THE POETRY OF MOTION.

Western Star, Issue 810, 19 January 1884, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE POETRY OF MOTION.

Pew indoor amusements are more popular—among young people at any rate —than that of dancing ; and there are many reasons why it must always remain a favourite. To begin with, it is the only indoor exercise in which the young persons of both sexes can unite, and add to their enjoyment of that exhilaration which always follows proper exercise, the social pleasure of companionship. To us it has always seemed that it is as natural for young people to dance as it is for the birds to sing, and that, under proper regulations, it is an exercise to be encouraged. W. E. Ghanning, an American writer, thus writes: —“ Dancing is an amusement which has been discouraged by many people and not without reason. Dancing is associated in their minds with balls, and this is one of the worst forms of social pleasure. The time consumed in preparing for a ball, the waste of thought, the extravagance of dress, the late hours, the exhaustion of strength, the exposure of health, and the langour of the succeeding day—these and other evils connected with this amusement, are strong reasons for banishing it from the community. But dancing ought not therefore to be proscribed. On the contrary, balls should be discouraged for this among other reasons, that dancing, instead of being a rare pleasure, requiring elaborate preparation, may become an every-day amusement, and may mix with our common intercourse. This exercise is among the most healthful. The body as well as the mind feels it’s gladdening influence. No amusement seems more to have a foundation in our nature. The animation of youth overflows spontaneously in harmonious movements. The true idea of dancing entitles it to favour. Its end is to realize perfect grace in motion; and who does not know that a sense of the graceful is one of the higher faculties of nature ? It is to be desired that dancing should become too common among us to be made the object of special preparation as in the ball; that members of the same family when confined by unfavourable weather, should recur to it for exercise and exhilaration ; that branches of the some family should enliven in this way their occasional meetings ; that it should fill up an hour in all the assemblages for relaxation, in which the yojing form a part. It is to be desired that this accomplishment should be extended to the labouring classes of society, not only as an innocent pleasure, but as a means of improving the manners. Why should not gracefulness be spread through the whole community? From the French nation we learn that a degree of grace and refinement of manners may pervade all classes. The Philanthropist and Christian must desire to break down the partition walls between human beings in different conditions ; and one means of doing this is to remove the conscious awkwardness which confinement to laborious occupations is apt to induce.