The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-25

more especially give the little girl dan-
 cing lessons. As the world goes. grace
 Is accounted a more essential thing to
 her than 1t is to those of the sterner
 sex, and it is your place to do what you
 can to start her on the road to all that
 Is feminine and lovely. In these days
 of assertive womanhhood we cannot do
 too much to develop the old-fasioned trait of being charming. the trait that was our mothers and our grand mothers and her mothers before her. In no way does the child come by grace so unconsciously as in dancing, especially in the fancy dances. There is a great variety of motion in all of these. The child Is on his mettle. when dancing before spectators, to appear at his best Before he knows 1t he has initiated the pretty poses of his teacher and his more graceful companions. Many of you, by the time this para graph begins, are crying out that you ! cannot send your children to a danc- ing school. That is no reason why they | should be deprived of the fun and bene- fit of learning to dance. Perhaps you live in the country where 1t Is inn possible to reach a school. or perhaps you find the dancing masters bills too high. Neither Is an excuse. Don't you
 know how to dance yourself? If so have the patience to teach the little people. Go to work to recall the dan ces of your youth, even though they
 have become rusty in your memory.
 You will gain something at the same
 time that the child isgaining. Many | of the exercises given in gymnasium classes all over the country are noth- Ing more or less than dancing steps.
 such as have been taught by swallow tailed masters for generations No dance compares with the serpen-
 tine for physical culture in the broad,
 est sense of the word. Trunk and
 limbs are brought into play in a won
 derful variety of difficult and beautiful
 curves. The difficulty of managing
 long draperies during all the motions
 adds greatly to the benefit of the les
 son. Of course a dance of this nature
 Is given only to advanced pupils in the
 art, but 1t Is worth while to any child
 to work for advancement when it leads
 to such prize.
 In the very beginning the grace les
 sons begin. By the time little Miss
 Gangly has mastered the five positions
 and their subordinate ones she Is well
 started toward the mastery of her
 body She has learned. first of all, how
 to stand. When she Is told to put her
 heels together she is told also to turn
 her toes out, and this Is attractive
 enough when 1t is a part of dancing
 instead of part of mothers nagging.
 When she keeps the left foot in posi-
 tion and points the toe of the right
 placing that toe in front and to the left of the left toe, she thinks 1t is fun to see how long she can stand in that position without totering and without unpointing the toe. Balancing has be- gun to form part of her knowledge
 All dancing teachers are now giving physical culture exercises before the real dancing lessons. Their object Is to relax rather than to strengthen The little body must be al 1.-the as pos sible. The muscle building motions such as clenching the fists and holding the arms tense while they are extended rom the chest-all motions of that nature involving tense muscles are ex- vWchkwsvt eonA -ciIrze kmyunwhrdehb cluded. They may lead indirectly to a certain kind of grace by broadening the chest and coaxing upright shoulders. but they do nothing to encourage cur yes and curves are esv.ntial in this training The following lessons may be given Assure the child l that they are a part Of dancing: that ! if she ts ever to learn the attractive 1 fancy dances she has seen her little piaymates going through, she must 'earn the motions one by one. They are really the dances themselves taught Diecemeal:
 Raise arms above head, curving to- ward each other, finger tips meeting. Sway body to left. to right.
 Hold fan in left hand, arm curved above head. Hold out skirt to the side with right hand Sway.
 Hold wreath up in front. peeping through It. Sway from side to side, right toe pointed in front of left. (Toe pointed implies heel raised high, toe nfnrely touching floor.
 Bow. Slide right foot to the right, bring left far to the rear In a curving slide, bending the body deeply draw beside left foot. Skirt may be held with both hands. or only one. fan be- Ing in the other |
 Curve left arm above head In two counts, extend right toe to the right and forward. then place IL to the left of left toe. giving little spring on left foot at each count One, two; one. two" Then in the next pair of counts place right toe to the left of left heel on the second count This is the first motion of the Highland Fling. and this Is one of the best dances that can be taught. II Is spriEhtly rather than gliding and swaying, but 1t has much grace.
 Dissect the waltz step and teach 1t in three slow counts. Teach the two step and insure the child a graceful walk, for this dance is merely walking Other round dances are no longer in favor at balls. and there are no particular preparation for the fancy dances, in which the real train Ing lies.
 It is impossible to describe even one of these tn a small Anace3 Let your !