Daily Colonist (1895-02-28) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: British Columbia; Newspapers
Published: 1895-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

3HE ednoativo funo-j/i, « ,tioii of tlfiuciiig ill C^MXho traiuiiig of thu 'jyouiig is now rcgard-■^N^scd as of moreimport-Panoo thau heretofore. ^, Leaving out of con-

C|' sidoration tlio advaii-\\\ tago of possossing a !knowk'dg(.i of daiioiug as a social accoiii-plislmumt, it iH of very groat valuo to tho yniLii^' in iiisinriiig a fouling of self coulidfiici', in securing graeofuliioss of moveniuiit and elegaucoof iiiaiinurs aud iu inducing a polite attention and courtesy to others ■which, whether assumed or real, are personal traits without ■which good society mold soarooly exist.

Though it would Tjo claiming too much for dancing to maintain that tlie mind feels tho beauty of uiiiphasis and cadence iu muscular motion just a." much as in musical notes, it is certain that such regulated movements are productive of states of fooling closely analogous to those caused by certain kinds of music. Tiioro are .some tunes whieli instantly prompt saltatory inotions of tho feet and inovomonts of other part.s of tlio liody, while, on tho other hand, tho highest forms of mu.sio havo almost invariably an ontiroly opposite nffoct and create not only nobler emotions, but emotions of a different character.

While dancing, as the physical expression of a lowef and more sensuous form of feeling, m-ust rank behind music in its offoct upon tho mind, it should not bo forgotten that it has important uses in this respect, oven indopondout of the degree of pleasure derived from the exercise. Certain titillations of tho fancy find their natural expression in laughing, and certain sensations suggesting rhythmical motions express themselves naturally in dancing. To suppress either would undoubtedly havo an injurious effect upon tho mind as preventing the spontaiieons outflow of states of consciousness which ' required such modes of oxprossion to make thorn complete.

It is, however, from a physiological point of Tiew that daiioing most be regarded as of tho most importance. Whilo it calls into play every nmsclo of tho body, it does so without producing that violent tension so characteristic of gymnastio exercises generally, and unlike the latter, instead of being prompted by a spirit of omulatiou or of angry contention, is the outcome of tho gentlest aud most pleasurable oniotiona.

Admitting the truth of tho hypothesis of human development from a low scale of being to a higher, it would bo natural to conclude that man danced bo-foro ho laughed. There is a still greater degree of probability that dancing, at least in its rudest forms, antedated tho invention of musical instruments and snoh a knowledge of tho harmonious arrangement of sounds as would proi)orly constitutii music. Indeed it is altt)gether probable that tlie first rude attempts at musical composition were made to correspond with and to facilitate various measured steps and rhythmic movements of the bod}-, and that music in its higher forms, ajipealing to subtler and nobler emotions aud unaccompanied by dancing or singing, was a development of the art which was only reached at a long finbsofiuent period.

The earliest historical reference made to dancing is in

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