Norwich bulletin., 1915-04-10

(Written Specially for The Bullein.)
 Just at present, two-thirds of the nation seems to be dancing and the remaining third snarling, that the others Should dance! Good people everywhere are deploring the fact that the dance craze has taken pos session of young and old, with no re- gard for caste, politics, color, creed, or previous condition of respectabil- ity.
 The droll part of 1t is, those who complain, speak as though dancing were something entirely new, intro duced to an effete and degenerating society through mere idleness and viciousneSs.
 Such critics forget that even their authority, the Good Book may be cited as endorsing the dance, in case one care to go so far for recommen- dation of the modern pastime. Do we not read that there is a time to weep and a time to dance?
 Did not the Israelites dance before the Ark of the Covenant7 Why, dancing is as ancient 8 form of hu- man expression as speech; as the gestures of the hand and arms and movements of the feet and legs to express varying emotions, as history and tradition tell.
 The poet Jean Richepin, in a recent address before the members of the French Academy, traced the evolution the tombs of Thebes, from Orient to Occident, and down through ancient Rome.
 And as many others have done, M. Richepin protested against the vul- garization of these dances, when per- ponents, at the same time arguing that centers should promptly be es- tablished iE every capital of the world, where the grace and beauty and classic rhythm to which the modern dance so naturally lends itself should be developed and emphasized.
 As taught by the moet famous ex. ponents of the dance in New York, refinement is the keynote to the meth cd of dancing. The spirit of beauty and art is allied to the legitimate physical need of healthy exercise and of honest enjoyment.
 As sponsored by so prominent and un1mpeachable a woman as Elizabeth Marbury, the modern One Step is poetical and graceful. The Hesitation Waltz is a charming and stately glide, measured and modest The much nlaligned and misunderstood Tango becomes an evolution of the 18th cen- tury ninuet. The dance is courtly and artistic; and its opponents declare that it is free from all strenuous clasping of partners. all hideous gyrations of the limbs, all abnormal twisting and vicious angles. In a word, if the Tango degenerates into an acrobatlc display or into salacious suggestion, 1t is the fault of the danc- CTS and not of the dance.
 So too, of the Mazixe. It is the de- xelopment of the most attractive of folk dancing; an exquisite expression of joyous and youthful spontaneity.
 That the folk dance should be the expression of peoples of all nations we can realize when watching children interpret these dances. They throw themselves into the spirit of the na- preting, and even the most grabbed and radical spectator dare not main tain that the effect is anything but charming!
 The Half and Half, an original drawing-foom dance, contains the best steps Of the Hesitation and the Maxixe but the tempo is different.
 The advocates of dancing in general and of modern dances in particular claim that if we bar dancing from the world we bar one of the supreme hu- man expressions of happiness and ex- ultat1on. It is explained that the tiny child skips for joy and prances to the music of the hand organ long before it knows the difference between happi- ness and sorrow. In festival times in many countries. dancing is the key note of the gatherings.
 No person can work all the time, If workers dance, they fling aside breeding moodiness, forget the sor- did things of life. the sluggish blood pulses through their veins, they see only the brighter side of existence AdVnCafnS of inir best course in the interest of morals Is to encourage this pastime, as a healthful exercise as well as a fitting recreation.
 The same advocates point out that if there be Vuigarity in dancing, it is because it exists already in the minds or the dancers, chiefly because they do not know any better. The Turkey Trot as dance deserved much of the abuse which it received, but 1t died a natural death, because more attrac- tive dances were offered in it's place So will the objectionable featurs of all modern dances be thrust aside, as the statelier and more graceful steps are learned.
 In a number of the larger cities these facts are influencing leading properly conducted dancing halls where there can be clean fun to offset the hard work of the day. to good music and under proper supervision.
 Exercise for tired muscles, skilled instructors to teach, without charge the newest steps, correct positions etiquette in general, at these do the dancing hall promoters aim. The Connecticut city of Waterbury con ducts regularly a series of municipal dances and finds them not only popu- lar but beneficial.
 It IS emphasized that, unless some such healthful and harmless recrea- ton be provided. under proper author ity, young people will fill the void in their lives with amusements Of more questionable character.
 To them, as we arc reminded, dane ing means q stretching of the menta as well az the physical muscles, some thing different from the dull daily round, something for which the desire is almost as natural as the desire fol food and sleep. To this end, the the dance promoters are advocating decent social centers. where the fath. CTS and mothers as we'll as the younger children can go, to look or and enjoy the. healthy relaxation o1 may now honestly pray their freckles may never be less.