Mrs» Dart Miss Byrn Mrss Dart Miss Byrn Mrs Dart Miss Byrn Mrs. Dart Miss Byrn PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR HEALTH Radio Program February 10, 1939 "Social Dancing in the Physical Education Program" (Miss Jane Byrn and Mrs. Margaret Dart) Miss Byrn, there is an ancient Chinese proverb which stat-es that "You can judge a kingdom by its dancing", I wonder if that bit of oriental wisdom is of any significance todays I think it is; Mrs. Dart. I'm sure thet those persons who are acquaint ed with the history and developmont of the folk forms of other countries and our own would be tho first to agreo that the dance of the people, more genuinely than any other form of physical activity, reflects the attitudes, temperament, philosophy and social conditions oxisting in any cras And that proverby in my opinion, loses nono of its significanc when applied to the folk dancing of our own day, more frequently ro~ ferred to as ballroom dancing or social dancing. Thon I am not wrong in thinking that you mean our dancing today is as appropriate to the life wo live here and now as was the dance of the Indian when he danced a prayer for rain? Yes, that is truos Tho studont who attends the weokly varsity is only romotely concerned about the prospect of rain, if he over thinks about it at ally but rain to the Indian meant the difference between poverty and a life of abundances One cannot by any stretch of the imagination conceive of the square dances of our forefathers envolving out of the manners and customs, in short, the life of the people of France in the seventeenth centurye It would be no more ludicrous to expect that the minuct would be a logical expression of the urge to danco in our ages Granting this to be truco, it would be logical to expect that any ind-= ividual, dancing the particular dance that is the fashion of the moment, would so interpret the dance that it would possess many of the attributs of the personality of that individual. Yes; Mrss Dart, each one of UB; unconsciously for the most part to be sure, reflects in our interpretation of tho currently popular dance figures, differences in repponse to life in any ages It is not uncommon that we find courses in Social Dancing being offer~ ed in our schools now, more often than not sponsored by the physical education departmentss Do you foel that this is a logical part of the physical education program? Indeed I do, Mrs. Dart. Until comparatively recent years, social dancing was never included in the physicel education programs Now it is being realized that the one physical activity which more people enjoy during youth and adulthood than any other should command a def- jnite recognition of our opportunities in this direction. In the past there has been a reluctance on the part of physical oducation depart- ments to assume any responsibility in the matter, partly duo to so- called community taboos; whether real or imagined. but largely due +0