MODERN DANCING

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1052, 16 August 1930, Page 9 (Supplement)

MODERN DANCING

(By

Josephine Bradley, London)

By Courtesy of the Imperial Society or Teachers of Ballroom Banciny, of which Miss Bradley is a Vice-President. SLOW FOX TROT If OR the past live years there have 1 been few changes in this dance; in fact, it lias no need of any. I venture to assert that it is a perfect. dance; but lies its difficulty, for it requires to bo danced under ideal conditions; the band must play the correct tempo and rhythm, and there must be sufficient floor space for the execution of the danco. llut, when these conditions are fulfilled, the slow fox trot becomes the most popular dance in the programme Owing to the reasons given, there is not a great demand from the average pupil for this dance. Rut when a teacher has a pupil who wishes to learn to dance from the beginning, there is no better method than to give him or her a thorough grounding in the slow fox trot, since it contains all the footwork and body movements characteristic of modern ballroom dancing. WALTZ This dance, on the contrary, due to its increased popularity in the last two or three years, has acquired several variations, though its essentials have been retained. Within a few years ago, the waltz turns were only varied by the simplest of hesitation movements; but now actual steps have crept in, which, while departing ftpm the fixed steps of the waltz, retain its rhythm; for instance, the corte, hesitation change, pivot spin, reverse spin and so on. These variations are used in changing from nat-

ural to reverse, or vice versa, in place of continually using the old straight change. Another innovation is the diagonal waltz. In this, the old figure of the waltz —a continuous circular movement, keeping to the line of direction —is forsaken. In the diagonal waltz a whole turn is not necessarily completed with the six steps of the waltz turn, and so gives a diagonal line to the dance. In this method of waltzing a diagonal “change step” is used, preferably done in the forward change It differs from the straight change in the sense that you take the second step of the change to the side, the third step making a close; in changing backward it is better to take a straight change, always slightly waving the movement. In my opinion the latter innovation should only be taught to a pupil who has already acquired the ability to dance the “round” waltz. When this

is known the pupil can pass to the diagonal waltz, which is not so monotonous and is very useful in crowded ballrooms, but this form requires steering ability and a sense of direction which naturally belong to the more experienced dancer. QUICKSTEP The quickstep, comparatively speak ing, is a newcomer to the ballroom, and more changes have arisen in this dance than in the more established ones. During the last year it became more like its elder brother, the slow fox trot, the only marked difference being that open turns are used in the latter and chasse turns in the former I believe that this dance will endure and thrive, for it is within the capabilities of every dancer. The Charleston remains a pai't of it, but only in a minor degree. In general, it. takes the place of the walk and is always used iu a progressive manner.