(INTRO) "The century that began with a golden age in all arts (...) is ending no so much without art as without the idea of art, while the written word that was at the core of the education system since the fifth century BC is now being replaced by sounds and images electronically transmitted." As from 'The Guardian' newspaper on Feb.01 1996, quoting an essay by Gore Vidal (1984). This century social dance has not only mirrored cultural patterns, thereby to some extent maintaining them, but it has also on occasion altered them radically, revolutionizing the prevailing trends of thought and manners rather than reinforcing them.

At century's start Isadora Duncan freed the body from choreographic rigidity and created a lyrical flow of movement that both evoked nature and celebrated human spirit. Moreover since the middle of 1930s were great jazz years, when the rumour of such rhythms was introduced in Europe by dance bands. "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing...".
C@ www.swingland.com.

The dance marathon was a phenomenon of the 1930s depression. The longest recorded dance marathon ran 4,152 1/2 hours, from June 6 to November 30, 1932. The prize was 1,000 US$. Some won some lost. And there was war around the corner: "O soldier won't you marry me?". So the music-hall could definitely affirm only during the postwar years as a magical myth made of women in sequins and 'satin dolls'. "What a wonderful world...".
C@ www.dolcevita.it.

We baby-boomers grew up trusting the music and the modern dance. Because everyone performed the steps individually, men no longer always "led" women, and couples were not essential. The emergence of disco dance styles in the 1970s and later popular dance forms continued this trend, although some of the more formal dances required a partner. How did you ever recognize this way their own queen of hearts on the dance floor? "Dance music, sex, romance...".
C@ www.dance.net.

Click on the icons to enter a HTML dynamic page. As dynamic as the 20th century that is going to end soon... Dynamic HTML could be viewed by Navigator and IE browsers on version 4.x or later.

(OUTRO) This short article is an example of Millennium end's page. It doesn't go into a long song and dance about the social dance. Instead a modest tribute to changes occurred during the 20th century. The text actually contains excerpts of Grolier(tm) multimedia encyclopedia on CD-Rom [C@ www.grolier.com]. The drawing is an original one: a plain virtual dancer, 355x232 pixel sized. The image is dedicated by a would-be sax player to Canadian-born ballerina Lynn Seymour and all the directors and dancers making us believe it were a better century -and a better world!