The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-21
PARIS, September IL.

one ought to write DOCK, |
when Paris Dances" She dances
from 8 o'clock in the afternoon until
after midnight. She wears her best
clothes while she does It. And in
that dancing, the phases of 1t, the
philosophy and Psychology Of It, there
are features that are historical and
sentimental.
One might say it was a safety
device. this dancing. 1t Is not merely
O fashionable whim. It is not an
extravaganza that il linked up with /.
clothes and supper parties. It has
nothing to do with the drinking OF
champagne It is not a device of
pleasure arranged by professionals
who want to make money. All, no.
1t goes far deeper than that into the
very soul and spirit of France.
1t is the opinion Of eminent medical
men that it is a substitute for
hysteria; Paris might cry and wiring
her hands, might argue and quarrel
and rebel, If the nation had been kept
entirely quiet, without any vivid form
Of active amusement after peace was
signed. Four years Of a strain that
has rarely been put upon human
people left its mark on the nervous
system. All Europe, the women as
well as the men, bore the strain with
out flinching, without letting go, but
it took every vital power that was in
them to keep them from going into
some form of national hysteria or
melancholia-
The strain was suddenly released
when the armistice was signed. 1t
found it's vent in dancing. AS an IN
dividual who hears a piece Of good for"
tune. who knows that a great trfbu-
Iation has ended, wants to jump
up and shout, so nation acts when
an intolerable burden has been lifted
from the shoulders.
There are many forms of amuse-
ment in which Paris might have In
dulged when the guns ceased to roar
and the wounded ceased to arrive. But
they were expensive forms Of pleasure.
And many of them required passivity;
they did not call for activity. Paris
ha6 to Jump up and shout, so what
did she do? By common accord, with
out any prearranged plan, she took up
the American dance called the Jazz"
and through this leaping, twisting,
turning, savage dancing she found re-
lief to her overstrained nerves. The
tango did not suit her. 1t was too
stately, too sinuous, too quiet. Inc
American army had been entertained
by jazz dancers for over year. and
the French considered it the American
national dance, and they took to ii
like a balloon to the air. They exag-
gerated it. They saw in it a form OF
activity almost as violent as running,
swimming and playing tennis.
They Danced I'm the Streets.
The common people started this
tidal wave of dancing the night the
armistice was announced. For months
after the streets were the free and
easy place in which to dance. From the
Place de la Republique to the further
most stretches of the Latin Quarter and
upward to the terraces Of Montmartre
couples swirled to the music Of ac-
coriions, of little trumpets, of fddles.
Girls danced with girls. old couples
joined in the gayety, while the young
ones applauded All through the color
full groups, like a streak of rust, were
the brown khaki clad American dough-
boys. Not only the private, mind you.
Everything less than a General takes
part and one need not be too sure that
in some secluded shadow in a tree
filed boulevard a General does not
take his chance with some French or
American girl.
The smart women of Paris do not
dance in the streets, but they would
like to do It. 1t is whispered that sew
eral of the gay set, that leads what is
known as smart society over here,
copy Marie Antoinette in putting on
the disguise of quiet shabby clothes
and going to the Boulevard st. Ger
main and the Boulevard Montparnasse
to dance with their intimate friends.
They like the glitter and color OF the
streets, the long line Of little cafes
with the green tables, blue siphons
and Notwithstanding drinks. The
American boys do not care to dance
as much with the American girls, as
they thread their way into the groups
at each corner, as with the little
French girls, who have the spirit OF
mischief and vivacity.
The tango and the jazz have nc
popularity in the street dancing. The
polka and the schottische rule. The
rpAn with the accordion stands ON a
bench and plays that wild mad music
that one hears in the mountains OF
Kentucky. where John Fox's people
dance the whole night Strolling
hddlers go through the streets, fol-
lowed by men and women who sud
denly surround them and break loose
into capriclous dancing. laughing and
singing as they dance. Every one
sings. The spectators on the pave.
ments, seated in the little green chairs
under the trees, sing in or out OF
harmony with the dances. Women
lean out from the windows above and
shout approval or personalities dowr
20 the shifting Kaleidoscope GROVE
and join in the singing.
Up on the Butte Of Montmartrt
where one can get delicious GinneI
for one-third the price asked in the
Bots. that Montmartre which is domi.
mated by the church Of the Sacred
Csur. where Louise Is supposed Il
have sung to Julian from her window
where the children play around tn,
tables In the street. thsrS comes thu