THE “CHARLESTON” DANCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3520, 5 August 1926, Page 1

THE “CHARLESTON” DANCE.

A PROTEST FROM ENGLAND. “A series of contortions without a vestige of charm or grace, reminiscent only of the negro orgies from which it derives its creation,” is the description applied to a dance called the Charleston, which has recently found its way to London, says a correspondent of the Daily Mail, who witnessed it in a West End private house. He describes it as a dance with no single merit, save the gay rythm of the tune to which it is performed; tunes equally suited to the dancing of the fox-trot in any of its varied and attractive forms. The correspondent, a man about town, describes his feelings on entering the dancing room at this party as one of complete amazement. “I wondered,” he writes, “whether London has gone completely mad.” Here were some 30 couples lurching, wriggling and kicking their legs wildly from side to side, the perspiration streaming down their faces —for let it be said at once that whatever the Charleston may not be, it most certainly is hard work. One was forced to the conclusion, he says, that the dancers had no time to pause and look for one moment at their rival performers. If they had, one felt that they could have borne no longer to make themselves ridiculous. Surely London society has not yet come to such a pass that it must indulge in these ridiculous imitations of heathen rites as a' means of passing its evenings. I welcome the fact, he concludes, that some of the bigger hotels are banning the Charleston, and as one who has always been an enthusiastic dancer, I trust that every influence will be used to concentrate public opinion against this latest monstrosity.