The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-10
Old Fashioned Dances.
tPan Mall Gazette.1

L
The minuet was the great dance of the
eighteenth century. 1t had both grace
and gallantry. The initial and termin-
ating bows have been immortaized by
Burke in passage in which he speaks of
"that generous loyalty to rank and sex,
that proud submission. that dignifed
obedience" The minuet was the real
test of gracefulness. All balls began
with it, and it was such universal study
that the very sentiment of it, it has been
declared, inspired the Nation and gave
something of the tone which character
lied society in that age.
Or take the country dances-the cush-
ion dance, for instance; who ever hears
of the cushion dance now? Yet there
must be some old people who remember
the figures and the steps-the exchange
between the top and bottom couples
the throwing down the cushion as an ex-
cuse for kiss-the flight and pursuit
and the joyous action of the whole of the
dancers. These dances dwell in the
memory of the old-a fast-vanishing race
and make their youth happy time to
recall. Will our waltzes and gallops do
as much for us? Should you be spared
into old age, what impressions shall you
preserve of the dances you have danced
in your youth? Where be the old heart
iness; the merry, spontaneous laugh, the
admirable decorum, the calm grace, the
keen enjoyment Alack! the cushion
dance has become the dance of death.
When we grow old we shall have to
angle for bright recollections of our
youth in other wells than where our ball
room experiences lie sunk.
Perhaps the only old-fashioned dance
that survives is the cotillion. This dance
is full of Spanish grace. In South
America they introduce some odd tricks
into their dancing. Ladies fill egg-shels
with eau de cologne and carry them to
the ball; there they break them upon the
heads of the gentlemen. 1t is meant as
challenge. The gentleman who re-
ceives the moist tribute is bound in gal
lantry to find out the lady and return
the compliment. Another trick is for a
young man to 60 behind girl, place his
sombrero directly over her head, letting
it fall over her eyes, and then to spring
back among the dancers; if the girl
throws off the hat it means that the girl
can dispense with any attention the gen.
tleman would like to pay her, and he is
Obliged to pick up his hat amid a general
laugh. If the hat is retained, then at
the end of the dance the owner claims it
from the lady, aud with it her hand for
the rest Of the evening. The cotilion is
clearly based on fancies of this kind.
The introduction Of the chair, the
seating of lady, the presentation Of the
gentlemen, the blindfolding of a gentle
man, with lady. on either side Of him,
and his hazardous choice of one of them
as partner, are distinctly Southerneie-
ments, giving graceful life and laughter
to the waltzing accompaniment. This
survives, but the other dances are end
ed. Whether they are worth reviving is
a question for girls to decide. At all
events, one may believe that girl could
never look more picturesque than when
engaged in one of these old-fashioned
dances, just as it is certain that a girl
| is never seen to worse advantage than
when she has released herself from the
grip of a man after y long, painting and
perspiring waltz as this dance is now per-
formed.