Vernon Castle

“ It is dancing, too, that has made the vogue for the new garters, with their deep lace ruffles, and the little lace pantalets—all to hide those slender ankles that show in the dip. It is dancing that has made the vogue for the Tango slippers, with their ribbons and jeweled slides; and it is dancing that has made the small hat of tulle or lace fashionable for afternoons in place of wide picture-hats. "Big hats are unpleasant to dance in." ”

“ Keeping time to the music as you step the pretty measures of the Hesitation or Innovation will make you breathe in time—the deep breaths which come when the mind is beating time and the body is following it; every deep breath drawn is a fresh aid to the beauty we all want so much. ”

“ Any physician will tell you that health is the only real beauty, and health really does mean prettiness. It means rosy cheeks, clear eyes, an animated expression, not to speak of a zest for life that has a magnetism all its own. It is health that dancing gives to us, provided we live sane lives in other ways. Good food, plus enough sleep, plus an occasional brisk walk, an alcohol rub, and dancing—of such are happiness and beauty made. ”

“ Beyond doubt, the Tango correctly practised is the essence of the modern soul of dancing, the autocrat of the up-to-date "soiree dansant." For it is not only a dance, it is a style; to master the Tango one must first master its style, absorb its atmosphere. ”

“ To the many millions who have spent some of their most unforgettable and delightful hours dancing the dreamy Waltz, under the influence of its seductive music, this animosity toward their now accepted Queen of the Ball-room must appear ridiculous. And yet not a very few of these same passionate waltzers raise their voices in protest to-day and look horrified at the mere mention of the modern Tango. ”

“ Here in America we are just beginning to wake up to the possibilities of dancing. We are flinging off our lethargy, our feeling of having time for nothing outside of business, and are beginning to take our place among the nations who enjoy life.
To be truly graceful in dancing presupposes a certain stateliness, a dignity of movement that has charm rather than gymnastic skill behind it. The charming dips and turns, the long, slow steps, and the various artistic measures of our dances of to-day all have a certain dignity. ”

“ Shuffles and twists and wriggles and jumps are no longer words to be used in connection with dancing. What is more, the exercise gained through the new dances is just as great, the benefit just as lasting, and the pleasure much more than it was in former dances. If people had realized what dancing may mean, we should never have had the recent caricatures of it in our ball-rooms. Dancing should be the poetry of motion; the steps are mere incidents. What is important is that the dancer should be so attuned to the music that he merely expresses the themes of the composer. ”

“ The modern hostess who wishes to be popular and to attract the guests she likes best must introduce dancing into her entertaining.
The old stupid afternoon teas are things of the past. The long receiving line, the heavy array of food, and the endless, manless hours of gossip are no more. We have the tea with dancing, at which there are usually as many men as women and which has about it a festive air of enjoyment that the old tea never had. ”

“ PROPER DANCE MUSIC
Music is really more expressive of the era in which it appears than books or pictures or any of the arts. To every nation belongs its music, and every nation expresses in its music national characteristics and national dreams.
Of course, the operas and the great concertos and symphonies are like the gods—of no age, but of every age; they are harmonies of life itself, and therefore are always beloved and considered beautiful; but dance music is the expression of the moment. ”

“ Grace of manner and grace of mind must be the forerunners of all kinds of grace, and most certainly must lie back of the grace of dancing. Skill in stepping intricate measures and a wide knowledge of many dances do not make either a man or a woman graceful on the floor: there must be besides knowledge of the dance, knowledge of etiquette, of life's little courtesies and life's gentle thoughts. ”

“ From the time of the perspiring, disordered, exhausted, and out-of-breath dancing devotees who gave to the ball-room ensemble the look of a football field after the battle, the day has at last come when repose is an essential quality for the up-to-date dance enthusiast.
For the modern dance, when properly executed, is an exquisite sight, and the swaying, gliding Tango lovers or Hesitation Waltzers develop a grace of motion and an ease of deportment that probably most of them would never develop without these aids. ”

“ In the world of fashion, where there is no appeal from the decree of the great designers, the modern dance has come boldly to the front and demanded, and won, sensible styles. On looking back a few seasons to the clothing worn by women and girls, you will recall long, cruel corsets and garters that trussed them like fowls for the roasting. ”

“ However, the dance in its ideal form, whether on the stage or in a drawing-room, is a thing of grace and beauty, and "Beauty is a refiner's fire, and the beauty that enters in through the doorway of the senses cannot soil, but only cleanses the spirit."
Changing fashions in the art of women's dress and changing fads in social dancing have always aroused in narrow minds their most violent criticism. Down the ages we can follow this animosity toward any reform of the accepted dances. ”

“ Of course, for some dances you may wear an ordinary skirt and blouse or a narrow afternoon frock. The Tango may be danced in the narrowest of skirts, because the feet are always close together; the Maxixe needs but a little more room, while the One Step and the Hesitation Waltz, with their longer glides and more intricate steps, require the regular plaited effect of which I have spoken.
Clothes are really a great aid to the woman in dancing, for the sweep of her soft skirts, the charm of her frock, lends her a grace that a man must inevitably lack. ”

“ Castle and I look at the girls of 1914 who come to dance in their straight, often quite full frocks of soft chiffon, their low-heeled easy slippers, their simply arranged hair, and when we see how lightly and easily they dance unhampered by uncomfortable clothes, we cannot help contrasting them with the girls who came to us only a few months ago trussed up like unhappy little fowls.
Dancing has had its influence upon the materials that have come into vogue. It is necessary to have one's frocks soft and light. ”

“ Round shoulders disappear, stiff muscles grow limber, and, most of all, this dancing stimulates both men and women to a great extent, and actually has, according to several great physicians, cut down the consumption of liquor. Men and women who used to loiter in cafés, drinking and chatting, during the afternoons are now dancing and drinking only a cup of tea. Young men are dancing instead of loafing in clubs and drinking, and the girls are learning wisdom about the deadly cocktail, so that every dip and walk and glide and lock-step is really a soldier in a great army of health and beauty. ”

“ In some dances, notably the Innovation, where a man cannot lead his partner as he may in a dance where he holds her, it is necessary for the two dancers to keep perfect time, or else the entire effect of the dance is lost.
In many respects this dancing alone is a splendid way to learn—if the dancer will count under her breath every beat of the music and keep her steps exact. For the lady who is not sure of the tempo of a dance this is an excellent method of learning the rhythm. ”

“ All this is no more etiquette than it is dancing, no more grace of manners than grace of body or mind, but it marks the difference between the good dancer and the poor one, between the gentleman and the roisterer. ”

“ In dancing we have just such a system for the development of our lost power of control, presented in a form that is not only attractive, but extremely fascinating to many. No actual observation has yet been made to determine whether or not, in certain diseases, dancers retain more power and control over their own bodies than do non-dancers. But it is reasonable to assume that if a dancer were afflicted with a disease that impaired the powers of movement his affliction would inconvenience him decidedly less than if his powers had not been previously so well developed. ”

“ The sight of the beauty of motion on the stage has suggested to the spectators an introduction of the same thing into daily life. Perhaps not since the days of Louis Fifteenth of France, and later on at the gay court of unhappy Marie Antoinette, has social dancing reached the height it has at our present day. From the time when the Minuet and the Gavotte reigned supreme in the ball-rooms of the élite until our ultra-modern time, with its Tango and Maxixe, indolent grace or stateliness in dancing has been sleeping in peaceful obscurity. ”

“ A beautiful dancer is a beautiful picture, man or woman; he supplies the words suggested by the music, adding nobility to melody. Stately dances are easier in some respects and really prettier than rapid ones. The slower the steps, the more intricate the measures, and the more subtly dignified the tempo of the music, the wider range one has for painting songs without words, and the more gracefully one can use one's body. ”

“ Do not ask more people than can dance with comfort. If your room is small have the tables or the buffet in a room adjoining. Space in dancing is absolutely essential.
One clever hostess we know, whose teas are among the most popular of the season, has a buffet tea, with sandwiches, cakes, tea, and chocolate, arranged in the dining-room, while tête-à-tête tables with cups, saucers, and plates are scattered all through the down-stairs rooms in cozy nooks and windows. The guests may take their tea in solitude à deux or about the big table in the dining-room, as they prefer. ”

“ The woman who dances does not need other beauty aids; beauty will seek her. That is not a theory, but a fact; for when a woman is dancing she is happily unconscious, and therefore easily carrying out all the exercises taught by beauty experts.
The woman who is beginning to show flabby lines in her throat is told to hold her head up steadily, to stretch her neck back, and move her head from side to side till she strengthens the muscles. When she dances she holds her head up, holds it up in the graceful fashion that she would never accomplish if she were trying it as an exercise. ”

“ A fast tune means rapid dancing and a lack of ease that robs the dances of their grace and makes them as rompish as the Two Step or the swift Turkey Trot. What is more, the time must be marked, a slight accentuation on the first note of every bar being a great aid to the dancer who is just learning, since it beats time for him. ”

“ There are filmy stockings with anklets embroidered in colored gems, lace-incrusted hose with silver embroideries, and, of course, all kinds of clocks and butterflies to draw attention to a slender foot and ankle. Any of these may be worn without violating good taste, and are the one part of a woman's wardrobe against which dancing has not started its reform campaign—principally because it was not needed. ”

“ So much has already been said about the vulgarity of the Bunny Hug that nothing need be added here except that many men attempt this sort of "strangle hold" when they are dancing. It is not only wrong from the standpoint of the dancing-teacher, but it is unpleasant for the lady and draws much adverse criticism from onlookers. Moreover, grace of movement is impossible under such circumstances. The two partners should dance in unison, lightly and easily, keeping together by perfection of step and perfect time rather than by the clutch of the man upon the lady's hand. ”