BALLROOM MANNERS

Shannon News, 23 July 1926, Page 4

BALLROOM MANNERS

POWERS OF APPRECIATION. With the soft lights and music to lend enchantment, plus her prettiest frock and best complexion, it should b e simple to charm her partners, not only for the duration of a dance, but for the entire dance season. How is it, then, that so many girls fail to do so? How is it that, de_ spite their obvious powers of attraction, the same man rarely asks them out twice ? H e seemed to enjoy dancing with you. But did you seem to be enjoying dancing with him? That is the crux of the whole question. No man can afford to spend money on taking a girL out unless he is pretty sure that his money is well spent—that she enjoys the pleasure he buys her, says a writer in an English exchange. The blase attitude of the modern girl-about.town, and especially the dancing girl, is sufficient to stifle a man’s noblest impulses. He wants to know that you enjoy dancing with him. Men are such idealists, and the woman who pretends that nothing amuses her very much, is play, ing a lpsing game.

I have watched these joyless females slinking off the dance floor locking utterly . weary while their partners stood and called for an encore, and the look of bored resignation with which they resumed the danc e would have been sufficient to damp any man’s ardour. I am sure this is only a foolish pose on the part of the modern dancing girl. It is so much more Charming and natural for > her to stand beside her partner, after a dance, and applaud with him if he wants an encore. I have also noticed that many girls receive a man’s thanks for the dance in complete silence. How much more gracious it would be to reply with some appropriate little remark to show that she enjoyed it, too. In other words, forget your appearance. Spend as many hours before the mirror as you like before starting out, but once in the ballroom you should have sufficient confidence in your frock and your face to leave them alofte. There is no need to repair your complexion every few minutes, nor to worry if your dress is hitched up behind, or if your stockings have , got twisted. The girl who is subconsciously concerned with these things w T ill seem absent-minded w T hen spoken to, and if there is one thing a man looks for in his dancing partner apart from her dancing—it is a quick response—a keen appreciation of his witty remarks and of him. self.