In a tract against " roundabout " dancing, the Rector
of Abbenhall wrote in 1870: " I have had a glimpse and a glance, at this objectionable mode of dancing. I saw three couples go round and round, like a flash of lightning ; and it had the effect of lightning upon me. I felt a shock ! I was bewildered—astonished—almost stupified ! " We cannot help wondering what would the Rector ,have felt if he had lived in the heyday of the Charleston. This is an example of the kind of sidelight on dancing contained in Mr. Cyril W. Beaumont's charmingly bound A Bibliography of Dancing (The Dancing Times, 21s.). It contains a list of books to be found in the British Museum Library, including " technical books on almost every phase of dancing, past and present, scenarii and libretti for ballets, biographies and histories." It should be a useful reference book for all those seriously interested in choreography.
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