The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-10
PASSING OF THE WALTZ.
TIE GOOD Old DANCE DISCIRDED
IN THIS UITLITARIlN AGE.

Dimeulty Presented In Mastering Its Intricn-
oies cited as the Chief Cause OF Its Down.
fali--Tho Less Graceful but Simpler Two
steP IL Its Successor in Popular Favor.
To the carpet knights whose dancing days
came to an end generation or more ago the
announcement OF the dancing masters at their
convention last week that the waltz 10 no
longer popular. must have come both az sur
prise and shock. All the statistics. however.
seem TO justify the declaration OF the masters
aud to indicate that tho good old waltz that
became popular hundred years ago. and was
danced In Germany no one knows how many
years before that. 10 giving way to the quicker
two-step. The dance that our grandfathers
and grandma others learned only after patient
practice has been sucoesdsd by the two-step
that girl or boy can learn in two minutes Of
sidewalk dancing to the music Of hurdy-
gurdy.
1t is not with any pleasure that the dancing
masters make their ssmi-official announce
ment Of the change. for to them the transition
means loss OF business. OF all the round
dances the waltz 10 the most difficult to learn
and that fact alone has always made It pro6ta-
Bile for the teachers Nowadays when knowl-
edge OF the two-stsp 10 all that is required to
enable a person to 60 through fully half Of
the list OF dances at any function. there isn't
apt to be such demand for professional in
struction. 30 the masters protest and it will
he no fault Of theirs II the decline OF the waltz
is anything more than temporary.
Dealers in sheet music have the same story
TO tell. They declare that the demand for
waltz music has been steadily decreasing for
several years and that the sales OF music
written in two-fourths. four-fourths. and six
eighths time suitable for the two. step have in
creased in proportion.
There are aim ost as many theories advanced
10 explain the decline OF the waltz as there are
myths and legends relative to the origin OF
dancing. All are agreed. however. that the
ease and quickness with which the two-step
may be learned Is the principal reason for its
present popularity. Some OF the old timers
who were in their ballroom prime ten years
ago declare that the recent death OF Strauss
has had something to do with the case.
But the young folks laugh at this.
and say that Strauss was a back number
in this city long before he died. that his music
was seldom played at dances. especially at
fashionable ones. and that IL there Is any one
now who should be called the waltz king" it
is Waldteuiel Another explanation is that the
waltz has suffered the fate OF tho bicycle. only
by a slower process 1t became too popular.
and when prizes were given for the best lady
and gent walters" at Bowery festivities. 1t
hurt that particular dance in other parts Of the
town.
But this talk about the decline OF the waltz
rule. applies to the large cities and to certain
PARTS OF them. There are some Fifth avenue
authorities who do not agree with the average
dancing master that the waltz Is going out
They admit. however. that the two-step is Just
as popular as the waltz even in their own lin
tied circles. The dancing manager for Sherry's
said yesterday that 1t was q case OF half and
half. Il am sure" he continued. that have
found plenty Of Waiting at all the summer
places this season. or course the city season
hasn't opened yet and We can't tell what will
harpen when 1t does"
her authority declared that one can't
thing about city dancing from what is
/. OF town. Why was in Newport a
few years ago." said this dancing master. land
saw New York society people dancing polkas
in the Casino. They wouldn't have thought
doing such a thing at home"
The dancing out OF town Is altogether differ
ent anyway. and the further out one goes the
more he will learn about the dances that used
TO be popular in this city but are now forgot
ton. A young man from a New Hampshire
village went to q dancing master in this city
recently.
Il want to learn tho Portland Fancy" said the
applicant.
Nndtl dbk6u tno udnclnR master DAY
that again. 1t brings up lot OF memories.
Why you must be forty years older than you
look. I'm nearly sixty and haven't heard OF
a Portland Fancy since was a boy"
Why they have cen dancing 1t for the last
three winters up in my place" rspied the man
from New Hampshire. They think it's great
and don't even dance the Tempest now"
The dancing master looked dreamy and rem
iniscent again. The Tempest" he said half
to himself Il remember now. Every one in
the room dances in the same set and they are
drawn up in two long lines"
Yes. Just like a big Virginia Reel" inter-
rupted the young man.
And after the lineup the rest OF the Tenn
pest is sort OF a stampede Something like a
football game. only instead OF rushing at each
other the two lines race up and down the hall.
So you got through with that only three years
ago up in your place. and then took up the
Portland Fancy or something newT
Yes. but we like it and we've danced the
Virginia reel for years and years That's the
only real and original American dance"
mo it isn't" said the dancing master
There isn't any real American dance. except
perhaps the scalp dance and the sun dance OF
the North American Indians and they'll never
he popular either on Fifth avenue or on the
Bowery. The Virginia Reel was arranged 200
years ago in England and the last name it
was known by over there was tho Sir Roger
de Coverly." and we renamed it the reel
over here. All OF our dances came
from Europe Just as they are now. or else they
are notifications OF the foreign article. The
waltz. for instance. Is OF Slavic origin and
worked its way through Germany. France and
England to us Lord Byron once wrote de-
nunciation OF it. The polka was invented in
1881 by girl in Bohemia. The redowa came
from the same country and the mazourka had
its origin in Poland. where the Russian SOL
djers took it up and then carried 1t homo. And
a. on through the entire list of dances. old and
new. square and round. all can be traced back
10 a foreign country"
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