The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-02-25
WHEELING AND DANCING.


Bicycle Riding Impairs the GracefuIness
of Ladies in the Ballroom.
The wheel no doubt makes the bicycle
girls legs stronger, but when it comes
to pirouetting about and tracing on the
ballroom floor the mystic figures so
dear to the heart of the debutante and
her seniors, then, alas, the ill-etfects of
the wheel are apparent. The young
woman who has piighted her affections
to the bike i'll the season when it was
particularly in evidence, suddenly dis
covers that while in her mind she is
thoroughly familiar with just what she
ought to do, she is absolutely incapa bic
Of performing proper action. The mus
Giles of her limbs seem to have lost their
cunning. Instead of being able to zone,
two, three; one two, three" as the
dancing master would have it, she finds
ii hard to even one" and her parents
wonder what on earth is the matter
with the young woman, who. the year
before, danced as if she were sylph.
The difficulty referred to is partic-
ularly noticeable in the waltz. The
bicycle girl finds it absolutely impossi-
HE to execute the steady glide. Awk-
Wardness does not describe what she
feels. She can only perform a move
ment that is as eccentric in its way as it
lacks elasticity. The polka, the schot-
tische and the quadrile are almost as
difficult, although the latter, of course,
calls for much less exercise of skill in
the matter of executing the steps. In
quiry among the young women who
ride the bicycle shows it to be an actual
fact that exercise on the wheel seems to
deaden and stiffen the set of muscles
that come into play in dancing. just
why this is so the doctors are unable to
explain, except in a general way that
they become lax and useless through
constant exercise Of other muscles. and
that when the old-time muscles again
are put in use they are awkward and not
inclined to respond to the call made
upon them.
Several of the young women who have
danced to the delight of thousands at
the theaters ruefuIly admit that their
no end of trouble. "Why.' said one
young woman, whose merry eyes have
gained for her an international reputa-
ton, Il took up the wheel for exercise.
don't you know, and liked it ever and
ever so much, but what was my sur
prise, after l had been riding awhile, to
find that for some reason or other it
was very much harder for me to dance
than it had been before. | couldn't
imagine what was the matter. Finally
| went to see my doctor and asked him
if there was anything wrong with my
muscles. He looked me all over careful
ly, and then said the only thing that was
wrong, so far as he could Judge, was the
wheel
Il asked him what in the world he
meant, and he said that riding the wheel
1cadencd the muscles that ! had used
in dancing, and that every night, when
| had been riding in the day, | would
find that the muscles for dancing
wouldu' t act as if / had not been riding
Walking does not affect me that way at
all. | can walk miles and miles and feel
just as well as ever at night, so far as
the muscles are concerned, but do YOU
know | have just had to give up the
wheel? l have had to give it up alto
gether much as | hate to. You see,
dancing is my bread and butter. and as
I find that riding the wheel hurts my
dancing | simply have got to stop it.
How does the affection make me feel?
Why, | have sort of a sense of gone
ness in my legs, just as if the muscles
that | know are there were taking va
cation. or something of that sort. l
cannot make the little kicks and twirls
with my legs that | ought to in order to
make my dance perfect, and so you see
have had to give up the Wheel
That is just about the same way it.
seems TO most of the Young women who
have been questioned on this rather
delicate subject. SO general has been
the practice of riding wheels by young
women the past season that this curious
affection of the dancing muscles is a
matter of almost national interest. Go
into the ballroom where young women
of ordinary society are to be found and
watch the movements of the dancers.
There will at once be apparent that lack
of grace and lithesomeness that is
usually characteristic of the American
girl There is a dragging movement
about the feet rs if a tendon was out of
order. or something of that nature
Philadelphia Times.
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