Thursday, February 13, 2014

Shall We Dance?


Dare we try the Bunny Hug, the Grizzly Bear, the Turkey Trot, or one of the other “vulgar”, banned, ragtime dances that have scandalized conservative society? Grandmother would have kittens if she saw us entwined in the sexy Tango, which is becoming popular in Europe. Perhaps we can get away with the Foxtrot, just debuted in New York in 1914 by the famous and respectable ballroom dancers, Vernon and Irene Castle.

Irene and Vernon Castle
Vernon, British by birth, joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during the Great War, and earned a medal before being posted to Canada and then the U.S. to train pilots. He died in a flying accident in Texas in 1918.

Photo by Frank Micklethwaite
 Many of the 100+ inns and resorts on the three big lakes  - Muskoka, Rosseau, and Joseph - had ballrooms, so you could always “trip the light fantastic” somewhere - except on Sundays. The lakeside dance pavilion to the left of the canoeist in the photo above doubled as a roller skating rink. There were also plenty of private events, including deevie costume balls. “Ain’t we got fun?”



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