RUNNING SUCCESSFUL FLANNEL DANCES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 864, 7 January 1930, Page 5

RUNNING SUCCESSFUL FLANNEL DANCES

POPULAR FORM OF SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT Riverside, tennis and cricket clubs find the most successful form of entertainment foi their members in the summer months are “flannel dances.” When the falling dusk stops play, and casts a chill over the river, energetic young people are still eager for further enjoyment, but caunot be bothered to go home and change into “glad-rags” after a day in the open. The “flannel dance” is a most popular fixture. Several members of a club who have shown themselves specially keen on the idea may be asked by the secretary to form a small committee to run little dances of this sort at regular intervals; every Saturday evening, from 9 till 12, perhaps. If the club premises themselves do not offer sufficient facilities, a conveniently large room for the purpose, is easily found in most neighbourhoods. An ideal situation is one with an adjacent stretch of smooch sward, not necessarily a perfect lawn, where the dancing may take place in the open air on fine evenings. This is always an ideal arrangement. At the same time, it is not very profitable policy to provide no alternative accommodation at all to an out-of-door dancing floor. With the uncertainties of our climate to be considered, a number of wet evenings may be anticipated, on which even more than on the fine ones such an entertainment as a dauce is sure to be well attended. When the local club is not enterprising enough to start the ball rolling, aud there are a sufficient number of dancing enthusiasts to make the scheme a success, a private “flannel dauce” club might be formed among the residents of a river or seaside neighbourhood. Members who have gardens with space for dancing will be found to lend them in turn. Individual contributions for membership are then needed only to cover the cost of simple buffet refreshments and other small expenses. Local charities might also benefit by organised “flannel dances.” The accommodation aud prepara-

tions involved for an ordinary dance would not be necessary for a “flannel dance/’ which carries an atmosphere of informality. A good gramophone and some new records, or dance music from the loud speaker, are quite adequate as 'a rule. For larger affairs the usual jazz orchestra of two or three might be enlisted. Lighting the Grass As to lighting the grass floor when darkness falls, car lamps should be sufficient to illuminate the scene. A “flannel dance” is the most fitting conclusion to a tennis tournament, regatta, cricket match, or local sports. On these special occasions a very pretty scene can be created if a number of Japanese lanterns are strung on wire, stretched from tree to tree, and hung from fence and verandah. Everyone, of course, wears tlie clothes in which they have been appearing on the river, tennis court, or cricket field. A hint of “dressiness” is quite out of place, ancl evening frocks taboo.