DANCING AND DANCERS.

Shannon News, 16 December 1921, Page 3

DANCING AND DANCERS.

(To the Editor.) ; gi r> —permit me to take up a little of your valuable x space in making a few remarks on modern dancing—and vour correspondent “H.G.L.W.” Perhaps “H.G.L.W.” is unaware of the fact that there has lately been a war on. No, it cannot be, because he mentions being on leave, presumably from the Army. Well, perhaps he is not aware that well over a hundred men now resident in Shannon shared with him the inestimable privilege of attending da'nces and dancing fox-trots in the Old Land. The fact that we returned soldiers, have not advocated the innovation of the fox trot in our home town is sufficient indication to me that, having seen the old and the new, most of us prefer the old. To my mind, the foxtrot is sugestive of nothing sjo much as the graceful glide of the pukako over the swamps. 1 may be considered old-fashioned by those who ape the “smart set,” but the fact remains that we dance the old dances because we like them. ‘.To turn to- the second part of my heading: To my niind, Mr Editor, “l-I.G.Lw.” must be a .very young and a very presumptuous individual to attempt to change one of our insMtutions on ,a few weeks’, or months’, experience in this country. He could not have been here long or, with his passion for dancing, he would have found, the same dances in other towns, and some other newspaper would have been the recipient of his valuable views on this important adjunct of our social Assuming that he is a recent immigrant, I consider that for him to rush mto print on this matter on a very short acquaintance with the life and the people in New Zealand is a piece of outrageous impertinence. 1 suppose, however, that we must make allowances for him, as he was probably hustled into the Army before he was fully developed, and has led a life of feverish activity .until his recent discharge. .He may gain sense with the gathered years. 1 ’should like to hazard a guess as to his identity, and in doing so, 1 believe I can draw a comparison between our style of dancing and the style he wishes us to adopt. Is. he the gentleman whO' recently, while applying, for a fishing license at the local Post Office, although nominally a “horny-handed ton of soil” (as the small boy expressed it), when asked for his occupation, replied in, a tone of condescension: “Oh! Ah! Enginealil” —I am, etc., * “LEGS ELEVEN” Shannon, December 13, 1921.