THE GOOD DANCER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3901, 31 January 1929, Page 1

THE GOOD DANCER.

We have often, been asked to define ,a good dancer. In a man gra'ce- ■ ful dancing is the embodiment of smoothness, variation," and a sense of rhythm. In a girl an ability to ,follow where her (partner leads, to melt into his steps, to harmonise with his every movement. Such is the expressed opinion of two famous dancers at present visiting London. Nevertheless, so>me people think the acme of good dancing is -to swoop and sway, to dive hither and thither. “He is so amusing to dance with,” they say. Others think the sensuous steps of the “lounge lizard” are “too divine and 'thrilling.” But the man who dan'ces quietly and (Smoothly with a good idea of rhythm is the only one who looks graceful on the .ballroom floor. And how many of the latter are there? Certainly far more than when we were last over here. There is ,one thing that strikes us very forcibly, when watching Englishmen dancing, and that is the bored expression on their faces while they are on the floor. We have heard people say that this is due to nervousness. Certainly the Englishman is not so much at home on the ballroom floor as the American. There are some people whoi could never be good dancers. Little fat men never could be, nor women whose lives have been spent in the “big open spaces.” For modern jazz, in all its variations, is a thing unto itself. You must be iborn and brought up with it to know it well. Nevertheless, everyone can enjoy dancing, and everyone can look as if it were the delightful pleasure that it is.