THE VANISHING WALTZ.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 634, 14 January 1914, Page 7

THE VANISHING WALTZ.

1 THE GHOST SHUFFLE AND THE BOGIE WALK NOW THE POPULAR DANCES.

No one with any sense of humoui can stand at the corner of a presentday ballroom and not be mo red to mirth by the weird evolutions of the dancers. If he has a scns.T of the fitness of things, he may be mo ed to tears as well, for there is tonething grotesquely pathetic in the display. Grace vanished with the incoming of the hobble skirt, and the beautiful waltz is in danger of vanishing too, for the one-step, the Bogey Walk, and the Ghost Shuffle arc no">v the popular dances. They are easy to learn, though far from beautiful to watch. For the Bogey Walk it appears to be essential for each partner to put his or her arm as far round the other as possible, and then waddle— concertedly or at variance, as preferred—down.the room. No attention is given to time or ihythan, and, except for a slow half turn at intervals, no attempts a t revolving are made. Tha Ghost Shuffle is something a little more intricate. Here the clasp is not quite so firm ; in fact, the lady's left arm performs a pumphandle action of its own in the air. The couple take undecided steps, now left now right, and occasionally, at no given signal, they make a combined downward swoop towards the floor—produced by crooking the knee joint somewhat suddenly. Here, too, no attention is paid to the band, and the whole efiect is more suggestive of penguines at the Zoo than of rational English dancers. The Boston and one-step are more ordinary. Hand-in-hand, any step yen please, you chassee into a corner, there you what is described in dancing circles as "cradle"—then, seized with new vigour after this brief rest, you chassee out once more only to chassee into the next corner and repeat the performance. In the midst of this medley of steps and hand wavings—for all these three dances are danced to the same music—ordinary waltzers find them selves sadly at a disadvantage. Reversing, which has long been a bugbear to moderate dancers, is nothing compared with couples chasseeing, cradling, waddling, a»d crooking the I knee.—London "laaeder."