How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #7
HALLY. [Art] goes beyond that. It's the giving of form to the formless.
SAM. Ja, well, maybe [the foxtrot's] not art, then. But I still say it's beautiful.
HALLY. I'm sure the word you mean to use is entertaining.
SAM. (Adamant) No. Beautiful. And if you want proof, come along to the Centenary Hall in New Brighton in two weeks' time. (1212-1219)
We are still on Sam's side in this. If art is "giving form to the formless," then couldn't you say that someone having complete control over his or her body is art? Dancing can be entertaining, of course, but it can also be beautiful. Hally's argument is really falling apart here because it's not based in life experience. His arrogance is on epic display.
Quote #8
HALLY. (To the table and his exercise book) "Write five hundred words describing an annual event of cultural or historical significance." Would I be stretching poetic license a little too far if I called your ballroom championships a cultural event? (1287-1291)
Are you surprised that Hally would even have to ask this question? Of course a ballroom championship is a cultural event, right? Well, apparently in South Africa in 1950 a competition held among black dancers was not considered culture by their white fellow citizens.
Quote #9
HALLY. [. . .] Old Doc Bromely—he's my English teacher—is going to argue with me, of course. He doesn't like natives. But I'll point out to him that in strict anthropological terms the culture of a primitive black society includes its dancing and singing. (1299-1303)
Hally knows he'll have to defend his choice of cultural event to his teacher by appealing to its intellectual value as an anthropological study. This is pretty insightful on his part. It gives us some hope that Hally knows his teacher is a racist and that's it's unreasonable. Of course, the idea comes a little easily to Hally.