasions a "deadly bore." "Awfully sorry, but given it up," is the frequent explanation of the young men of the day. If they do attend a dance they do so as a personal favour to their hostess, in answer to an intploration disguised as an invitation. And then it is a matter of common knowledge and remark how tthey block doorways and stairways and cornersr— a bored, black bunch of ingarates who spend their time, in exchanging confidential inanities witih each other, or indulging in impertinent , and unkindly criticism of the 'partnerless girls who line the sides of the room, unwilling wallflowers who cannot bloom in the gay parterre of the parquet. These supercilious dancing men, wtho^don't dance, very often refuse to come to any gathering to whioh their atropied dancing capacity is their only passport, unless the excellence of the Supper j rovidod is favourably known to them. What satisfied their grandfathers doetf >:-:t suffice for them. Their a'nastors took a hasty "bite" and were olr lurain, whirling about the room : 'On *™ the dance, let joy be uuconfiivj.l -at hiv rate, «iot r>n*i«'.| to »hit c cbao.rogne cup. Hut our incl.-rn' young men are victims,, like most clvsm-.' of both, sexes, lo the sswll -.»• luxury, and every delicacy, especially those out of season, must be provided tot them ere they wil, condescend to appear on the scene at all. A<nd tjhen the supper must be provided for them at smart little tables, as in the gilded restaurants, which nowadays pamper even our dukes. On this consideration of their comfort they may perhaps do their duty to the hostess by; taking into sapper one of her girl' friends. ' . .. This deficiency , on the part of the i voting 1 man altogether blights any on'joyrnent a girl naturally expects to charms eVen if only with the aid of a wiping ' TnTagiiiratioin, - from 'the occasion. Her dress, and the arrangement of her hair and flowers haß pardon-

ably formed the subject for much ■. anxious consideration, but when she •■ '. appears, all radiant, on the scene of j action, hoping, as every girl, be she 'ever so humble, hopes to be, the goddess and desire of at least a pair or two of eyes, she finds herself one of a throng of similarly eager and expectant young women, whose only partners prove to be either callow youths, newly emancipated from the authority of the college don, or the elderly and good natured beau of considerably over forty who, nearer to the tradition of a bygone day, is willing to assist his entertainers to the best of .bis ability. That girl 39 lucky who. at the average ball, succeeds in half filling her programme. With the many, many blanks at her disposal, j what wonder if she thankfully grasps J at the casiual invitation from which the accents of pity are not altogether excluded? Perhaps deep down in her heart the victim of man's indifference ruefully compares the reqluest with that proffered in old days : "May I have the privilege, madam?" by the dancing man, when "gentle courtesy" had not yet vanished from the land, then given over to the stately minuet. In those days men. eager to obtain the favour of the fair, emulated each other in trying to 'earn xhis ceremonious dance, which tool; at lp.it-t three months to master, with its ra mberless varieties of rules filling, es we are told, a goodly-sized volume. To-day the masculine portion of the comtmunity has other things wherewith to exercise its mind; it hay neither the leisure nor vot the in«-:inn-tion to study the diffici'.t plops and changing positions of such dances The modern man simply slouches or snuffles through his programme with the minimum of trouble to himself and the minimum of ease to the hapless girl who, as a rule, has devot«d much time towards obtaining a full knowledge of a gentle art, whose delights hardly reward the diligence, and certainly not the hopes, of :ts acquirement.

In consequence of this indifference on the part of almost oas half of the gueats, a»uoh evenings are seldom brilliantly auocesdlul. How often does one read in accounts of society dances that "there were quite a number of men present," a 9 though it was a matter for remark, aa indeed it is. I heard once of two beautiful and well born young women who, lacking partners at a ball, had the splendid courage to stand out and dance with each other throughout tne evening.. The rooms were crowded, and it is needless to say that tihere was the usual crowd of listless idlers in the background, but history does not record whether the rehuke was lost on those partiqular men or not, or whether on future occasions they came to siuch festivities prepared to exert themselves to contribute towards the plea r Sure of others. The example of those girls is not generally followed, an,d, naturally enotign, for what girl would voluntarily choose to waltz with another, erven though that other happened to be her best friend? There are limiis even to the friendship of women. Yet if only that difficult problem of the partner was solved how satisfactory would be the position of the Dorothy of to-day, who is freed from all the restrictions which hampered her mother and great aunts in t(he years ago, when after each dance tjhe maiden was dem,Urely returned to the omniscient and omnipresent chaperone, to remain at her side until another partner claimed her hand. Did this vigilance make the sauce? Blut, after all, it must be recognised that the decay of dancing is not seen only am;ong men. It is to be accounted for by the fact that in olden days dances furnished the only opportunity for the meeting of men and maidens, and that in these freer days of easy intercourse it is found that the charm of dancing was not inherent in it-self, but lay only in its accidental 1 advantages. For then, much more than i»ow, the ball room was regarded as the nearest ante-chamber to the altar* Then, too, the custom of ''sitting out was unknown in the best circles, and any girl guilty, of the indiscretion would be seriously tak«a to task. And the procession to the euppiv room was made always lurijr Ui" pro*c r.tJon of the mamma. N^ 1 "" vis fcho mtidon allowed fre [iz :fy tc reppit the same partacr for fear of iopiimand and gossip. fn this coi-iii-r- •. Jim one recalls the auec l>:.e ivlatt-eJ of ib- TUngliaihrnan in .Par]?, a Iran s»n'J yt^tw indi'vi.i «il wh'j "*»*; f » i • •«= • obviously, a sfuffcrer from what was called the "spleen." For each consecutive dance he hald approached the sajne perslon. the very stoutest latly present. Her elver-watchful aunt, scenting a conqjuest, but wishful, aunt-like, to avoid all appearance 'of too easy a capture, demanded of. tne foreigner the intention of his explicit attention towards mademoiselle. "'Monsieur est-ce done pour Tepouser?" Surprised into candour, the monster had the effrontery to reply, "(Non. madame, e'est pour transpirer?'—Delineator.