1938-02-25 — Page 3

THE CHINA MAIL, FEBRUARY 25, 1938

Learn Dancing With Me!

The New Diagonal Waltz

By Santos Casani

(Famous Teacher of Dancing)

Many years ago the so called "new" Waltz, on being intro- duced into this country, met with a great deal of loose criticism on the grounds of impropriety. A discerning public, however, sporting enough always to give every new dance a fair trial saw more in the waltz than did its critics and the consequence is that to-day the waltz has not only survived in recognisable form, but is immensely popular. The dancing public was right, and, fur- thermore, told the critics unmistakably it knew the type of dance it wanted.

WALL

RICHT: FOOT SHOWN THUS

CENTRE OF ROOM,

START

HERE

We

ner alternately gave the impression of doing all the work. still retain, however, one or two of the more pleasing movements of the Round Waltz, but, naturally, only step them when their The Waltz, like many other dances, has passed through a. use will improve the lines of the dance. number of phases and to-day, although the Viennese or old- Now let us consider a description of the new Diagonal Waltz fashioned Waltz is still popular, (and may I be bold enough to which has become so popular in the 1937 ball-room programme. state I believe this popularity is due mostly to the enchanting The Natural Turn

M

music of several outstanding composers, the accepted standard Start facing Diagonally to the Right Hand Wall. To get this Waltz in this country is now the English Diagonal Waltz. Proud- position correctly, face your Line of Dance (anti-clockwise round ly I state in this country because the rest of the world is un- the room) and turn one eighth of a turn, 45 degrees, or as they doubtedly behind us in dancing ability. This fact should please would say in the Army, half right. Don't forget that the music the dancing public because the English suffer from an inferiority is written in 3-4 time, three beats in a bar, and each step takes complex about their dancing. In my opinion, and I have had pu- the same amount of music, namely one beat. pils from every country in the world, the English ball-room dan- 1. cers are easily the most graceful and stylish dancers amongst rising the nations. In England and Scotland we have about a dozen. 2. couples who have tried in vain to win a British championship, yet 3. we go over to the Continent and win a World's Championship without much effort.

4.

Step forward on the Right foot turning to the Right and slightly at the end of the step.

Step to the side on the ball of the Left foot, still turning. Close the Right foot to the Left foot rising to the toes. You should now be back to your Line of Dance.

Step straight back with the Left foot turning to the Right. In dancing circles there has been a good deal of adverse 5. Step to the side on the ball of the Right foot. opinion during the past few years on the rival claims between two

6. Close the Left foot to the Right foot rising on to the toes. types of Waltzes the Round and the Diagonal. Opinion has You should now have completed three-quarters of a turn, now decided in an overwhelming victory for the Diagonal Waltz. and be facing diagonally to the centre of the room.

This position Let me explain the main difference between these two dances. is equivalent to a similar position you would obtain by facing your In the Round Waltz a turn was accepted to mean a Complete turn, Line of Dance and turning one eighth of a turn to your Left. whereas in the Diagonal Waltz a turn comprises only three-quar- From this position do ters of a turn. By turn I mean Circle. This reduction of the The Change Step This step starts from the last position. space turned in the 6 steps which comprise a Right or Left turn 1. On the new disengaged Right foot step forward diagonally has resulted in a greatly improved method of dancing, We cov- to the centre of the room. If your practice room is small, come er more floor space, the lines of the dance are equally as fascin- back and take up your position just past a corner. Do each move- ating to watch as step, and the two halves of the turn are evened. ment separately until you know it well.

In the round Waltz, the necessity to turn a complete turn 2. Step to the side on the ball of the Left foot. resulted in the partner who was doing the backward half of the 3. Close the Right foot to the Left foot rising on to the toes. turn having to lesson his or her stride considerably, and in order. There is no turn whatever in this figure. to enable the dancer doing the first half of the turn being able If you are in any doubt on any point please write to me c/o the to step round in complete comfort. This action produced a slight- Editor of this Journal, enclosing a stamped addressed envelope. ly lop-sided appearance, as during alternate half-turns each part-

(Copyright by Santos Casani)

Two-Deck Furniture

Many sideboards nowadays, especially those made with hand- somely figured woods, have their tops protected with plate glass, and an ingenious idea for the small din moving one's chair away from the ing room is a sideboard with the drawer can only be opened after plate glass resting on side pieces so writing table. that there is a space of six inches between it and the cabinet-work.

found: wherever

you see two or three shelves set one above the other. It is also expressed in the monk's seat or hall chair which is

set may be placed underneath and converted into a table by lifting the the top used for occasional writing. back upward and over to the hori The double-decker bed-one bed zontal, so that it becomes the table- In The Bedroom

above the other so that you get two top. The surface, which was ori- Dressing-tables are being made into the space of one is alreadyginally the seat then becomes the This gives you two surfaces in-on similar lines, so that the toilet fairly well-known, and an improve- "lower deck of the table, It comes

ment on this idea is an upper and in handy in a variety of ways. a lower bed designed as separate units. The upper bed is a little longer than the lower one, which can thus be wheeled out from be neath the upper one whenever de- sirable. This enables the beds to be, stood against a row of wall cup- boards without the latter being in- accessible.

stead of one, so that the sideboard seems virtually twice as big. The plate glass, of course, comes in for most of the use and receives the splashes, stains or other marks which might damage the timber. But the lower surface is available for bowls, dishes, and everything innocuous and decorative.

Ideal Worth Developing

This idea of double-decker furni- ture is being developed in a sur- prising number of ways. There is even a dining-table with two tops, or, if you prefer to call it so, a table with a broad shelf just under the table-top. This shelf or "under- -top" really takes the place of a side-table, and is used for plates. dishes, and items not in immediate use. The house room which would be needed for a side table is saved. There is also a writing table with an open shelf or deep recess just beneath the writing top. In effect, this shelf is the equivalent of an extra drawer, but if documents, correspondence, files, or magazines are kept here, they are handier and more accessible, because a long

Anna Neagle Victoria The Great.

Alternatively,

an under-bed wardrobe can be placed beneath the lower bed, and everything needed in a small bedroom for two children is then compressed into the small- est practicable space.

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