The St. Paul echo. [volume] (St. Paul ;) 1925-1927, 1926-02-20
AMERICA HAS NO
NATIONAL DANCE
Most Countries Have Step,
Which Are Distinctly
Their Own.


tined to be q permanent addition to
the art Of dancing, or whether 1t shuf-
hes out Of the spotlight Of popular
fancy after the turkey trot,' the
bunny hug, the camel walk the
'shimmy,' and other high-pressure
steps of the past, discussion Of 1t has
revived interest in characteristic ma
tional and folk dances In many parts
Of the world" says a bulletin from
the Washington headquarters of the
National Geographic society.
America has no generally recog-
nized national dance" the bulletin
continues. There Is the moribund Vir-
ginia reel, at present the subject Of
earnest efforts at resuscitation by old
time dance revivalists. In many OF
the more remote rural sections Of the
country the Virginia reel fiourishes,
more or less, despite the growing
scarcity of capable figure callers, but
the younger generation Of most Of the
country today knows little about 1t.
"In the cast Of some steps it Is
necessary only to name the dance,
and its birthplace flashes to mind, so
thoroughly have the country and the
name Of its most characteristic dance
become linked. The Jig, Ireland; the
hula-hula, Hawaii; the tango, Argen-
tine; the polka, Bohemia (now
Czechoslovakia); the nautch, India ;
the minuet, Old France. These are
only a few samples of dances which
automatically furnish their own places
and date lines.
Eaypt's star Dances.
''The most ancient dances are be-
lieved to be astronomical dances of
the early Egyptians. The object Of
these dances was to inspire feeling
Of harmony among the planets, and
to 50 influence them that their effect
on life might not be harmful. The
Greeks took the star dances from the
Egyptians and found a place for them
as the chorus, or background, of their
tragedies. The Romans, as In other
arts, produced few original dances,
but they developed their heritage
from the Egyptians and Greeks.
''In the more primitive civilizations
dancing and religion were almost
synonymous. AS for the lower strata
Of humanity: "A savage does not
preach his religion, he dances it,
Livingstone wrote from Africa. For
all solemn occasions In the lives OF
primitive peoples there are dances
for weddings, for funerals, for seed
time and for harvest, for war and for
peace. Where today we find people
praying In church for rain, or for
the restoration Of friends to health,
ancient man danced for these things.
zone of the liveliest of the worlds
dances is the tarantella, the diver
sion Of Naples. 1t Is executed with
tambourinss and was formerly sup
posed TO cure the bite of the tarantula,
a large venomous spider. Another YER
sion of the origin Of the dance says
that it Is based on the theme Of Ia
morra,' a game consisting in guessing
at the number Of fingers suddenly
held out by an opponent. Until re-
Gently visitors to Asia Minor were
delighted and mystifed with the gyra-
lions of the famous Turkish whirling
dervishes. Originally of religious
significance, the art of the dervishes
had degenerated so that not long ago
the new Turkish Republic prohibited
the dafce.
perhaps the only original contri-
button that England has made in the
last four centuries Is the sailors horn
pipe. The neighboring island Of Ire
land, however, boasts Of the Jig, the
reel, and the hornpipe clog-and-shuffie
dances. Britain's colonies offer color
full and diverting steps, most Of them
symbolic or religious, such as the
devil dance of Ceylon.
Earliest turkey Trot."
Environment and the initiative I'm
pulse doubtless have played large
parts in holding many Of the more
picturesque and exotic steps Of savage
peoples. OF great interest to the stu
dent of animal life are such mimick-
ing steps as the kangaroo hops of the
Australian and the Tasmanian; the
gorillalike movements Of a cotillion Of
natives In the heart Of Africa, and
the calf-herd tactics at a bushman's
ball. In the mechanical frenzies OF
the American Indian harvest and war
dances may be visioned the embryonic
turkey trot' or bunny hug
1.-THE close association Of early
dances with warfare is brought out in
such survivals as the sword dances.
The Scotch sword dance Is the most
graceful and least bloodthirsty OF
these. Chinese and Turkish sword
dances, however, are not so esthetic.
While wildly beautiful, they are not
wholly free from danger. Natives OF
the FIJI islands have a war dance In
which clubs are flourished In fren.
zied manner. In East Africa the ma.
tive tribes honor distinguished guests
with a ceremonial dance, in which
spears and other weapons are rushed
up within an inch Of the visitors nose.
1t Is test Of the honor guests nerve,
for If he moves or shows the least
sign of fear or annoyance he falls In
the respect Of his well meaning hosts. u