288 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPAEDIA. 



The Polka is danced with a circular movement, like the Valse ; in each 

 bar you half turn, so that by the end of the second bar, you have brought 

 your partner completely round. 



The circular movement of the Polka admits of two directions from 

 right to left or from left to right. The ordinary direction is from right 

 to left. The opposite one is known as the reverse step. It is more diffi- 

 cult to execute, but is a pleasant change for skilled dancers, if they have 

 become giddy from turning too long in one direction. 



In dancing the Polka, or any circular dance where a large number of 

 couples are performing at the same time, the gentleman must be careful 

 to steer his fair burden safely through the mazes of the crowded ball- 

 room. A little watchfulness can almost always avoid collisions, and a 

 good dancer would consider himself disgraced if any mishap occurred to 

 a lady under his care. Keep a sharp lookout, and avoid crowded corners. 

 Should so many couples be dancing as to render such caution impossible, 

 stop at once and do not go on until the room has become somewhat 

 cleared. In a few minutes others will have paused to rest, and you can 

 then continue. Your partner will be grateful that your consideration has 

 preserved her from the dismal plight in which we have seen some ladies 

 emerge from this dance their coiffures disordered, their dresses torn, and 

 their cheeks crimson with fatigue and mortification, while their indignant 

 glances plainly showed the anger they did not care to express in words, 

 and which their reckless partner had fully deserved. A torn dress is 

 sometimes not the heaviest penalty incurred : we have known more than 

 one instance where ladies have been lamed for weeks through the culp- 

 able carelessness of their partners ; their tender feet having been half 

 crushed beneath some heavy boot in one of these awkward collisions. 

 This is a severe price to pay for an evening's amusement, and gentlemen 

 are bound to be cautious now they inflict it or anything approaching to 

 it, upon their fair companions. Ladies, on the other hand, will do well to 

 remember that by leaning heavily upon their partner's shoulder, dragging 

 back from his encircling arm, or otherwise impeding the freedom of his 

 movements, they materially add to his labour and take from his pleasure 

 in the dance. They should endeavour to lean as lightly, and give as little 

 trouble as possible ; for, however flattering to the vanity of the nobler 

 sex may be the idea of feminine dependence, we question whether the 

 reality, in the shape of a dead weight upon their aching arms throughout 

 a Polka or a Valse of twenty minutes' duration, would be acceptable even 

 to the most chivalrous among them. 



