Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-11

IDENTIFY invited by one of the table hold
| ers, waited out on the floor. To the ac-
compartment of the jerky music they be-
gan series OF steps that filled the OBJ
server with awe. 1t was wonderfully
| beautiful. Every movement must have
| been perfected fundamentally before
they could have dared to attempt pub
! lie performance. But the young man
| evidently knew his partner. even as she
! knew him, and they went through IT
/ hawiessfy
An elderly woman seated near the door
raised her lorgnette.
| Quite capable" she commented. Quite
The stout man, who was at her side
| paused a moment in the consumption of
| sandwiches which he had been eating
with the earnestness of one to whom eat
| ing Is a business.
Very good in their time he assented
| and grasped another sandwich.
She carried herself WE'LL said the
| elderly woman, critically.
/ The stout man, moment before, had
| clrcled the room twice with the easy
| grace of a hippopotamus. He had quit
| after the second turn-and had been eat
| ing sandwiches ever since.
| 'She does carry herself WELL" he adj
| nitted. But l think her partner hops
| too much
! One or two other people glanced al
| them carelessly, wondered who they were
and continued their individual occupa-
| tons.
| After the couple had finished their
| dance they returned to their seats and
| soon afterward departed.
| Those people, confided the master Of
| ceremonies. ARE getting big money al
| one Of the local theaters for doing that
| dance. The people in this tearoom would
| probably applaud them wildly If they saw
| them on the stage. But here they don't
| even cut a ripple
| To the expert it was evident that the
| two theatrical performers were unusually
/ graceful. But there were others on the
| floor almost as graceful as they. Indeed
nearly every one in the tearoom seemed
| to have become an expert tangoist.
|
| y y
Tangoing. as the observer saw it
| danced. is essentially graceful and in no
way offensive to the sensitive onlooker.
| But if a man or a woman is a prude-
| that is, if he clings to the theory that
| dance is evolved of Satan-then he had
| better wrap up his tender feelings and
| stay away from tango. And let him not
| misunderstand! The ethics of the tango
are the subtlest of ethics. Invariably 1t
| is tine prude who makes the mistake of
not recognizing in the Tango merely a de-
| hghtful and harmless recreation.
In the tango tearoom of another hotel
was a man with sad face and step
like the step of a discouraged camel.
| thankful that they had no legs. When he
Glided he reminded one of a ninety-year-
old base ball player trying to steal second
! base
A vivacious little woman of thirty or
| SO was dancing with him and she was
| dancing well. But the sad-faced man
kept lettering and sliding about two feet
i away from her. and finally she bumped
! into another couple.
/ She glanced at the sad-faced man.
1 lCvtf in1- cha n
had better hold me little closer
| The face Of the sad man lighted with
fatuous joy. He extended his arm.
| DO you want me to-" he cooed.
Eyes, / do she replied, brskly There
surely must be some way of keeping you
| from getting so terribly out OF STEP
| The arm of the sad-faced man dropped
Imply. He looked around in dazed
| way.
| Il thought he began.
| Il think" she said, mercilessly, that
| If you will take me to our table l will
dance with Jim
He guided her over. During the rest
of the tea party he sat at the table with
! his chin in his hands, thinking dyspeptic,
| melancholy thoughts.
| 1t is only the beginner or the numb
| skull. according to the masters of cere-
monies and the teachers Of Washington,
who ever vulgarizes the tango.
| X x
| Said the official of this particular hotel
| when the story was related to him.:
That kind of q man doesn't last long
at tango teas. Invariably he is weeded
out. He usually finds out that he isn't
wanted. and has the grace to take up
something that is more to his style. But
\ if he refuses to leave after he has been
| tried and found wanting, his friends in
variably succeed in showing him that
| he had better retire."
| .tHow?"
| .sOh. in a number of ways. One of the
best Is ridicule. No man can stand ridi-
| Guile, especially in a dance, the essence
| of which is grace If that fails they give