The Washington herald., 1911-03-05
DANCING
NOW THE RAGE

Fancy dancing no longer is a climber
on the social ladder. 1t has reached
the top. and now is received. nay well
coined, into the innermost circles Of fash
ionable society.
1t is the craze OF the hour. Everybody
not actually bedridden is trying it, Many
are becoming expert The professional
dancers, il only they are classic dancers,
are eagerly sought by the smart folk of
to-day. Their society is desired Their
advice is asked. Their dances are copied
and their ideas adapted to the more
conventional performances of amateurs.
Every sort and condition of men and
women, and all ages of them, flock to the
theaters to see a performance billed as
advertisement classique." No sort of en-
tertainment has half the drawing quail
ties of the classic dance, and nothing has
such wonderful possibilities as a CONVEX
sation-maker afterward.
These things are true everywhere at
present. In Washington the classic dance
has revolutionized the fashionable ball
room dances. Here every society dance
has had its conventionality tinged with
the vagaries of the advertisement class
iQue." and each succeeding ball of the
winter has shown more and more the
effects of the craze.
Dancing teachers are overwhelmed with
would-be pupils in the new art, and none
of their pupils are content with a mere
society-dance training. Old dances have
been remodeled, new ones invented, all
for the purpose of giving expression to
the desire everybody seems to feel to in
dulge in this new form of rhythmic art,
Has Been Sudden.
Like all revolutions, this ballroom revo-
luton has been sudden. Five years ago
nobody would have thought Of introduc-
ing a fancy dance into ballroom, unless
it was a solo dance. Dancers of even
three years ago could not have carried
through the simplest sort of a dance,
such as everybody has been dancing this
winter. The programmes of even three
years ago consisted of an endless success
sion of waltzes and two-steps. Some
times two two-steps were danced to every
waltz, but usually the division was equal
between the two most popular dances.
No other steps were danced in the cotil-
lion and even the fancy figures which re-
quired something more in accordance
with the artistic were given variety only
in that the dancers danced alone or in
groups instead OF in couples for part
of the figure. The reason for this was
very simple Nobody knew anything else.
Now all is changed. The waltz pre-
dominates among the dances. naturally,
since il is the oldest and the most popular
of all so-called round dances. But with II
are other dances. The schottische has
come into favor again because of its pos
sibilities for artistic variations. The gal
on has been revoluntionized into some
thing that resembles II only In name and
which has many new features OF the
wonderful duetto danced by Pavlowa and
Mardkin
In the cotillion the craze for fancy dam
cling has found its easiest and best exem-
plification. Wherever scarfs and ribbons
are used in the figures fancy steps are
danced. And not only steps are used.
Bodies are swayed In unison to the mo-
ton OF the feet. Arms and hands are
kept rhythmicaily moving in long grace
full curves or swift sweeps from side to
side or above the head, as the scarfs ere
waved In the intricacies of the dance.
Partners dance with hands touched at
times. at other times they are yards
apart. and then. when the leaders
whistle sounds. everybody forgets 1t all
and falls back quite naturally into the
waltz or two-step, showing
unconsciously how gcloseiy allied the
classic and and conventional are In the
bathrooms this winter