The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-08-11
DANCING

OnS VI the most universal of all
pastimes is that of dancing. In an.
Client times-in fact, among all prim
tive people it was considered a re-
hgious ceremony. The most ancient
dance, of which we have any partIcu.
lar account, is that of the Jews. es.
fablished by the Levitical law. to be
pexhibited at their solemn feasts.
The daughters of Shiloh were dane.
ing in the vineyards when they were
caught by the young men of the trloe
OF Benjamin, who were advised by
the elders of Israel to take that OBJ
portunity of supplying themselves
with wives. The dancing of David is
often quoted, and it is the opinion of
some commentators that every psalm
had separate and distinct dance to
it,
In the temples of Jerusalem. Sama-
ria and Alexandria,, a stage was
erected in one part, called the choir.
for these exercises, the name of
which is preserved in our churcnes.
and the custom, too, till within a few
centuries. Cardinal Ximines revived
the practice of Musarabic masses in
the cathedral at Toledo, when the
people danced both in the choir and
the nave, with the greatest decorum
and devotion. LIE Pere Menetrier. a
Jesuit, relates the same thing of some
churches in France in 1856.
The Egyptians had their solemn
dances as well as the Jews. Inc
principal was their astronomical
dance, of which the sacrilegious
dance around the golden calf was an
imitation. From the Jews and Egyp-
tfans these sacred dances passed into
Greece, where the astronomical dance
was adapted to the theater, with cho-
3 rus, etc. The Greeks had, likewise.
the dance of the Curetes, which was
anterior to Jupiter; the dance of
satyre, invented by Bacchus: the Me-
phystic dance, invented by Pyrrphus;
the rustic dance, invented by Pan.
and the ball dance, invented by Co.
mus. Another one of their dances
was that of the innocence, which was
performed by young women. The --.st
was also Spartan dance, and though
so simple, was the cause of the dou-
BILE indignity offered to Helen, of the
Trojan war, and all the subsequent
calamities.
Many of these dances are still re-
tanned in Greece, but the most GU
rious and interesting of them all is
the nuptial dance The following is a
description of this dance, as seen by
an American traveller: when the
bride, who is dressed in the gayest
attire, has arrived from the country
and approaches the house of the
bridegroom, she is encircled by all
the principal females, who assemble
before the door, and while they dance
around her, welcome her arrival wlLn
a degree of elegance which not only
captivates the immigration, but inter-
ests the affections" They sing at
the same time the nuptial songs.
From Greece these dances, with va
rious notifications, found their way
across the Adriatic. Rome adopted
her manners and her arts, winch
were afterwards dispersed over the
rest of Europe. The great Scipio AZ
ricanus amused himself with danclag
Not" says Seneca, chose effeminate
dances which announce voluptioas-
ness and corruption of manners, but
those manly, animated dances in use
among their ancestors which even
their enemies might witness witho 1t
abating their respect"
Dancing has always been a favor
tie amusement in the United States
as well as in all parts of Europe
Atlanta Journal.