The Appeal., 1902-05-24

tor admission, the privilege Of penetration
within it, the once tabled portals being
jealously guarded by an array of lady
patronesses, imperium in imperio, for the
entree to Almack's was considered a pass
port to the highest society in the metropo-
lis. 1t was useless to contend against the
tates, and although the husbands of these
oespot1c patronesses were challenged by
disappointed applicants, who resented
their exclusion as a personal insult, the
vigorously exclusive legislature remained
unmoved.
1t is related that captain in the
guards to whom Lady Jersey had de-
clned sending a ticket, sent a challenge
TO Lord Jersey, requesting that he would
name his second. etc. Lord Jersey re-
lied In very dignified manner saying
II all persons who did not receive tick
cts from his wife were to call him to
account for want of courtesy on her
part he should have to make I'D his
nMd TO become target for young Off
GERS, and he therefore declined the honor
OF the proposed meeting"
origin of the Waltz.
Inc origin of some of the more popu-
lar forms of dancing are not always
easy to trace. The waltz itself despite
the claims of various countries for the
honor of it's birth, is more or less shroud-
ed IN obscurity, although in the form
OF the popular dance of the present day
IL IS little more than a hundred years
Ola. Prof. Desrat says of the waltz:
incorrectly called the valse a deux
temps two beats), instead of a deux pas
(tWo steps,, it is of Russian origin It
should be called the two-step waltz be-
cause 1t consists of two steps danced to
bar Of three beats the time proper to-
all waltzes." Continuing, Desrat saws:
Il can speak with authority of the intro
auction of the valse a deux pas into
n
father under the following circum-
stances In 1889 the Baron de Menken.
an attache at the Russian legation, was
taking dancing lessons from my father.
one evening the baron was going to a
grand ball given by the Comte de Male,
then foreign minister, and expected to
dance with some charming Russian la
dies. He accordingly asked the teacher
to practice, the steps with him. Great
was my fathers wrath at hearing him
talk of waltz with two steps, for this
seemed to him a manifest contradiction
of the three beats Of the accepted waltz
measure. But he was soon appeased
when he saw that his pupil made his
chasse by taking the first step to the
first two beats and the second step to tho
third beat. My father at once understood
that the chasse was composed of one long
SLOW step and one short quick one. Mas
ter and pupil waltzed together amicably
and NJ de Menken's success was so con,
piete that from that night the aristoc-
Sracy in a@body fcrsook. the. .valse- -troisf
temps for that deaux pas
Though in high request from the court
to the cabaret in every capital, of Europe.
there was prudish opposition to the in
PRODUCTION Of the waltz into England. At
Almack's the may waltz was imported.
there under the highest auspices. but it
was reserved for an imperial guest to con-
vince select society that the waltz fit
for decent company, although it's oppo-
1ents persisted in assertions to the con-
.rary. The bolder spirits at Alma ck's fol-
followed in the steps of the magnificent
autocrat of all the Russias, the wives Of
the foreign ambassadors at the Court Of
st. James being the most accomplished
of the then eXponents. The Countess de
Lieven and Princess Esterhazy were rec
ogniZed as the foremost walters of the
day, and true to the traditions of foreign
policy, Lord Palmertson was no less ex-
pert.
There was running fire kept up by
satrists and aggressive moralists against
the "insidious waltz and the suggestive
caricatures launched against this imp
of Germany, brought up in France as it's
detractors averred, pictured the sentf-
lnent of the ultra-purist section Of the
Community, who had persuaded them
selves that the Introduction of the waltz
into England was a conclusive step on the
national downward path. In spite of de-
traction, the waltz has surely become the
dance par excellence. Performed with
due grace and inspired by the emotions
drawn from thoseAbeautiful melodies of
"n:ca the waltz enjoys the pf.-en.lcnt
monopoly, this dance is likely to retain
the foremost place.
The lancers and quadrilles, besides other.
square SETS all have interesting his.
torres, as well as rich jigs, Caledonian
reels and various pleasant national
dances. Among the latter, however, the
Catalan ball! and the Neapolitan dances
are, perhaps, the most interesting for both
parties. The man is required to be some
"hat muscular, as during the PERFORM
.nce 1t is necessary for him to swing his
fair partner high in the air or to let her
ride seated on his hand held level with his
shoulder. The couples change partners
many times, first the cavalier and then
the lady, the latter, after her trip in the
air, saluting her partner with a kiss