one else will see them. For in the nature of the institution the modern
dance affects in all these particulars those whom it reaches. The
tendencies in a single dance are in these directions. In a way peculiar
to itself the modern dance imperils health. Though detestable and out
of date, as are the modern kissing games, yet no one ever heard of one
of those performances continuing until three and five o'clock in the
morning. Young people do not stay up all night, ride five, ten, and
twenty miles to play authors, or to snap caroms, or to play charades, as
interesting in a social way as these innocent amusements may be. The
fact that one will go to this extreme in keeping late hours to attend the
dance, and will not keep such late hours for any other form of amusement,
proves that the dance, as an institution, is at fault in producing such
irregularities. And then who ever heard of one having to dress in a
certain way to attend a purely social gathering. But let a young lady
attend a fashionable ball or a regular round dance of any note, whatever,
and if she wears the civil gown she will be thought tame and snubbed.
She must dress for this occasion, and thus, from a health point of view,
so expose her body that after the excitement and heat of a prolonged
round she takes her place in a slight draught of air, and a severe cold is
contracted. And this exposure is further increased by the sudden change
from a close, hot room to the damp, chilly air of the early morning, on her
journey home. It is possible to guard against all of this, but are those
persons who attend such exercises likely to be cautious in such practical
matters. At least, this risk of exposure for men and women is peculiar
to the dance, and it is certain that many are physically injured in this
way. The modern dance poisons the social nature. The chief exercise
at the modern dance is dancing. Those who have attended dances, as a
social recreation, have complained that they never have an opportunity
to get acquainted with one another. Such a luxury as a complete
conversation on any theme is out of the question. It is a form of