THE MODERN WALK.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 237, 6 October 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE MODERN WALK.

IS JAZZ TO BLAME? .UNGRACEFULNESS OF WOMEN.! (By MARGARET A. PARKER.) Moat things modern are, an improvement. I think we can congratulate ourselves that' this But the modern style of walking, if i,t is of any importance really, can scarcely be brought under the category. If moving pictures had been in (existence sixty years' ago, and we could, be shown just how'our grandmothers , walked, in comparison with how we get along the street today, I am sure we would be interested and surprised to notice the. difference. The leisurely grace of that bygone-'time has departed, not'only from our methoa of walking, but from many other phases of life to-day. As we have long ago realised we now; take life at a gulp all round, more or less, from hurry to rush and .from rush bade to hurry again as it were, and what there is to all of it few of us give pause to think.. v

■ Exponents of the art of walking will tell you that it is a difficult thing to accomplish correctly, so, having sufficient difficulties to the square, inch.already in this era of modern complexities', most men "gang their ain gait." The walk of man, the masculine walk, is,really little at fault. Man as a pedestrian is at best only, expected to "stride," and stride he d'oes, and no amount of jazzing seems to affect his gait; but there js an extraordinary development talcing plac> in the walk of women, young girls particularly. It is a peculiar jerking movement of the. hips; rather suggestive of the opening gestures of the haka, and sometimes all the'body above the waist is jerked and. twitched from side to side. It is not only ugly in the extreme, but I should think distinctly hampering, to good quick walking. . . jazz Reflected in Walk. ', I am inclined to attribute this new gait to an excess of jazzing. I may be wrong, of course. I am not a dancer myself, at least I have not learnt to jazz, not even by gramophone at twilight, but from what little I have seen of modern dancing, the posture of jazz seems to h<e reflected in this new walk Or is it the shoes we wear? I have experimented in walking on the street in high-heeled shoes,- and to me it is~impossible to do so without.assuming a stilted gait. And I am puzzled to know, if it s so difficult to walk gracefully in highreeled shoes, why high-heeled shoes should be worn' for dancing. Men don't wear them to dance in. ' Iβ .the hign ieel really necessary for graceful dancing, or is it only a surviving vanity "of the days of powder and patches? It may be that the modern walk is more noticeably jerky because more of our limbs are seen than in our grandmothers' days. With skirts at time" well above the knee joints, there are more angles.for observation, and.the awkwarr] gait is therefore more noticeable. > Grace Worth a Little Thought. ,

In a moving picture of a Dutch street scene, we saw some Dutch gins coming from church in their national dress,, wide,, full, flowing skirts to the ankles; and the grace with which, they literally "swung along" was most delightful to observe—or was it just'that their limbs were covered, and their anatomi-" caf movements niddeii ? „ Would the modefii girl's vr&lk. be as. charijnng in the same 'Costume, : or crinoline? ..'.'■' '■■••'.' ' ' .-/"'..

I think riot.; "The.lndications,of jaz2 are too apparent In the walk of' many young girls of to-day. .I' ain not a parent, but if I were the mother hi girls growing.. up • would feel strongly inclined'.to agitate.for a l limitation 01 the proportion of jazz on the dance pro ; gramme. They tell me it's nothing but jazz at a dance now. .' ■ . ' .

• Grace in:.everyday life is an attainment that really need cost us nothing but a little thought and care, and when such • large sums of money are being spent upon l»»wn planning and the beautifying of our streets, ought we not to give some attention to our own graco in the'art of walking? ' . •'■■