Evening star., 1924-09-14
DY STERLING HEILIG.

fARlS, september 3.
" OX-TROT. From One to Two.
II ;,33 1h5' " SgnssS s;s II ire s.rf5 from an S
most elegant dancing OF the
Bois. Beyond tiny lake and bits of
| lawn. A forest vista shows the line
of motor cars arriving continually at
the white portals of sylvan estab-
| lishment.
Americans. English, prosperous
Parisians and pleasure-seekers from
everywhere quit their cars and make
| for the open-air dance floor of Arme-
nonville, under the trees. Inside the
luxurious restaurant is empty, yet it
| is tea time.
So this is Paris with the lid off.
Capital Of bright and naughty gayety.
of pop, sparkle and filtration, of
| passion and fatality. laughter and
chatter.
The scene is truly fairylike. But
| where is the laughter and chatter?
At a hundred little tables around the
dance floor young folks, middle-aged
| and elderly sit, rapt, staring, silent.
All eyes are on the crowd of
dancers. moving just so in the fox
| trot, each step just so. All ears listen
| in a tense contentment to the trap
drum man of Billy Henly's jazz band
| intone through the megaphone that:
Life and Love Seem Sweeter After
| the Storm
(Fox-trot. This number free from
all taxi
Fifty couples move to it as in a
| daze-mechanically. correctly, walk
| ing with deliberation, just 80, as if
wound up and glad Of it. without
| laughter, without languor.
The dances are short and begin
again in half minute. The couples
! stand where they stopped and do not
say a word to each other. They are
in a geometric dream-a dream of
| rhythm. 1t is individual, not dual.
The hypnotic joy of each is safe in a
water-tight compartment.
got it from a smooth French sub
I director at Armenonville. who whis-
pered: Are you for the Society Of
Authors?" as 1 leaned over the pian-
lists shoulder to read the songs
name:
"Everybody's Sweetheart, but No
| body's CALI
CFox-trot. This number free from
all taxi
That songs slogan told the whole
| mo-" I answered. 'T am interested
! in the dancing. 1t seems different"
4 X x
UEOX-TROTS,. he said, "are not
J l. French manufacture. The So
ciety Of Authors gets no copyright, as
all this music comes straight from
America. They won't have anything
but fox-trots. It's the easiest of
dances. Any one can walk through
it. The tango looks like you could
walk through it, but it takes skill
Also, there's a new thing"
| New thing?"
big new thing. See that-and
that?" He pointed to the trombone
and the trap-drum. TITS the tom.
tom!" whispered the smooth French
man. when I was in Senegal with
the Colonials I saw whole villages by
the full moon dance till they fell ex-
hausted-solemn dancing, believe me
Ito the rhythm Of the tom-tom. I,
compels, and it is pure" said the
smooth Frenchman. TT Is the frs,
and oldest dance in all the world
Each one dances in his own dream to
Paris!"
In IS Parisian "dancings" Of the
first class, and in 2s5 establishments
| Of good tone, so classed by the pre-
lecture of police, the jazz craze has
worked its way.
French bands import and play the
American music. In fact, it is re.
printed and jobbed by French specu.
lators. "Runnin' Wild! Fox-trot e,
Blues" was going strong at the Jar.
din d'Acclimatation "a kind of zoo) a,
Neuilly-sur-Seine (Which is west-enG
Paris) yesterday afternoon. Ant
Take . Little One step!' was being
jsncored at the Butte de Chaumont