The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1895-06-12

QUEER DANCING PARTIES.
Instances Where the Festivities Were Of
an Uncanny or Unusual Nature.

Instances Where the Festivities Were Of
/ an Uncanny or Unusual Nature.
Although at the present day the
majority of balls and dancing parties
are conducted upon general lines and
show but little that is novel, there
have boen at all times a few enter
prising hostesses who have broken
through the thick hide of convention
and given their guests something
original in the dancing party line.
Such, for instance, musthave been
the host or hostess who, during the
time Of the great plague of London,
first brought into fashion the dance
OF death. At these Dances which be-
came very popular among a certain
class during that terrible period, the
dancers, both male and female, who
We're invited to these grewsome
evenings were disguised as skeletons,
and SO utterly reckless had the
plague made people that in many
cases they loft the ballroom and in
the dead of night finished their dance
in the open streets.
Somewhat curious, too, were the
victim balls which became the rage
in France at the close Of the reign of
terror. The dancers, dressed in tho
costliest costumes, had one and all a
band Of Grape around the left arm,
for no one could be invited to one of
these balls unless he or she had lost
during the reign of terror at least
one relation by the guillotine. Con-
sidering the wholesale butchery that
was INDUCED in under Robespierre,
most people. we should imagine,
among the upper classes were quail
fed for an invitation.
Fancy dress balls in which the
guests are dressed in costumes rep
resenting the pieces in a set Of chess
men are by no means uncommon,
but q short time ago a certain host
ess went one better than this and
gave a card dance at which the in
vited guests We're asked to appear
in the character of the particular
playing card allotted to them. The
dresses of the majority of tho guests
were most elaborate, particularly
those of the court cards, but the
dress of gentleman to whose lot
had fallen the character of ace of
diamonds was simplicity itself. He
appeared in ordinary dress, but
magnificent diamond sparkled in the
midst of his dress shirt front. This
idea was likewise followed by the
gentleman representing the five of
tho same suit, who, in addition to a
diamond in his shirt front, woro
pair of diamond links.
Blind poople, as many of our read
ers are aware, provided they have
been blind for a sufficiently long
time and the apartment in which
they are is one we'll known to them,
can move about us quickly as people
with their eyesight. At a certain
blind asylum in London dances often
take place among the inmates, and
it is not little curious to sec couples
who are totally blind waltzing
around a room, never colliding with
other couples and dancing as grace
fully as their seeing brethren. In
fact, unless one knew that the dan
GERS were blind one would never
guess it from their manner Of dane
ing.
That the inmates of many mad
asylums not only dance, but dance
we'll, is within tho knowledge of
every one who has been present at a
dance given by such an establish
ment. When in Germany,,the writer
once attended q ball given by a-mad
asylum in Hesse and could hardly
believe that many of his charming
partners were otherwise than clothed
in their right mind. It was only
after the doctor had assured him
that his last partner had thrown her
2-year- old daughter out of the win
dow, and that the one before that
had been found promenading one of
the principal thoroughfares of Gies-
sen in a state Of nature, that the gen
eral uncanniness Of the dance was
directly brought home to him.-Lon-
don Tit-Bits.