MODERN DANCING Modern dances have undergone many changes since 1912. • So great has been the revival of interest in dancing that it has been called a "dance craze." Many elderly people, who had long ceased to dance, have taken up dancing seriously.
The new era of dancing began with such crude and ugly gyra tions as the Turkey Trot, Bunny Hug and Grizzly Bear. Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Castle were then the leading exponents of the dance and were responsible f or many of the early refinements. They introduced the Castle Walk, a long legged walking step in which the lady was backed around the room continuously. The Castles also introduced the Tango.
Between 1912 and 1915 new dances sprung up and disappeared in very rapid succession. Of more than one hundred new dances introduced during that time, the Hesitation, to Waltz music, and the Maxixe, imported from Brazil, were the most popular. Between 1915 and the present day, with the exception of the Charleston, which had a slight vogue in 1925, no dance ever achieved any noticeable degree of popularity. The Charleston was most popular as an exhibition dance by amateurs and was extensively used in musical comedy choruses. The Black Bottom followed on the heels of the Charleston, but it was an ugly dance and short lived.
In 1925, Arthur Murray, a protege of Vernon Castle, standard ized ballroom dancing. He simplified all modern dances by intro ducing five fundamental steps. In 193o Mr. Murray introduced the Westchester style of dancing popular with college boys. This new youthful style called for a sixth basic movement—the Run ning Step. People everywhere are dancing chiefly the Fox Trot and the Waltz. The Tango is having a new vogue, and the Cuban Son, commonly known as the Rhumba is the newest adoption ; but these dances are so complicated and so hard for the average person to learn that they have comparatively little practical significance. The One-Step (a very fast Fox Trot) is still danced, but not in the most sophisticated circles.
The Fox Trot is by far the favorite, probably because its rhythm is simple enough to be easily and quickly learned by beginners, and because its possible combinations of steps are sufficiently varied to hold the interest of the most accomplished.
The Waltz is gaining steadily in popularity and is now danced almost as much as the Fox Trot. People who have learned the Waltz correctly are admittedly the most graceful dancers, and they are able to adopt other steps more readily.
All the modern dances are made of combinations of the six Basic Steps. Without a thorough knowledge of these Basic Steps, one cannot hope to do any of the modern dances really well. With a knowledge of them, there are practically no combinations, done ordinarily in the Fox Trot and the Waltz, at least, which one should not be able to pick up readily. The six Basic Steps are : The Walking Steps, the Chasse, the Waltz, the Balance and the Pivot and the Running Steps.
Step smartly and springily, shifting your weight from one foot to the other. Always when you take a step with one foot, lift the other off the floor. Never drag or slide the feet along. Such action is considered very old-fashioned, and was never conducive to really good dancing.
Practice taking long, slow steps about the room. Women, in their practice, should give especial attention to walking back ward. Keep the knees straight and firm and always make the toes lead. Dance as if you did not have a foot but only a great toe. Practice stretching your toes forward, or backward, as far as you can reach, and always keep them turned out to avoid a pigeon toed appearance. Always step in a straight line, directly forward, directly back, or directly to the side. This is fundamental to a good balance, good appearance, and a sense of unity with your partner.
The Waltz may be done forward, backward, or used as a turn to left or right. The Waltz may also be danced to Fox Trot music by holding the first step for two beats; the second and third steps of the Waltz each receive one beat.
A man must train his feet by constant practice to do the various steps and combinations automatically in order to inspire confidence in his partner and to lead with that easy nonchalance that is the mark of an accomplished dancer. It is a mistaken idea that to be a strong leader a man must take a death grip upon his partner and push and pull her with force about the floor. Hold your partner firmly, yes—especially with your right hand—and then go through your steps with certainty and precision. If she knows the steps she will be able to follow. If she does not no amount of forceful guiding upon your part will be of any help to her.
The man holds the woman straight in front of him—never to one side—and firmly, just close enough to enable him to guide her easily. His right hand rests in the middle of her back, just below the shoulder blades. His left arm is extended to the side and bent slightly at the elbow, the left hand holding her hand lightly.
The woman rests her left hand lightly upon the back of the man's shoulder. She should never curl her hand under his arm. Trick holds are out of date. Her right arm is extended to the side in an easy, graceful curve with the right hand resting lightly in the man's. Be careful to avoid a spasmodic clutch. It be trays a tension and a lack of confidence that are destructive to your partner's pleasure in dancing with you.
In starting, the man steps forward directly toward his partner, leading with his left foot. The woman steps directly backward, leading with her right foot. Don't be afraid of stepping on your partner's feet. If you start on the proper foot and step in a straight line, directly forward or directly back, you never will get in your partner's way.
There is no fixed sequence for the six Basic Steps nor for any of their combinations. In modern dancing, the leader may swing into any step at any time, as his fancy may dictate or the music seems to suggest. This is why it is so extremely important that the woman should be thoroughly familiar with the steps her part ner may decide to do. The only way to gain confidence and to overcome self-consciousness, awkwardness, and stiffness in dancing is to learn the steps, and by constant practice to master them so perfectly that you could almost do them in your sleep.
Self-assurance, ease, grace, and relaxation come as a natural consequence of knowing how. Self-consciousness, stiffness, awk wardness will vanish, and you will find yourself dancing with ease and spontaneous enjoyment. See also BALLET. (A. Mu.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Historical: Cahusac, La dame ancienne et moderne Bibliography.-Historical: Cahusac, La dame ancienne et moderne (La Hague, G. Vuillier, History of Dancing (New York, 1897) ; R. W. Johnston, History of Dancing (London, 1906) ; E. Urlin, Dancing, Ancient and Modern (London, i9ii) ; L. Pound, Poetic Origins and the Ballad (New York, 1921) ; L. C. Wimberly, "Min strelsy, Music, and the Dance," Univ. of Nebr. Studies in Language, Literature and Criticism, No. 4 (Lincoln, 1921) ; C. J. Sharp and Adolf P. Oppe, The Dance (Am. Hist. Survey of Dancing in Europe, London, 1924) ; Wilfred D. Hambly, Tribal Dancing and Social Development (London, 1926) . Indian-American: C. Wissler, "General Discussion of Shamanistic and Dancing Societies," Amer. Museum of Nat. Hist. Anthropological Papers, vol. ii., p. 853-876 (New York, 1916) . Eskimo: E. W. Hawkes, "The Dance Festivals of the Alaskan Eskimo," Univ. of Pa. Anthropological Pub., vol. vi., no. 2 (Phila delphia, 1914) . Dancing and Dancers: J. E. C. Flitch, Modern Dancing and Dancers (London, 1912) ; Caroline S. and C. H. Coffin, Dancing and Dancers of Today (New York, 1912) ; Vernon and Irene V. Castle, Modern Dancing (New York, 1914) ; Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Denis: Pioneer and Prophet (San Francisco, 192o) ; M. N. H'Doubler, The Dance (New York, 1925) ; Ted Shawn, The American Ballet (New York, 1926). General: A. L. and Lucile P. March, The Dance in Education (New York, 1924) ; E. A. Dickson, edit., Poems of the Dance (New York, 1925) .