Page:Modern Dancing (1914) Castle.djvu/162

Rh which faces life's sunset. They are set at all kinds of exercise for this, and are pounded and pummeled in massage till they are sore, but dancing will take the fat off as quickly and much more pleasantly.

At a thé dansant women eat and drink, but instead of sitting idly about afterward, and letting nourishment go to fat, they are dancing, encouraging digestion, lithe muscles, and an easy carriage. It would be hard to find a diversion that helps a girl more than dancing. It teaches her rhythm; it keeps her in tune with life; it gives her a graceful swinging walk; it shows her how to hold her head, and how to use her hands, and, what is more, how to use her feet. Many women are awkward in their ways of moving and standing. Dancing, too, naturally encourages sluggish blood to run more freely. It brings color into sallow cheeks and makes dull eyes bright.

But, as in all things, one must know when to stop. One should not continue to dance after becoming very tired. Don't attract hard little lines to your face by striving to keep up when unaccustomed muscles rebel. It takes a long time to develop the muscular strength that will enable you to keep going indefinitely; and getting overtired, whether through work or pleasure, is a blow against beauty from which it will take you a long time to recover.