The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-07-27
is DANCING DEGENERArING7
Berlin International choregraphic Con-
gress to Discuss the Question.

A special feature OF the international
Choregraphic Congress TO be held in Ber-
lin in July, will be discussion Of the
question, is Dancing Degeneratiug
In addition to the French, German and
Russian dances, the speakers will take
up the various American dances. espec.
tally the Boston" and adaptation OF the
redowa. In an interview, NJ. Leiort, Sec
rotary OF the French Choregraphic assoc
citation, solemnIy declared that the art
OF dancing threatens TO lose all its
charm if something be not done in
time" And he continued:
Either dancers turn like teetotums
with stifIened joints. or they make yio-
lent efforts to look graceful, with still
more dire results, leapiug about, con
torting themselves and gesticulating gro
tesquely This, sir IS smentable state
OF things. Dancing should above all,
have grace and elegance, and should i'm.
part distinction to the bearing The
dancer should study to acquire elastic
ity and supplenes OF movement, not the
habit OF disarticulating MS or her limbs
"a most disastrous practice.
Department is the first thing TO he
learned and it will be useful TO tie proli-
cient pupil in all walks OF hfe. 1t was
thus in the olden times. in The days Of
Prevot, OF Gallant IN llrsart and OF Gull
l,,,,,,o po,.vat ,.tr ,y..ra ~ ,,,o,, mae
tiers at the court OF King Louis XIV, who
founded the acdamye Of dancing. Then
the minuet, the gazette, The pavanc, the
passepied and the forlana we're danced.
What could be more exquisite But in
1860 the polka was introduced in France.
That was the beginning Of the end, To
dance the polka the man helt his part
ner around the waist. The novelty Of
the thing pleased the popular magma
ton Good by then, to the beautiful old
dances in which partners just touched
the tips Of each others fingers, The
mazurka, the scbottiseae followed, and
the waltz imported by Desart from Rus
STA.
Nowadays would you believe it,
when a man comes to us ts.learn dane
ing he generally stipulates tsnt he is to
be taught only those dances in which
he hold. the girl around the waist What
have We come to? Still, there are hopes,
after ALL In the last few years some
little has been done to restore to the
art Of dancing its pristine nobeness. Set
ting aside teh ineXplicable vogue, now
happily past Of the Negroes cakcwak,
We observe that the Boston is increas.
ingy popular in drawing-rooms. The
Boston comes from America. Let us
thank the Americans, not for the step,
which they did not invent, as it is none
other than our own old fashioned redo
wa, but for the development which they
have given it, and which makes it an
admirable physical exercise.
THE Boston gives breadth Of move
ment and expands the chest and lungs.
This year we started with considerable
success new dance, the wave kind
of more unduating and gliding Boston,
recalling the rhythm of the sea, hence
its name. Next winter we intend TO
revive the old dances of France, the
pavane and the gavotte, for instance, and
we sahll require our pupils to sing while
dancing, most graceful practice, and
one calculated to develop the chest. That
will be the chief article of our program
at the Berlin congress. Paris corre-
spondent OF New York Times.