Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-03-28
TURKEY TROT WAS
A COWBOY DANCE
Movements of Modern Dancing
Are Traced Through Various
Revolutions.
From die BOSTON Post.

From the Boston Post.
Devotees OF te%rpsichore who declare that
the much discussed turkey trot is the
newest OF All interpretations of the poetry
OF motion are reminded that there is
nothing new under the sun.
Originally. dancing is said TO rave arisen
under the skies of the Pharaohs. Al first
II manifested itself In severe sacred rites,
then babbled brokenly of JOY and brief In
the sacerdotal professions of Apis.
Later on 1t became with all
the manifestation of popular life reflect
ing the passions of man, translating the
most sacred movements of the soul INTO
PHYSICAL action. From the solemnity of
religious rites. from the fury of the prime
val war fare. the Interpreting movement
OF which was not unlike the turkey trot.
the bunny hug and the grizzly bear, it
passed To the Yayety OF pastoral sports.
then to the dignity and grace of the re-
iined dance "f modern society. AS known
before the revival of the violent dancing
of the ancients.
The movements which make up the tur-
Key trot are traced to the savage dancing
of Romulus. Theatrical dancing In panto-
mime also had birth among the Romans.
and after centuries of folly which brought
about the downfall of that great race.
the art of dancing disappeared.
Modern Dancing in France.
Al the court of France. The origin of
modern dancing is associated with the rise
of chivalry, later to become general
throughout the empire. The old Gallo
proverb. After good cheer comes dane
Ing. seems to show that it was custo-
mary to dance after a feast. Each prov
fnce mad Its own characteristic dance.
which the lower orders practiced with
great Ntsor. showing the periodical rever-
sion to the movements of the a%ncients.
In 1880 "A revolution took place In dane
ing. The middle classes developed "A pas
sion for the ball. which had hitherto been
confined almost exclusively to the aristoc-
racy. The ball of the wealthy, which had
become famous for its splendor. was imi-
tated on a humbler scale by the students
and grisettes.
WaltzinE and galloping We're practiced
with the same energy now displayed by a
certain element among the devOtees of
the turkey trot. until another revolution
took place In 1874, when the polka arrived.
The waltz and the gallop were forsaken
and the polka mania set in.
Following this dance, the art became
subdued and for a generation or more
conventional dances prevailed.
A few years g however, .hese conven-
tional steps grew monotonous to the gay
youth of the American metropolis. who
sought a variation.
A Lesson From the Cowpunehsrs.
About six years ago there arrived at a
small cattle town in the far west a party
OF eastern tourists. Their coming was
simultaneous with the fall roundup, when
the cowpunchers had just received their
long anticipated pay envelopes.
During these brief periods of wealth
the bowbOys patronized literally all of the
bars in town. Then. like the joyous peo-
pie of France, whose maxim was AFTER
good cheer, dancing they repaired to the
dance halls. All of this was new to the
eastern visitors. The younger members of
the party found at once what they had
sought for years. a new dance; the step
was varied. also the contortions. Soon
the whole party was initiated into the
spirit of the dance.
The winter season came on. The young
folks returned to New York to practice
the steps. twists. turns and acrobatic
stunts of the dance of the west. Not lar
ing to precfpitate a crisis, it was decided
to wait until the Newport season began in
the spring before trying out the daring in
%novation.
Like other things the turkey trot
shocked Newport for a short time. When
the New York season began in the fall the
new lance had safely arrived among the
select few who had outgrown its liber-
ality of movement and had in a way be-
came calloused to it's features formerly
considered uncouth.
AS long as the turkey trot remained the
exclusive property of the social leaders
OF Gotham, the hands OF propriety were
not upltfted. But when the middle class
youth had SO enthusiastically followed the
vogue hat many young women actually
tainted from over exertion in the aero
batic mazes OF the dance the righteous
wrath Of those who are considered arbi-
ters Of propriety was directed against the
dance. Hence its notoriety, not to say it's
disrepute. In certain circles where the con-
duct of the young is safeguarded against
anything approaching indecorum.