Another quality which is often helpful on the dance floor,
especially to girls, is the ability to dance. This seems to have
become largely a trick of keeping abreast of the latest “mode”
and while, personally, I greatly regret the passing of the
stately lancers and other dignified “round dances,” yet, if
“mixed dancing” has come to stay, it is the duty of every young
person to learn to dance as well as possible in the generally
accepted manner, even though this often involves some
compromising of one’s _amour propre_.
But in addition to all these necessary qualifications the really
great person—the true super man or woman of the ballroom—must be
possessed of that certain divine something, that _je ne sais
quoi_ ability to rise superior to all occasions, to overcome the
most difficult situations, which has distinguished the great men
and women of all ages. Joan of Arc had it, George Washington had
it, Napoleon had it—and I venture to say that any of these three,
had they lived today, Would have been a social success. But
perhaps this fact can best be illustrated by taking a typical
instance in the ballroom in which “When duty whispered low ‘Thou
must,’ the youth replied ‘I can.’”