Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-11-27
THE LATEST RACKET"
A Vulgar Dance in Which an Old Teacher
Thinks No Lady should Indulge.
louisville Courier Iournal


louisville Courier-Journal
If there is anybody who does not know
what the Racquet is he should at once
put on his swaliow-taii and renew his ac-
quaintance with ballroom mysteries. He
will find some changes have taken place in
tie last twelve months. He will see the
entire company plunging like mad through
the figures of the :" Racquet" the g Rye, "
the . Telephone" and the ''Wave. .
THESE are set down in the programmes as
dances, not as designations The four are
all allied, and belong to the same family.
, An old beau, who is disabled by the rheum-
atism, told reporter few evenings ago,
while discussing the latest society craze,
that the Racquet" was cross between
the cancan and fight. The same reporter
meeting Prof. Wastell, the well known
teacher OF dancing, few days later, OBJ
tanned the collateral evidence of an expert
on the subject.
. ls there anything new in the dancing
line, Professor asked the reporter.
Yes, answered the Professor, 80 | am
sorry to say there is. l have been teach
ing dancing in this city for twenty.seven
consecutive years, and during that period
| have had occasion to defend the waltz
and other round dances through the press
and otherwise against the preachers and
other professional reformers. But there
has come time when myself must really
blush for my profession because of certain
new tangled dances that have been intro
duced aud become fashionable"
$40 which OF the new dances do you
refer ?"
"The most Objectionable are those called
the Rye and the Racquet, which are
now being danced at all the fashionable
parties"
"What are your objections to these ?"
pursued the reporter.
"They are both inartistic and vulgar,
answered Prof. Wastell. "The person
who arranged them either did not under
stand his profession or had no respect for
it. There are fifteen positions In dancing,
five of which are used in the ballroom.
These are called ground positions because
the feet never leave the floor When this
rule is violated, the dance, whatever it
may be, is bungled. The Rye and the
Racquet require this first principle to be
ignored. Instead of the feet never leaving
the floor, they are hardly ever on the floor.
ICtlu!IC d hlChlbS z
down. l do not think any lady ought to
engage in such dances. The demands of
society are imperative, and, of course, |
have to teach whatever is in demand, or
shut up my school. | am sorry / am
forced to do So / cannot give you an ac-
curate description of these dances on paper
You would have to see them executed in
order to fully understand their objectiona-
BILE features. In all graceful dances the
body should float, as it were, through the
room, like swan in the water. In the
Rye and the Racquet this rule is vio
lated, and the body, instead OF floating, Is
kept in ziszag, heller SHELTER, and other
awkward motions. There is sort of cut
and come again movement, which is not
only ungraceful, but fatiguing to the
dancer and tiresome to the locker on. l
think it strange that such dances should
have captured our society bellies and beaux.
Yet such is the fact. There are so many
really pretty and harmless dances that one
would suppose that such trash as the
Rye and the Racquet would create
only disgust"
Are there any others to which you OBJ
ject?"
Eyes; the Telephone and the Wave ,
belong to the same class. No respectable
lady ought to dance either of them.
(which is your favorite dance 2"
"The waltz, by all means. 1t is the
foundation of all the round dances, and
the most captivating by long odds. When
you attempt to add to it, it is like putting
a variation to some old tune like Home,
Sweet Home, The original melody is
drowned, and the sweetness of the old
song is diluted to such an extent that you
can hardly taste it..