THE DANCING BOOM.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1926, 8 December 1913, Page 2

THE DANCING BOOM.

London during tlic coming winter seems likely to witness a. very decidcd boom in dancing, writes the London correspondent of the Sydney "Daily Telegraph" on October 24. Tho brighter pace set by rngtimo music ha* brought about revival of interc.it in the pastime among all classes, and the academies v.'hci'o tho 'prentice foot is trained are busy a month in advance of ! tho usual time. In numbers West End centres leisured Londoners will bo dancing by day as well as night. "Tango" teas and suppers will bo regular features in the most modern clubs, which are modelling their programmes this year on a mote ambitious scale. The Cabaret- Club, for example, will provide dramatic and musical evenings, and trial performances on Thursdays, now singers and artists appearing in the presence of critics ami managers. Many notable dancers will perforin before its members, and plays wiil be submitted once a week by a Sunday theatre scction. The numbers of places where gaiety and Bohcmiamsm flourish is increasing. Already particulars have been given of the prospective opening of 0110 new centre of this sort near the Hippodrome, and other projects of tho same sort are afoot. . Tho home of ono of the most excinsivo of them will bo the old Bond Street Gallery, a few doors from Piccadilly, and the 400 members will have dances in the afternoons as well as at night. Artists will be engaged to entertain the company during tho tea and supper .hours, and the new* dances will be taught by specially-cngaged professors. One very important thing to consider is that nowadays it is useless for anyone to go to a dance unless they have mastered all the notv dances. The waltz is dead, aiul_ the society dance programmes aro being recast entirely. Tho one-step may perhaps survive, but tho majority of dances will consist of i tho Tango, the Jlaxixe, and the Boston, j There are-GO steps in the Tango, though an expert dancer does not use, as a rule, more than 20. There has never been so much enthusiasm for dancing as there is just now. Not only does it affect the people in Mayfair, but it has caught the raiddio classes, and large numbers of business men are working hard in picking up the new dances after leaving their offices. The rage at present is til 6 "Tango" teas, which aro held every afternoon, except matinee days, at the Queen's Theatre, ami which arc crowded by fashionable audiences of men and women. It. is a very joll}' way to 'spend ail afternoon, for a programme of interest in dancing and froeking is provided in a delightfully informal manner. The stalls, dress circle, «n<: boxes are filled with smartly-gowned women and well-known men representative of every section of society, the musical, literary, and theatrical world. Half a crown is the made, ami for this a seat is provided in any part of tho house, and a dainty tea served on separate trays by attendants garbed in soft pink frocks which tone with the decoration scheme. You sit comfortably in your scat, and, as you sip your tea, enjoy an excellent programme of music, see a drefs paradi> of the newest Paris fashions worn by beautiful mannequins, and get a lesson in tho "Tango." and other n(nr dances that hare taken London by storm,- which are danced by expert men and women dancc-rs. . .