|HAD the male dancers ever been excluded from the Imperial ballet its
fate would have been very different. The men are trained on the "ballon"
system, not on that which is known as the "parterre," and it is "ballon"
dancing which is one of the most beautiful features of the Russian
ballet. After we have watched interminable exercises ingeniously
performed "sur les pointes," with what relief have we seen Nijinsky,
perhaps the greatest "ballon" dancer who has ever existed, bound on to
the stage, rise high in the air, descend slowly and with such art
that when he touches the ground he can use it again for a still higher
flight.
[Illustration: 0028]
The presence of men in the ballet has an effect beyond the pleasure
afforded by the virile agility of their steps.
[Illustration: 8029]
It does away with the necessity for those feminine travesties of men,
known in our pantomimes as "principal boys," who introduce an element
into ballet which at its best makes a disturbing demand on our capacity
for illusion, and at its worst is a little degrading. What has made the
Male Dancers word "ballet" a sort of synonym for vice if it is not the
idea that it provides an opportunity for women to attract admirers--not
so much on account of their dancing as for the sake of their physical
charm? I think that a mixed ballet has the effect of concentrating
attention on the art of the dance rather than on the seductiveness of
the dancers. And the free and noble plastic of the male dancers in the
Russian ballet has influenced the plastic of the women, making it far
less sexual and far more beautiful.