NEW DANCES.

Waipukurau Press, 5 June 1922, Page 4

NEW DANCES.

TilE VAI.SE PLV iVLi i. • ( .‘A • !'.), .*■(» !”i, t yj jt:»%* 'iai'i'.s this year us of iii'v. forms o “ which li.ivo 'reudv been popuiui 'Onio veers (nrtles a ., ,-xi ert in London "Mormitg I'ost"; Tin l ■ i:o'. ei'y. oi .-o'.n .a. lhe s impl. ! tiw-y tango, which hm been ily up of jute j,,- parD. ;lBi i • ■ i '. ni; i.-.'i,tiie fontim-nt. "’ftu:- - e natii 'di Jo,dji . ;i! m-. tiiijug -io i;iyi:n-n '.’.it!: I Hoc, |c<i._ : i. foji; I ".-'it re:' 1 1! i 11m \ o’:i;r! non- mi.. ■•; rf ■' look away the breath of Am■■■j; ; i'.pglisji visit,.rs to th.' Mari- ■ ■■l'aire in Paris fourteen of (jf- ■ - 1 ' ,)s ago. 11 must ' hat e lim u riant of this dance a duex * i ,'iompicii lite remark of th'* •pi o n; ‘tired dowager jo one of the late Hector Munro’s short stories: "■Well. .1 i really love another, J. siippo t it doesn’t matter." The new balli. -go has uotiijng in common 'i ; i • p.’rvi-r.-ion.s of what was it s li :: j rverted Sj'.aids), dance except " sr.i. e, and there .-eems to be no re. .- .a i.hatever why even the name should le retained. Ail tin l complex evolutions, which only the highly-train-t.aimnl ' yol'essimm's could make pleasing ;md picturesque, .have utterly van isii'.'-l, a. (I al! that is to bo found in I'.ei,' ph'-i'; is a scries c.f four tigures whi'-li anybody can darn in a lesson

or tv o— though to weave them juto ti suave luythm of the music is a much moi'; difficult business. The dancer:', hold as in the vulse, and rite Cour figme;; ar? (I) the simple walk, (2) the prom nude, ('■>) the turn (vnelta), and the ...co step. It is rather charming when properly danced, but I have my doubts as to whether it will become very popular in this country except among the minority of accomplished da titers. Moreover, there is now a marked tem'imy—none can s ay how Car it will go—-to talk about reviving the old dam-s v.liich were, after all, vigorous diver for athletic youths ami high breathing maidens. The real valse is rapid y being restored to its old position in popular favour-- mil what the older (I C , called the Kensington (tote style, which suggested a jnxti posit ion of rajlway semaphores, but the lively later dsy val.-e. in which a couple, the music swaying them like the wind in a blossoming tree, do md only revolve, but also circulate in the, ballroom. It is true the fox trot i« .still the piirnc faviiitjite, but it is—-or very sooii will be—affected by the. joyous spirit of the true va’se. The kind of fox trot wlqeli lias been winning prizes in competitions is mechanical to a degree; so much so, indeed, that it has struck the writer i mote than once that the necessity for mu-ic has passed away. A fatal erili- : <ism. surely! For 1 is tantamount to . saying that an art-form, .'it first a .sc- ; quem-e of living poses, ,has been swal- ; lowed up by a cold and impeccable i technique. A dunce ceases to deserve j the name when it is uo longer inspired . by a reuse of musical rhythm, and that | is just what has been happening to the. ! fox trot as performed by London prix.' winning amateurs.