DANCING 



1697 



DANDELION 



recreation. The dance which they brought to 

 the highest' degree of perfection was the 

 minuet, which,. founded on an old rustic dance, 

 was introduced into Paris in 1650, finding its 

 way into England three years later. This fair- 

 est flower of court dances, with its graceful 

 and stately movements, low salutations and 

 polite curtsies, was a favorite society dance in 

 America in colonial times, where it harmonized 

 most beautifully with the quaint and charming 

 costumes Avorn by the ladies and gentlemen of 

 the period. 



Of the later modern dances, none other has 

 probably had quite the popularity of the waltz, 

 which was introduced into European circles 

 about 1795. 'It is danced in triple time, with 

 smooth, gliding steps which have a backward 

 and forward direction. The waltz is one of the 

 most graceful ballroom dances, and some of 

 the most exquisite dance music ever composed, 

 notably that of Johann and Richard Strauss, 

 is written in waltz time. 



The two-step, which came into vogue about 

 1890, is a rival of the waltz in popularity. This 

 is a more spirited dance than the waltz and 

 is based on one that was known in Hungary 

 centuries ago, but in its modern form it is of 

 American origin. Two-step music is distinctly 

 exhilarating, and is brilliantly represented by 

 the bright and tuneful marches of John Philip 

 Sousa. 



The quadrille, a square dance of French ori- 

 gin, whose modern development dates from 

 1815; the landers, an adaptation of the qua- 

 drille, developed about 1836; the polka, first 

 danced about 1835; and the schottische, a mod- 

 ification of the polka, all had their period of 

 popularity and decline. Occasionally one sees 

 the old-fashioned square dances enjoyed at in- 

 formal parties, and the old English country 

 dance survives in the Virginia reel, known in 

 the country of its origin as the Sir Roger de 

 Coverley. In this dance the couples face each 

 other in two long rows. A charming descrip- 

 tion of the Sir Roger de Coverley may be 

 found in Dickens' Christmas Carol, in the story 

 of the Fezziwigs' Christmas ball. 



The Sensational "New" Dances. In 1911 a 

 curiously-named and not altogether refined 

 dance called the turkey-trot made its appear- 

 ance in San Francisco. Modifications of it 

 soon followed the bunny hug, the grizzly bear, 

 the Texas Tommy, and others and Europe 

 and America went dance-mad. A great many 

 people objected to these dances on moral 

 grounds. The dances just named were soon 

 107 



replaced by others more refined in character, 

 which were admitted, after some opposition, 

 into standard dancing schools and adopted gen- 

 erally, by the dancing public. Most important 

 of these were the tango, one-step and fox-trot, 

 all based on walking steps, and the hesitation 

 and waltz canter, modifications of the regular 

 waltz. A peculiar feature of this craze was 

 the dancing in public restaurants by the pa- 

 trons of these establishments. 



On the vaudeville stage the old-time polka 

 and schottische were revived and were received 

 with great favor. All through the period just 

 described interest in stage dancing maintained 

 a high level, and many public dancers of gen- 

 uine artistic ability made their appearance. Of 

 these, the Russian dancer Pavlowa attained 

 unrivaled perfection in the art. Others who 

 attained distinction were Isadora Duncan, Ruth 

 St. Denis, and Adeline Genee. 



Primitive and National Dances . In its earliest 

 forms among primitive races, dancing was a 

 mode of expressing strong emotions of joy, 

 sorrow and triumph, or solemn religious feel- 

 ing. The North American Indians, in their 

 ferocious war dances, worked themselves up 

 to a state of mental intoxication capable of 

 carrying them irresistibly on to victory. Magic 

 enters largely into the dancing of all savage 

 peoples, illustrated by the buffalo dances of 

 the Mandan Indians, the object of which was 

 to bring game in a time of scarcity of food; 

 or the mystic dances of the Central African 

 rain doctors, practiced during a season of 

 drought. National or folk dances are those 

 which are characteristic of the people of par- 

 ticular countries, such as the fandango and 

 bolero of Spain, the tarantella of Italy, the 

 mazurka and the polonaise of Poland, the reel 

 and Highland fling of Scotland, and the jig of 

 Ireland and Wales. B.M.W. 



DAN'DELION, a plant- found throughout the 

 world, sometimes cultivated for use as a vege- 

 table or a medicine, but nearly always grow- 

 ing wild in lawns and meadows and regarded as 

 a troublesome weed. Lowell thus describes it: 



Dear common flower that growest beside the way 

 Fringing the dusty road w!th harmless gold. 



The name comes from French words meaning 

 tooth of a lion, and was suggested by the 

 smooth, coarsely-toothed leaves. The flower 

 head is a lovely golden yellow, which changes 

 later to a cotton-like, white "blowball" of 

 feathered seeds which sail far and wide on the 

 winds, and so are well distributed (see SEEDS, 

 subtitle Seed Dispersal). The flower stem is 



