Waltzing to R.A.P.

Abstract

FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|"One, two, three, Step, two, three, Turn, two, three ..."| "No interest is good unless it must vest, if at all, not later than twenty-one years after some life in being at the creation of the interest."| Many of you recognize the latter quotation as the classic statement of the Rule Against Perpetuities (R.A.P.) stated by Professor John Chipman Gray. The first quotation may also be recognizable to any of you who like myself spent any time learning formal ballroom dancing steps such as the foxtrot and the waltz. The counting was frequently interrupted by an admonition that some of us less serious lads would soon find ourselves out of the program. However, this minor extension of the old two-step, more formally known as the waltz, was ultimately mastered by us all, albeit with a bit more grace by some individuals than others...