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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)",
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    "chunk_id": "1926:dancing:90528e5f1066",
    "title": "DANCING",
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    "verified_text": "the vears 1910-26 saw a remarkable revival of the love of all kinds of dancing in england and america. on the one hand the organisation popularly known as the rus- sian ballet has put new life into stage dancing, while on the other the americans are responsible for a reawakening of the love of dancing in the ballroom. the present article treats only of the latter. for the revolution in stage dancing. (see ballet.) the american dances.—the only dance that has survived the american invasion is the valse, but even this has altered so much in style that it now bears very little resemblance to the dance immortalised by edward and johann strauss. the original tempo of the valse was a slow three-four (very much the same as in 1926), but the tendency of ballroom orchestras to quicken the tempo came into play as the roth century drew to a finish, until by the year 1904 it had become so rapid that dancing a valse proved altogether too fatiguing an affair. various expedients were de- vised to overcome this difficulty—the most important of which was the ‘ boston,” danced in a slower cross-rhythm and less tiring in consequence. the valse continued to dominate the eng- lish ballroom until the arrival of the american dances in 1912. the new dances, which were of negro origin, were of a “ two- four’ rhythm, and this change of time from the valse and the attractive lilt of the american dance bands immediately capti- vated the upper-class ballrooms. their popularity increased year by year until every class in england had its own rendezvous for dancing. hotels which owned ballrooms, disused for many years save for public dinners, opened them again for dancing; large dancing halls sprang up all over england, and the success of the new dances was intensified by the sale of gramophone records and by broadcasting. they have undergone various changes since their introduction into europe—there were suc- cessively the two-step, one-step and fox-trot—the first two of these were more lively in rhythm than the last. the valse has continued through the enthusiasm for the american dances and has reverted to its original slow tempo. the music used in the american dances is not the traditional dance band of strings and piano, but a “ jazz”? band. this con- sists of various combinations, the most common of which per- haps is—piano, violin, alto or tenor saxophone, banjo and trap drum. this last-named needs some explanation. the drummer uses a side drum, a big drum and cymbals played with the feet, and various other instruments on which he beats a tattoo with his drum-sticks in alternation with the side drum. he is in fact a sort of one-man band in himself and adds considerably to the rhythm of the ensemble. there is as much variety in the method of playing dance music to-day as in the dances themselves. 2 engineer (dec. i 1922). s10 dance bands therefore vary considerably in skill, as might be expected, and the best known command very high salaries. the skill of a modern dance band lies in two essentials: first, good rhythm; and secondly, cleverness in extemporising variations on the tune by the different executors. future of ballroom dancing.—with regard to the future of ballroom dancing one may perceive signs of the time becoming tripe for change. the tendency of dance orchestras to quicken the tempo is being felt to a small degree, and it is significant that there is an attempt to popularise a slower dance as a relief from what are now the very quick american fox-trots. this dance is the argentine tango, and is not to be confused with the spanish tango, which is a solo dance for a woman. the present-day standard of dancing in great britain is, in all probability, higher than it has ever been, and dancing is as popu- lar and widespread as it was in the days of elizabeth, when the english were known abroad as the “ dancing english.” in 1925 there arose an entirely new type of ballroom dancing, known as the charleston. negroid in origin, its peculiar and strenuous steps aroused some misgivings on the part of the medical pro- fession as to the danger to the body caused by the excessive strain on the muscles subjected to constant distortion. public endurance contests were often the scene of complete breakdown on the part of the participants, sometimes with permanent in- jury. the charleston was taken up to some extent in england, but the dance was too ungracefully violent to remain popular either there or in the u.s. for very long, and in 1926 was already dying out. ig, t*) d’ancona, alessandro (1835-—1914), italian man of let- ters (see 1.951), died at florence nov. 6 1914. daniels, josephus (1862- ), american editor and politician, was born at washington, n.c., may 18 1862. he studied at the wilson (n.c.) institute and university of north carolina, and at the age of 18 became editor of the wilson advance. he was admitted to the bar in 1885, but preferred news- paper work, becoming in that year editor of the raleigh state chronicle. he was printer for the state of north carolina from 1887 to 1893; and then, for two ycars, was chief clerk of the de- partment of the interior. from 1904 he was editor of the raleigh news and observer, with which his former paper was consolidated. he was on two occasions a delegate to the national democratic convention, and from 1896 to 1916 was a member of the demo- cratic national exccutive committee. in 1913 he was appointed secretary of the navy by president wilson. his personal interest in the enlisted men was shown by his provision of opportunities for training in various trades. on retiring from this oflice in 1921 he resumed the editorship of his newspaper. he was the author of the navy and the nation (1919) and our navy at war (1922).",
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