Evening star., 1923-05-04
How Long Can Lady Shimmy
Before She Drops Dead?


Nbthing much can be done about it,
since all the world is mad-out me
and thee But, what next? Where do
we 60 from here? That seems to be
The general editorial reaction to the
marathon dancing epidemic, which,
like forest fires, spring floods and
other seasonal calamities. has broken
out all over the country. Some pa
pers strongly favor legal and police
interference to put stop to the ex-
hibitions. To others, however, this is
merely the expression OF passion
for regulation that is no less a mania
than is endurance dancing. A bit be-
wildered as to what it is all about, the
press for the most part sits back in
weary resignation TO wait for the
craze to wear itself out. which will
happen. the Pueblo Star Journal pre-
diets, when participants discover that
there is no honor in being a bigger
fool than a lot OF other fools"
The great question before the Amer
lean public today seems to be, accord
ing to the Los Angeles Times. How
long can a lady shimmy before she
drops dead?" And. it adds, "at last
accounts we are still trying to find
out" "Of all the crazy competitions
ever invented the dancing marathon
wins by q considerable margin of lu-
macy" declares the New York Eve
ming World, suggesting that it's treat
ment is considerably more a matter
r fn,
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot also thinks
that here is an inviting inquiry for
psychiatrists. alienists, intelligence
testers and all interpreters OF human
folly" to determine what inhibited
impulse subconscious desire or modi
fed lunacy is exhibited in converting
the poetry of motion into a cheap
test Of brute endurance The San
Francisco Bulletin explains the phe-
nomenon as throw back to barbar-
ism, seeing in the frivolous ffapper
and her brainless partner a sister
and brother to the dancing dervish of
the desert and the South Sea Island
savage doing his war dance" To this
the Sioux City Journal adds that "the
East Indian fakir who lies for hours
on a bed of spikes, enduring agonies
of the body, is no more barbartc than
man or woman VINO dances for
three Gays anu nlsntS Without stop
ping"
However, Americans are faddists,"
the Arkansas Democrat Hittle Rock)
assures US. and once the craze start
ed, this country was bound to take
it up and run it into the ground. And
another American Characteristic is
glaringly evident to a number Of
papers. The Boston Transcript, for
one, suggests that ''it is the publicity
given the exhibitions of continuous
dancing that has made them attrac-
tive. And there has been the oppor-
tunity to capitalize public curiosity
and make it yield financial returns"
What this opportunity is the New
York Herald explains by calling at
tention to the fact that ''the par
ticipantS have been in almost every
case instructors in dancing schools.
Their achievements always attract
attention to the particular establish
ment in which they were performed.
AS a result these establishments have
reaped abundant free advertising
and managers are filing their
pockets"
But it might reasonably be asked
by the young women who are making
and breaking long.distance records,
the Oakland Tribune comedies. why
is It not as much q feat to dance for
sixty hours a. II Is to run q hundred
yard dash in ten seconds?" and the