Figure 1.--These children probably about 1935 are participating in a school dance reciatal. Difficult to tell, but they are probably all girls.

Some mothers in the early 20th century strongly encouraged their childre to take a variety of dancing lessons beyound social dancing. Here girls were more often involved than boys, but some mothers insisted that their sons also participate. Some of the boys were unterested, but more commonly mother needed to provide a little persuasion. A variety of dance formns were involved, incliding ballet, interperative, and tap. The schools the children attended would periodically put on recitals to show the proud parents how the children were progressing. Many available images have no provinance and this are difficult to asess. We also notice some dance performances at regulasr schools.

America (about 1935)

Here we have a group of Amerivan children about 1935 participating in adance recital (figure 1). A HBC reader writes, "It looks like a tap dancing recital. Costumes are, well, costumes, not regular clothes, and those don't give much of a clue about gender. From the hair styles, I would say, maybe, girls, but some of the subjects give an overall impression of being boys -- especially the tall one in the oxfords in the middle. The strap shoes are no real clue since the image is dated about 1935 when boys would have been less hesitant to wear them, especially as part of a dancing costume. Without provenance I guess there is no way to tell."

France (1960)

These foreign, mostly French, children are putting on a class performance at a school in Senegal. I'm not sure about the school, but it appears to be a school for foreign workers at a phosphate mine at Taiba. It was apparently part of a Christmas pagent. I'm not positive just what their routine was. The girls wear skirts and the boys wear romper outfits. Rompers in Feance was a boys' garment. The image is entitled, "Les petits chats".

Japan

We know very little about dance in Japan in general. We alsdo have little information on dance recitals and performances in Japan. We have not seen traditional dances being performed at schiools. We have noticed some youth groups performing dance routeins. Some of them appear to be choir groups. We believe that some school groups may be involved. The dance styles seem to be wore Western than Japamese. Hopefully our Japanese readers will provide us some information.