Ned Wayburn’s Private Office
In the field of public entertainment dancing holds an equally prominent place. The musical comedies, vaudeville acts, and other theatrical productions in which the dance is the chief or an important feature, testify to the popular appreciation of the highly skilled and highly paid artists who delight the public eye.
The motion picture is reputed to have seriously affected the prosperity of the legitimate drama, but it does not appear to have lessened the interest of amusement seekers in shows of which dancing is an essential part. The percentage of theatrical productions in which dancing figures has in recent years steadily increased, and the financial success of so many of this class of entertainments proves that the public knows what it wants, and is getting it. The enthusiastic crowds attracted by the great dancing artists also testify to the growing appreciation by the American people of what is distinctively the product of advanced culture and the higher civilization. As population grows, and as the percentage of urban residents, as compared with the dwellers in rural districts, increases, there will be an ever-increasing interest taken in the dance and all that pertains to it.