The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-06-18
France Thought Climax
Reached With Waltz
IN REIGN OF LOUIS XIV
Society I'm Future, owever VIII
Probably Never Be Satisfied With
The .SIOw" WaItZ-When Will the
Limit be Reached.

The social season closing was no.
table for the sudden popularity OF
dances startling in character. The
toga Argentina, the apache, the Gaby
glide. the tudkey trot, the bunny hug
similar dances invaded the best
as well as the least regulated of New
York's bathrooms. The question what
style of dancing is likely to be popu-
lar this summer is therefore interest
ing. The informality of the ball
rooms at the summer hotel and the
casino would stimulate the popularity
Of fancy dancing If that fashion is
still to continue. on the other hand
they are equally favorable to launch
ing some entirely new idea, says the
New York Sun.
Will the waltz, now the mainstay Of
every private social dance, be pushed
TO the background in favor of some
thing liyelier. Just as the waltz itself
pushed the statelier minuet to the
background nearly 100 years ago?
Upon reaching England by way or
Germany the waltz made its debut at
Almack's. a famous meeting place for
London's fashionable peonle, and
there 1T was danced" TO quote an au-
thority, "by a few bold spirits in
trois temps, much slower thar ssWe
use now"
What of the Future?
Leading dancing masters. whose
opinions ought to be worth something,
cautiously refuse to predict how New
York will take it's dancing in the fu-
ture. They do say, though, that the
evolution Of the dance is private social
circles, especially on this side of the
ocean, has gone on faster in the last
quarter of a century than in a whole
century previously, and that 1t is not
at all likely that New York as a whole
will ever again be satisfied with dance
programs either in private or public
which former generations counted al
most giddy. Precisely when the tip
top notch of d~esirability will be ar
rived at and what it will be like none
can foresee.
Europe thought the climax had been
reached when King Louis XIV. put
the cachet Of royal approval on the
newly originated and imposing minuet
by dancing it in public and as a mat
ter Of fact the minuet did carry off
all the honors and was queen of the
walk in fashions ballroom until it was
ousted BY the waltz.
The Early Waltz.
Dancing masters say that there is
10 need to go back farther tina the
time Of the Introduction of the waltz
to England, about the yeear 1916, tC
trace the most surprising features OF
the evolution of social dancing, anC
they make 1t plain that the waltz
now considered a dignified member
Of the lance family, has a lot to an
swer for. In early youth almost a!
many in~discretions were laid to thi;
charge as are now laid to the charg'
of the turkey trOt. Chief of thes,
was the fact that it was the first due
dance" ever invented. the first dance
IN which a man could put his arm
around his partner and keep it theI,
continuously from beginning to end 0
h measure, whether it lasted fv
minutes or fifteen.
In some quarters the new dane
was received with almost horror, i
other quarters with sOrrowful fore
bodings. AS the bold spirits VIII
took to the waltz from the first an
continued to dance it every time the
got a chance belonged to London
smartest young set the waltz continue
to gain the affections of society l
spite Of all sorts Of caricature Of tn
dancers displayed in the public print!
Yes. at first h waltz had q hard tin,
Of it.
Minuet Drops.
Then Strauss, Of Vienna, who
called the father Of waltz music, cam
to the front and the minuet droppe
into second place in every fashionabl
ballroom. except on state occasion
In America, where the minuet We
never treated with any particular col
sideration it would not nave bee
easy. dancing masters think,
find fifty years ago a young ma
or young woman who could dam
the minuet we'll or cared to leal
to dance it. The more conserv;
tive element Of New York societ
who found the waltz and the poll
which when it was introduce
In England in 1914 created almo
as much excitement as the waltz h;
too lively for their notions Of pr
priety, confined their dancing exc
cises to walking through a quadrille
Even the lanciers, which also had
nnd debut in 1850. although Or