Brookings register. (Brookings, S.D.) 1890-1894, 1892-03-04

that mentally the dance is source
OF harm. No one, | believe, has ever
claimed that dancing required any
special mental endOwments or abll
;ty. On the contrary it is said that
the most graceful and most accomp
lished dancers In the world are un'
tutored savages. The whole tendency
of the modern dance is directly hostile
to study and the cultivation of the
mind required for the important du-
ties of life. The dance units for study.
The physical excitement drains the
mental energies in recuperating the
body, breaks up systematic habits
and tends to lower the entire range OF
our thought. Hence the colleges are
almost unit in prohibiting their
students; during the college term,
from attending the ball room. There
is nothing mentally stimulating in
the dance. The stimulation is decId
not the head. Neither is mental re.
creation found here as re-
deeming features. The low and
frivolous class Of thoughts which the
dance inspires gives no place for
enobling, uplifting and refreshing sug-
gestisns which true mental recreation
requires and which indeed is found in
a walk through q gallery of art or
through the open air where hundred
voices from nature speak to the soul.
There is q mental tonic here which is
not found in the light and lnsipid
banter Of the ball room. There is no
doubt that the taste Of the frequent
attendant Oi the dance is lowered for
the best reading and that light and
sensational books are more in accord
with the spirit OF the ball room and
less taxing to depleted mental and
physical strength take their place.
Much harm Is done to the mind and
especially to the mind of the young in
the modern dance.
A third reason why the church op-
poses dancing is that it produces
harm morally. There are many who
engage in this amusement whose NOR
ais are above reproach and who, by
their training and natural self control
are never moved even to thoughts Of
evil On the other hand there are
many who but for the dance would
have purer thoughts and some OF
whose lives would not be stained by
acts which destroy soul and body.
The dance is the favorIte amusement
Of the impure, and goes hand in hand
with the low saloons and other places
OF evil. And this rule, which is good
one in the use OF cards, may be ap-
piled to this amusement, viz: That
the KIND OF amusement which is gen.
orally used for immoral purposes
should be avoided in it's most inno-
cent forms. Many think the dance
may be purified from many objection
able features, and so it may, but they
do not strike at one OF the most OBJ
jectionable features. You may select
your company and exclude the vile
bat many bad hearts are left. And
society tolerates in the dance attitudes
and touches between the sexes which
would be disgrace in society else
where. Many decry the round dance,
but it is the favorite form and must
be used to make the dance the most
interesting. To my mind tine most
Objectionable feature OF the dance and
one which gives the modern dance it's
chlefest charms is the contact Of men
and women in the exciting, heating
whirl urged on by light quick music
We may apply here the apostolic in
junction, avoid the very appearance
OF evil" Why do not the sexes dance
apart, as they did in ancient time? Be-
cause that would take the very soul
and spirit out of the modern dance.
1t would end at once, for it would
have no noble, religious or patriotic
purposes to inspire it as did the an
clients and some of the savage tribes
of to day. The Bible never said there
Is time to dance in the modern way.
| don't know Of any, who like David =,
dance before the Lord as a religious
exercise. Many make a good deal Of
the saying, "There is no harm in the
act OF dancing itself" But that de-
penas on many things, the persons en-
gagged, the motives, the spirit, the
time and place. The saying amour 6s
to nothing for it does not touch the
act IN modern promiscuous dancing,
in which | have shown there is harm
aside from the company or the inf1u.
ence, and against which there would
be no occasion for preaching il there
was no harm in it.
A ourth reason why the church op.
poses dancing is that 1t produces harm
spiritually. Here perhaps, more large
ly than elsewhere, we discover the
most baneful effects. Here the dance
proves destructive. 1t quenches the
vital spark OF religion kindled on the
altar OF the soul. 1t is the death
knell to all holy ambition for de.
voted life OF eodliness. the dance
p,tS ont rayiyo1 6reu 6issinotaS aS oari-