INTRODUCTION

Time was when to be a dancer meant a thorough acquaintance with Mazourkas, Galops, Reels, Minuets, Polkas and other dances too numerous to mention; but nowadays one can get along very well with even a slight knowledge of but three: the Waltz, the Two-Step and the Lancers.

It is a pity that such should be the case; but the fact remains the same; and the beginner must not be dismayed by glancing through these pages, for but few of the dances here described ever appear on a ball program.

Special attention must, then, be given to these three dances, and no great difficulty should be found in learning the steps.

Dancing properly so-called, is the active exertion of the body in sprightly, graceful movement, accompanied with exhilaration of the mind, and when indulged in by the young is a most beneficial and healthful recreation.

It is no argument against dancing in itself, that it is so often connected with many things that are injurious, such as heated room, late hours and the like, these belong to other considerations; but as an exercise, congenial both to the minds and the physical requirements of the young, it is like every exercise in which the mind enters with pleasure and interest into the exercise of the body, a most efficient promoter of health, and it is much to be regretted that its abuse and associations in many instances, both with physical and moral evil, should cause its abandonment in any place where there are young people.