The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1853-04-26
THE ABUSES OF DANCING.

this SIDE on the wafer. Bclls can reuu W WIN
profit, and mothors OF fond daughters, will find
much worthy their attention in il:-
Manners Of the Modern Ball Room.
Madam when YOU first came out or made your
debut for Thar was tho term in voguc-do you
happen to rcmenber what were tho man crs
of the ball room? Let us refresh your memo
ny. The staple da' ce was the quadri lc per-
haps not very lively piece of pantomime but
one which. ir m its nature, afforded ample OPP
portnnity fr convcr-aiion. you may call il
Irritation fyou like. (and was neither, in its form
too reserved nor too familisr. Ii was AL grace
and dec rum IL admitted of slipht and 're-
mulous pressure of the hand-nothing more
between parties ripe for declararion; and often
during The pause before the last figure. the at
titude Of $ me blnshing heauiy. plucking un-
concously splendid cnmelia TO pieces, left lit
tic dnuht OF the nature ofthose whispers which
her partner had been pouring into her car
Like Margaret in The Faust. The sweet girl was
bnt cssaying t. prove her destiny from tho pc-
tails of the flower. For those in n less advanc-
cd stage of understanding. there VAS the con-
lradanc, and the reel, with the ,arions other
gymnastics, all of a harmless nature. But Sa-
tan had entered into Paradise. though in u mild
form. We may now. our dear madam recall
with ut ANYTHING like bitterness of feeling
Ing, the days when we indulg"d together i'm the
sweet n'oxicat on of the waltz. IL was really
we c,nirss il with touch Of the old Adam
IA most fascinating innovation. You danced
divincly, and more clipsome Waste than yours
We ncvar spann"d. Once. indeed. wethonaht
but no more of that! You married. OF your
own free will and accord. the red.haircd mon
ster of M lavish. i'm virtue of his imaginary
rcn: roll; and, long agO. our agony of mind. like
the rcmcn brance or an old t"oth"che. mas de,
parted. Blu, it ,cas pleasant tn revo'vo. linked
with you. over the floor of the Assembly Rooms,
when Spinder was Ia his glory, aud when the
waltz was kept, at lcas'. within something like
dercnt limits. Long before then. Byron, who
c-rtninly was MT a s'rait-lsced. hal pu'isheh
his poem If Tho Wal,z:' aud without sub
scribing to his views upon our Perls'r"phic per-
formances. VIC must needs own that his satire
is of double value row.
The walz, us W, danced it. was decent cf
its kind. No father cf family, VIC think,
whatever be the practices of fashion, can re-
j,ce iu seeing his daughters Waste spanned
bv the arm of some debonsl,ed dragoon, whose
advances she can fardly refuse without commit
ting a breach of the id otical rules which mod
rrn usage inculcatr. Surely. in free country
n woman oua lit TO he free in her choice even
of ten toIary variner; a. d the base notion
which prevails. that a lfdr. hy refusing the in
ynti,n of one man to dai CO. is deba red from
accepting more congrnr Offer is uttorly
foreign and rcpncnant 10 the rules of chvniry.
In the hell or bower The ladies arc paramount.
and they onglt tn exert their authority-re-
mrmbering This, tho slightest murnur against
their decision ought TO bo considered an offence
against nightly courtesy. 1t would be well if
VIC Ind female tribunal, with full powers of
expu sion from society, to adjndicate upon such
matters.
But not 10 perreir:io n digrcssinn in favor
ofProv.aeallssage of lei ms return 10 The mat,er
in question. We maintain. now. that Lord
Byron. wiring under the name Of Horace ll"r-
nctn WIS fully Justified in the nticronce 1T eve
nv couplct The yoct is Il seer: aud thouch we
perhaps. in or Younger days. could descrv 10
imrrorricty in the waltz. which merely admit
ted us 70 nearer degree OF contact than ihr
former Tcrps;c orcan cvolu'ions, The p"c'col
eye o: the oc, forCsaw the necessary consc-
quencc. The character of the waltz gradually
became charged From n graceful rotary mo-
lion. it decenera,cs into II Bacchc mnvement.
similar u" doubt 10 tie first Thespian perform
arce-. which were int, ndrd. as scholars tel! us
10 hc in onur { The Young L. nns. Then came
the cnlopre. which aas u still further nanif's-
tarnn of the trumulial procession of Ariadnc.
Dancing. as ono uf the fine arts now received
its virtual dcath-blow. You saw an infurioted
looking f,liow throw his rrm round a girls
waisie and rish of with her ss if he had been
ono of the trorp of Ron ans abducting rcluc-
ttnt Sabine. Sabinc, however made no re-
mons,rancc. but went along with him quite cor
daily. They pursued species of ba,-like race
around the room-jerking, flirting. backing and
pirouc,tiue without rule, and without my
.cstigc of grace. until breath failed them, and
the painting virgin was pulled up shcr, on the
arm cf her perspiring partner. Ghost OF Count
IIamltoe shade of De Grammnrt! has 1t ro.
ally come to this! You knew, in your day,
something about TIE Castlenans and others;
but never did pou witness. in public at least
such orpics as British ma'rons and mothers
row placirlp contemplate aud approve.
"TiiS. however called tor REFORM; and 1t
was reformed. BY what? By the introdnction
of the ka. ard favcriic d"nce.and no wonder
of the Casisns View it phiosohhicnlly. and
ven fird it to bc neither more nor less :han the
nup,ial dance of Brcclus and Ariadc Our
mothers or grandmothers were staggered, and
some of them shocked, Mt the Introduction oi
ballet i'm the opera house. What would they
say now, could they see orc OF their female de-
scrndents alb olu'cly in the embrace OF some
| hairy misunderstanding him, linked t' HIM
drawn 10 linn, her head re lining on his sho"l'
der. and he pcrsuing her charms-ext rutina
the most ungraccful "f all possible movements
nj ,hc will OF a notorious Tomnoddy! No d"ub
| every thing is innocent and tho whole dance }:
conducted. on one side at least, with pcrfcc
purity Of dca BIT somehow or o'her, thes.
crappIings squrozings. and approximations .loo'
rather odd in the eyes of the unprejudiccd spec
tator; and ~e. who have seen tho fcn.s OF
gyptian Almas almcst surpassed IN British oai
rooms. may be pardoned for expressing on
conviction that liitlc-nay. go"d deai-mor
of feminine reserve than is presently practices
would DO vastly advantageous io the young Ia
a;es who resort 10 those haun's which hav
bccn taught to consider the matrimonial bo
zaar.
or course we do not expect that any. OF N
fair Ba chnniies will give the slightest heed
what we say. If one of them chancc-tire
and Ianguid rs she is from last nights po'k'
through which she has been hurried in the mel
vous embrace OF Captain F'tzurse. of tho dr'
goons--t to peruse 'hesc paqcs. she will set