�Please Charleston Quietly.� This was the sign found in many American ballrooms during the early 1920�s, at least in those that even allowed the dance at all. Started in the Cape Verde Islands, and then carried on by Negro workers in the Port of Charleston, the dancing style became popular in society after its� inclusion in the stage show, �Running Wild,� by the Ziegfeld Follies. The Charleston�s signature wild swinging arms, quick sidekicks, and breakneck tempo became a hit with Americas� youth, while outraging much of society, which prompted many ballrooms to ban it. In an attempt to compromise, some ballrooms incorporated the signs asking dancers to �Charleston Quietly.� While one might wonder if it is actually possible to �Charleston Quietly,� the greater and more important question arises. Can dance survive quietly and devoid of the passion that comprises its� very soul?
Throughout the history of dance there were times where society�s propriety attempted to steal the passion from dance. Many dances at one time or another have been banned, some by monarchs, and others by religious bodies. The 1800�s found the sweeping steps of the Waltz banned by the Church in parts of Germany, and by the Church and State in England. During that time period the waltz stood for freedom of expression and movement. It�s steps set its own boundaries. These mindsets. along with the tight, intertwined closed holds, which were labeled lewd and indecent, brought about its� temporary ban.
Full of eroticism and heat, sensual and feverish, is the Tango. A dance of the working class, originating in Argentina, it was quickly banned. However, the bans could not keep the style from spreading. The dance style trickled through until it became popular among the upper class in Argentina, spreading on to Europe, where again it met disapproval and bans due to its supposed blatant promiscuity. Dance halls and dance schools in America banned it, and others attempted to tone down the sexuality of the dance to make it socially acceptable.
The ban of both styles of dance were attempts by society to steal the soul of dance, and corral it in a box of strict performance. The passion, the intensity, and the ideology behind the dances were the parts that they were attempting to quell. However society could not contain the power of passion found deep within the dances. The artistic, bodily expressions of emotion could not be relegated to mere robotic, bland performance.
Performance and passion, two unique yet inseparable components of dancing, are essential, whether performing Swan Lake, the Waltz, the Tango, the Cha Cha, or Hip Hop. Countless times dancers participating in competitions have heard judges comment on the flawless performance and technique, yet the passion, expression, and feeling is found wanting. Sylvie Guillem said �Technical perfection is insufficient. It is an orphan without the true soul of the dancer.� The passion is the very breath of the dance. Governments and churches could attempt to ban the performance of the dance, but could never succeed in sequestering the passion behind the dance.
Despite attempts to harness the passion of dancing, there have always been those that refused to compromise the passion. Some, instead of obeying the signs �Please Charleston Quietly,� have perhaps danced it a little harder, and a little louder. Instead of cooling the heat, they have stoked the fire a bit higher, until all found to be extraneous was consumed. Even today many dancers will come to a point where they are asked to appease society, to trade their passion for approval, in essence, asked to �Please Charleston Quietly.� For the sake of all humankind I hope they dance a little harder, a little louder, with more abandon, and deeper feeling, their movements shouting a resounding �NO! We will not �Charleston Quietly.��
