The name " threw " me momentarily...

Rumsey was one of the original committee members who were involved in the " standardisation " of the various teaching Soc. in the late 20s.

I knew I had heard the name, but not being a dancer of any note, he was also a contributing editor to the " Dancing Times " .

My guess is he picked up the term from one of the better known dancers and coaches of that era ?, like maxwell stewart or even alex himself .

was not aware he had written a tome.

Goes to show ya.. always something to learn !

It is refreshing that some people are intersted in the history of Ballroom Dancing. What should be pointed out is the Imperial Society ISTD already existed before Ballroom came onto the scene. And many years before Alex Moore was approched to write a Technique Book. P.J S. Richardson with several leading Professionals, none of whome were a members of the ISTD contemplated forming a Society for Ballroom Dancing

He was interviewed by the secerary of the Imperial and gave an understanding if they would take it out of his hands there would be no need for a new society.
The year was 1924 that the new section was formed.Which was Josephine Bradly. Eve Tyngate-Smith . Lisl Humphrey and Victor Silvester
3 to 1 for the ladies. Only one was a married woman. They made the rules for the syllabus that the candidates had to pass to become a member.

Actually, it was 1928.. and there were 20 members invited to the conference .

Terence. Victor Silvester was there and he writes 1924 Four members. Page 7. Victor Silvester Modern Ballroom Dancing. 1929 was the first time the Quickstep was included in the Star Ballroom Championship in which was won by Frank Ford and Molly Spain. 1928 was the year Maxwell Stewart won the British Professional Championship organized by the Dancing Times and the Imperial. I've got eighteen pages of history here from before the first World War to the modern times.. Cheers.

That meeting was for content and EXAM standardisation... it took 4 more yrs to convene ALL the then Soc. to accept the proposal, of which there were 20 attendees representing various bodies .

incidentally, it is not the ISTD which is the oldest Soc. but the BATD, formed in 1892 .
The DMA in the States, pre dates that .

Hi Terence,
Don't know if it is still true today, but the ISTD had the following paragraph in their Ballroom Examination Syllabus.

/* Candidates who stutter shall be permitted to answer questions on theory in written papers, subject to a medical certificate being furnished beforehand. */

Yes, I do re call that.. dont know if it is still in existance ( I belong 3 other Soc. at this time.... One does not,and have not checked others )

here,s another " quirk "... it was also forbidden back in the 40s (?) for bank managers to turn Prof.

Going deeper into my research, i had forgotten that there was another meeting that preceeded all the others in 1920 chaired by P. Richardson-- the people attending were all established dancers.

None of the later committee names were in attendance other than H. Bloodworth and Miss M. Symons

This meeting was suggested by a Mr Maurice Walton( an american ) and a former Waltz champion .

Its worth noting that P.R Richardson became the publisher of the Dancing Times in 1910 ( it had ceased pub. ... when he re vitalised it )

/* Candidates who stutter shall be permitted to answer questions on theory in written papers, subject to a medical certificate being furnished beforehand. */

Probably not a coincidence then that Henry St John Rumsey wrote another book in 1923 entitled "No Need to Stammer".