_The Dance_
[Illustration: BALLET PANTOMIME
From pose by Mlle. Louise La Gai]
THE DANCE
ITS PLACE IN ART AND LIFE
BY
TROY AND MARGARET WEST KINNEY
(“THE KINNEYS”)
_With a frontispiece in colour and one hundred and seventy-six line
drawings and diagrams by the authors, and three hundred
and thirty-four illustrations in black-and-white
from photographs_
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
MCMXIV
COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
_All rights reserved, including
that of translation into
foreign languages_
[Illustration: colophon _April, 1914_]
THE·PLIMPTON·PRESS
NORWOOD·MASS·U·S·A
_To_
A FELLOW-ENTHUSIAST
J. T. W.
WITH APPRECIATION
PREFACE
The pleasant responsibility of writing about one of our two overwhelming
enthusiasms was accepted by us only after consultation with friends in
the dancing profession.
“A book of technical instruction is not the idea,” we started to
explain.
“No,” they concurred, “that would not be an undertaking for painters.
Only an experienced master of dancing should write such a book, and he
would not be likely to, because he would know that execution is taught
only by personal criticism of a pupil’s work.”
We hastened to specify that the proposal involved no more--and no
less--than an effort to share our enthusiasm with others. Appreciation
of an art requires no faculties not included in the normal human
equipment; more than anything else it is a matter of knowing what to
look for. When a layman comes to a painter asking what it is that people
find so enjoyable in classic mural decoration, the answer is not
difficult. A few hours in an art museum, with some direction of his
attention to line as a vehicle of beauty, acquaint him with the idea of
beauty as a self-sufficient object; and he goes on his way rejoicing in
the possession of a lasting process of making happiness for himself.
Great dancing, to us, always had been a gratification of the same senses
that are addressed by decoration. The same suggestions, therefore, that
convey the power to enjoy classic mural painting, would enable us to
communicate our satisfaction in the dance. But the question arose, was
our point of view on dancing in accord with its real intent, and that of
its performers and composers?
Madame Cavallazi disposed of the doubt at one stroke. “The ballet,” she
said, “_is_ mural decoration.”
Sanctioned by such authority, we have followed the lines above
indicated, treating the dance from the standpoint of pure optical
beauty. Its enjoyment, experience proves, is distinctly sharpened by
acquaintance with choreographic technique. One not fairly familiar with
the resources of the art, though he be conscious that the dance before
his eyes is progressing, like music, in conformity with an artistic
argument, is confused by the speed and seeming intricacy of steps. As a
result he loses the greater part of the beauty of the succession of
pictures unfolded before him. Whereas the ability to grasp the theme of
a composition, and then to follow its elaboration through a vocabulary
of already familiar steps, is in effect to quicken the vision. Instead
of being harassed by a sensation of scrambling to keep up with the
argument, the spectator finds himself with abundant time to luxuriate in
every movement, every posture. And, like a connoisseur of any other art,
he sees a thousand beauties unnoticed by the untrained.
To the end of furnishing the needed acquaintance with the alphabet of
the art, the book includes a chapter of explanation of the salient steps
of the ballet. These steps, with superficial variations and additions,
form the basis also of all natural or “character” dances that can lay
claim to any consideration as interpretative art. It is convenient to
learn the theories of them as accepted by the great ballet academies,
since those institutions alone have defined them clearly, and brought
to perfection the ideals for their execution. Incidentally the school of
the ballet is made the subject of considerable attention. In the first
place, after getting a grasp of its ideals and intent, any one will
catch the sentiment of a folk-dance in a moment. Moreover, it is in
itself an important institution. During its long history it has
undergone several periods of retirement from public attention, the most
recent beginning about sixty years ago. From this eclipse it has already
returned to the delighted gaze of Europe; as always after its absences,
so far evolved beyond the standards within the memory of living men that
posterity seems to have been robbed of the chance of discovering
anything further. The renaissance is moving westward from St.
Petersburg; London is wholly under its influence; America has felt a
touch of it.
American love of animated beauty and delight in skill predestine us to
be a race of ardent enthusiasts over the dance. Among us, however, there
are many who have never accepted it as an art worthy of serious
attention. As a gentle answer to that point of view, a historical résumé
is included, wherein statesmen, philosophers and monarchs show the high
respect in which the art has been held, save in occasional lapses, in
all periods of civilised history.
Direct practical instruction is furnished on the subject of present-day
ballroom dancing, to the extent of clear and exact directions for the
performance of steps now fashionable in Europe and America. The chapter
was prepared under the careful supervision of Mr. John Murray Anderson.
Neither in word nor picture does the book contain any statement not
based upon the authors’ personal knowledge, or choreographic writings of
unquestioned authority, or the word of dancers or ballet-masters of the
utmost reliability. To these artists and to certain managers we are
greatly indebted. Much of the matter has never before been printed in
English; a considerable portion of it has here its first publication in
any language. The illustrations of dances of modern times are made from
artists in the very front rank of their respective lines. If the new
material so contributed to choreographic literature proves, according to
the belief of dancers who have read the manuscript, to be of value to
producers, the authors will experience the gratification that comes of
having been of service. But their efforts will be more directly repaid
if the influence of the book hastens by a day that insistence upon a
high choreographic ideal in America, and that unification of
dance-lovers which must exist in order that worthy productions may be
reasonably insured of recognition in proportion to their quality.
Finally, a word of thanks to those whose aid has made this book
possible. Though busy, as successful people always are, they have given
time and thought unsparingly to the effort, in co-operation with the
authors, to make this a substantial addition to the layman’s
understanding of the dancing art.
T. K. and M. W. K.
_New York, November, 1913._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE DANCING OF ANCIENT EGYPT AND GREECE 3
_The dance a primitive emotional expression. Importance in Egyptian
religious ritual. Biblical allusions. Its high place in Greek civilisation.
Origin attributed to the gods. Employed in observances religious,
civic, and private. Practice decreed by Lycurgus for military discipline
and cultivation of national stamina. A feature of Plato’s “Ideal
Republic.” Ballet in drama. Interacting influence between dance and
sculpture._
II. DANCING IN ROME 22
_Simplicity of early Roman taste and manners enforced by poverty.
Vulgarity with riches. Degeneration of dancing with other arts,
under Empire. Acrobatics, obscenity. Ballet pantomime. Pylades
and Bathyllus._
III. THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE 29
_The Christian Church lifts dance from degradation. Ballet d’action
in ritual of worship. A cause of disagreements between ecclesiastical
dignitaries. The Seises of Seville Cathedral preservers
of dance in religious service. Moralities, etc. Mechanical effects.
Ambulatory ballets._
_Rebirth of polite society; the masque. Cardinal Riario. Catherine
de Medici, direct influence toward modern ballet. Elizabeth
of England. Richelieu, composer. Louis XIV, ballet performer,
founder of national academy._
_Dawn of stars. Sallé. Prévost. Camargo. New standards.
Expression. New steps added to those derived from old dances:
Gavotte, Minuet, Pavane, Saraband, Tordion, Bourrée, Passecaille,
Passepied, Chaconne, Volte, Allemande, Gaillarde, and Courante.
Their formality; illustrations._
IV. A GLANCE AT THE BALLET’S TECHNIQUE 59
_Visual music: dance steps are notes, an enchainement is a phrase,
a dance-composition is a song, the ballet is an orchestra. Ballet
dancing, as such, not based on imitation of nature; a convention,
analogous to ornamental decoration. Intent: perfect beauty of
line and rhythm; abstract qualities exploited. Importance of
pantomime unsettled._
_Ballet dancing can be seen intelligently only by aid of acquaintance
with elemental steps. Fundamental positions of feet and hands. Gliding
steps: chassé, échappé, coupé, etc. Battements, grand, petit.
Changement. Entrechat. Brisé. Balloné. Enchainements. Pas de Bourrée,
pas de Basque._
_Turns and pirouettes. Rond de jambe. Fouetté. Sur le cou-de-pied;
en l’air. Renversé. En arabesque, etc. Optical illusions._
_Phrasing. Theme. Motive._
_Standards of form. Exactness. Beneficial relaxation of formality;
results of unguided emancipation._
V. THE GOLDEN AGE OF DANCING 100
_Early eighteenth century finds ballet profiting by
many favourable influences.
Royal patronage. Public enthusiasm and discernment.
Great-minded artists in co-operation. Fortunate accidents. The
Vestris, father and son. Noverre, “the Shakespeare of the
dance.” Boucher, designer of stage decoration. Gluck. Costuming._
_Rivalries of Camargo and Sallé; Allard and Guimard. Coterie
of great performers. French Revolution._
_Dance resumed with return of peace. An ambassador as impresario.
Public controversy and enthusiasm over Taglioni and Ellsler;
opposites; none to replace them; singing supersedes dancing in opera._
VI. SPANISH DANCING 121
_Gaditanae in Roman literature. Spanish dancing resists Roman corruption,
Gothic brutality. Favouring influence of Moors. Attitude
of the Church. Public taste and discrimination._
_Two schools, Flamenco (Gipsy origin) and Classic. The Gipsy.
La Farruca, el Tango, el Garrotin; distinct character. Costume.
Classic: Seguidillas family. Las Sevillanas; general character.
The Fandango rarely seen. La Malagueña y el Torero. Las
Malagueñas. The Bolero. Castanets. Los Panaderos. The Jota
of Aragon, character, costume, etc. Other dances._
VII. ITALIAN DANCES 156
_The Forlana of Venice: Harlequin, Columbine, Dr. Pantalone. Pantomime
and tableaux. The Tarantella, character, costume. The Ciociara of
Romagna. Italian fondness for pantomime. The Saltarello. La Siciliana,
la Ruggera, la Trescona, etc._
VIII. EUROPEAN FOLK-DANCING IN GENERAL 164
_Folk-dancing an expression of social conditions. Scotch nationalism.
The Sword Dance; the Highland Fling; the Scotch Reel. Motives,
basic steps. Reel of Tulloch. The Shean Treuse. England:
Sailor’s Hornpipe. Morris Dances. Recent revival of old
dances. Ireland: Jig, Reel and Hornpipe. Intent, steps, devices
of tempo. Irish festivals; Gaelic League. Sweden: recent revival
of old dances. The Skralât; Kadriljs. The Vafva Vadna; the
Daldans. Holland: the Mâtelot. France: la Bourrée, la Farandole.
Specimen freak dances: the Perchtentanz, the Bacchu-ber.
The Schuhplatteltanz of Bavaria. Balkan region: the Kolo. Degeneration
of dancing in Greece. Russia: Cossack Dance, Court Dance. Slavonic
character and steps: the Czardás; the Mazurka; the Szoló; the Obertass.
Temperament._
IX. ORIENTAL DANCING 196
_Symbolism, decoration, pantomime, story in the dance. Sensational
mismanagement in Occidental countries. Mimetic dancing a substitute
for newspapers. The Dance of Greeting; welcome, blessings,
etc. Structure of Arabic choreography. Handkerchief Dance
of Cafés; candour. Flour Dance. Popular narrative dances. Fantasia of
Bedoui; religious outbreaks. Dancing for tourists; the Almées. Dance,
Awakening of the Soul. Animate sculpture. Oriental technique. Sword
Dance of Turkey. Dervishes. Lezginkà of the Caucasus. Ruth St. Denis;
Nautch; Spirit of Incense; the Temple; the Five Senses. Antiquity;
carvings in India and Java. Hula-Hula of Hawaii. Priestesses trained for
religious dancing. Japan: dancing for all occasions. Abstractness of
symbols. Dances of war._
X. THE BALLET IN ITS DARK AGE 228
_Sterilisation of ballet by struggle for technical virtuosity. Ballet in
opera. Vulgarisms and counterfeits: the Can-Can; contortion;
high kicking; skirt-dancing; insipid prettiness. A revival of good
work; falsifications of it. Loie Fuller, silk scarf, electric lights.
Serpentine and Fire dances. Imitators. World’s Fair of 1893;
stigma on Oriental dancing. One class of managers. Obscure
preparation of a new force._
XI. THE ROMANTIC REVOLUTION 241
_Isadora Duncan, complete idealist. Her metier. Russia: dissatisfaction
with ballet. Duncan in St. Petersburg. Secession from Imperial
Academy. The romantic idea; choreography, music, painting
united in a radical new school. The Russian ballet. Paris,
United States, England. Influence and reception. Management
in America._
XII. THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY AND ITS WORKINGS 257
_Selection of pupils. Consecration to work. Contract, obligations
after graduation. Advantages to the government. General education.
Technical training: Italian ballet technique, music, drawing,
acting, pantomime, plastic gymnastics, fencing. Care of health.
Age of Academy. Russian ballet as distinguished from French-Italian;
law-governed freedom. Addition to emotional scope. Recent ballet
pantomimes._
XIII. SOCIAL DANCING OF TO-DAY 269
_Revived interest in dancing. New forms of dance suited to the present
freedom of individual expression. Rapid changes. The Turkey
Trot. New names for slightly altered dances already familiar.
The Argentine Tango; significance. Detailed instruction for performance
of the One-Step, the Boston, the Hesitation Waltz, the Tango, the
Brazilian Maxixe. Tendencies toward revival of old court dances._
XIV. A LAYMAN’S ESTIMATE OF CONDITIONS 304
_Re-establishment of great dancing in the United States; will it take
and keep a high plane? Loose standards of judgment. Dependence
upon commercial management. Managers; their varied influences.
Need of endowed ballet and academy. Difficulties of ballet organisation
in the United States. Insufficient training of American ballet dancers.
Ballet in operas; unimportance under old traditions, changing standards.
Metropolitan and Russian ballet; ground gained and partly lost. Russians
under other auspices. Ballet school; impositions upon it. Need of
academy with dancing as primary purpose. General organisation;
departures from scheme of Russian Academy._
BIBLIOGRAPHY 323
INDEX 327
ILLUSTRATIONS
BALLET PANTOMIME _From Pose by Mlle. Louise La Gai_ _Frontispiece_
TANAGRA FIGURE _Page_ 3
GREEK VASE DECORATION 3
TANAGRA FIGURE 3
TANAGRA FIGURES _Facing Page_ 4
GREEK CERAMICS 5
GREEK VASE DECORATION _Page_ 8
GREEK COMEDY DANCING 9
STATUETTES 10
_Tanagra_ (_A_)--_Myrina_ (_B_)--_Tanagra_ (_C_).
GREEK RELIEF DECORATIONS _Facing Page_ 12
GREEK CERAMIC DECORATIONS 13
STATUETTES _Page_ 13
_Myrina_ (_A_)--_Tanagra_ (_B_)--_Myrina_ (_C_).
DANCE OF NYMPHS 17
TANAGRA FIGURES _Facing Page_ 20
GREEK COMEDY DANCING _Page_ 21
DANCE OF PEASANTS 36
BALLET OF THE FOUR PARTS OF THE WORLD: _Entrance of
the Grand Khan_ 41
A FOURTEENTH CENTURY BALL 46
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY COURT DANCES _Facing Page_ 48
_The Tordion_ (1, 2)--_The Pavane_ (3, 4, 5).
LOUIS XIV AND A COURTIER IN THE BALLET OF NIGHT _Page_ 50
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY COURT DANCES _Facing Page_ 54
_The Saraband_ (1)--_The Allemand_ (3)--_The Minuet_ (2, 4,
5, 6, 7).
THE GAVOTTE 55
MME. ADELINE GENÉE AND M. ALEXANDER VOLININE 64
_Ballet Robert le Diable_ (1)--_Butterfly Dance_ (2)--_Pierrot
and Columbine_ (3).
MME. GENÉE IN HISTORICAL RE-CREATIONS AND M. VOLININE 65
_Sallé_ (1)--_The Waltz_ (2)--_Camargo_ (3)--_Guimard_ (4).
FUNDAMENTAL POSITIONS OF THE FEET _Page_ 66
POSITIONS OF THE ARMS 67
“GLISSADE” 68
“ASSEMBLÉ” 69
“ASSEMBLÉ” AND CHANGEMENT (_Floor Plan Diagram_) 69
“JETÉ” 70
“JETÉ” TO THE SIDE 71
“BATTEMENTS” 72
STEPS OF THE “BATTEMENT” TYPE 74
“FOUETTÉ” 75
START OF A “FOUETTÉ PIROUETTE” 76
“FOUETTÉ PIROUETTE” (_Continued_) 77
OPTIONAL FINISH OF A “FOUETTÉ PIROUETTE” 78
THE “PIROUETTE SUR LE COU-DE-PIED” 79
VARIOUS “PIROUETTES” 80
BEGINNING OF THE “RENVERSÉ” 82
THE “RENVERSÉ” (_Concluded_) 83
TWO FORMS OF “ATTITUDE” 84
MECHANISM OF BROAD JUMP 86
CLASSIC BALLET POSITIONS _Facing Page_ 88
_Typical moments in a renversé (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,)--Starting a
developpé (6)--Progress of a rond de jambe (7, 8, 9)._
CLASSIC BALLET POSITIONS (_Continued_) 89
_Rond de jambe (10)--Jeté tour (11)--Pas de bourrée (12)--Preparation
for a pirouette (13)--Position sur la pointe
(14)--A fouetté tour, inward (14)--A cabriole à derrière
(16)--Descent from an entrechat (17)--An arabesque (18)._
“LA MALAGUEÑA Y EL TORERO” 122
TYPICAL “FLAMENCO” POSES _Page_ 129
“FLAMENCO” POSES 133
“LAS SEVILLANAS” 137
“EL BOLERO” _Facing Page_ 138
_Typical moment in first copla (1)--Finish of a phrase (2)._
“LA JOTA ARAGONESA” 139
_Type of movement (1)--Finish of a turn (2)--A pirouette
(3)--Kneeling position (4)--Woman’s sitting position (5)._
TWO GROUPS IN “LAS SEVILLANAS” _Page_ 140
GROUPS IN “LA MALAGUEÑA Y EL TORERO” 145
MISCELLANEOUS SPANISH NOTES 147
TWO GROUPS IN “LOS PANADEROS” 149
PART OF THE “JOTA” OF ARAGON 152
“LA TARANTELLA” _Facing Page_ 156
_Opening of the dance (1)--A poor collection (2)--They
gamble for it (la Morra) (3)--She wins (4)--He wins (5)._
“LA TARANTELLA” 157
_An arabesque (1)--Finish of a phrase (2)--Typical moment
(3)--Finish of a phrase (4)._
“LA TARANTELLA” 158
_Opening of the dance (1)--A turn back-to-back (2)--A
pause after rapid foot-work (3)--Characteristic finishes of
phrases (4, 5)._
“LA FORLANA” 159
_Doctor Pantalone patronized (1)--Defied (2)--Pleads (3)--Accepts
the inevitable (4)--Is ridiculed (5)._
“LA CIOCIARA” 160
_Opening promenade (1, 2)--End of promenade (3)--He
has “made eyes” at a spectator (4)--Opening of dance
(second movement) (5)._
“LA CIOCIARA” 161
_Rustic affection (1)--Again caught in perfidy (2)--Tries
to make amends (3)--Without success (4)--Removed from
temptation (5)._
THE SCOTCH SWORD DANCE 164
_A step over the swords (1, 2)--A jump over the swords (3)--Steps
between the swords (4, 5)._
THE “SCOTCH REEL” 165
_Use of the Battement (1)--A pirouette (2)--Characteristic
style (3, 4)--A turn (5)._
THE “SHEAN TREUSE” 168
_The promenade (1, 2)--The thematic step (3)--Finish of
a phrase (4)._
THE “SAILOR’S HORNPIPE” 169
_Look-out (1)--Hoisting sail (2)--Hauling in rope (3)--Rowing
(4)--Type of step (5)--Type of step (6)--Hoisting
sail (7)._
IRISH DANCES 174
_The Jig (1, 3, 4)--The Hornpipe (2, 5)--The Reel (6, 7,
8)._
A “FOUR-HAND REEL” 175
_Preparation for woman’s turn under arms (1)--Characteristic
style (2)--A turning group figure (3)._
THE “IRISH JIG” AND PORTRAIT OF PATRICK J. LONG 178
FROM VARIOUS FOLK-DANCES _Page_ 185
THE “SCHUHPLATTELTANZ” _Facing Page_ 186
_A swing (1)--A turn (2)--A turn, man passing under
woman’s arms (3)--A swing, back-to-back (4)--The
Mirror (5)._
THE “SCHUHPLATTELTANZ” OF BAVARIA 187
_Preparing a turn (1)--A lift (2)--Starting woman’s series
of turns (3)--Start of woman’s turns (4)--Man fans her
along with hands (5)--Finish of dance (6)._
THE “KOLO” OF SERVIA 190
_Start of a turn (1)--Progress of a turn (2)--A bridge of
arms (3)--An emphasis (4)--A lift (5)._
POSES FROM SLAVONIC DANCES 191
_Coquetry (1)--Petulance (2)--Indifference (3)--Emphasis
(4)--Jocular defiance (5)._
POSES FROM SLAVONIC DANCES 192
_Negation (1)--Fear (2)--Supplication (3)--An emphasis
(4)._
POSES FROM SLAVONIC DANCES 193
_Characteristic gesture (1)--Characteristic step (2)--Characteristic
gesture (3)--Characteristic step (4)--Same, another
view (5)--Ecstasy (6)--The claim of beauty (7)._
ARABIAN “DANCE OF GREETING” 196
_Called upon to dance, she reveals herself (1)--Salutation (2)--Profile
view of same (3)._
ARABIAN “DANCE OF GREETING” (_Continued_) 197
_“For you I will dance” (4)--“From here you will put away
care” (5, 8)--“Here you may sleep” (6)--“Here am I”
(7)._
ARABIAN “DANCE OF GREETING” (_Continued_) 198
_“And should you go afar” (9)--“May you enjoy Allah’s
blessing of rain” (10)--“And the earth’s fullness” (11)._
ARABIAN “DANCE OF GREETING” (_Continued_) 199
_“May winds refresh you” (12)--“Wherever you go” (13)--“Here
is your house” (14)--“Here is peace” (15)--“And
your slave” (16)._
ARABIAN “DANCE OF MOURNING” 200
_The body approaches (1)--The body passes (2)--“I hold
my sorrow to myself” (3)._
ARABIAN “DANCE OF MOURNING” (_Continued_) 201
_“He has gone out of the house and up to Heaven” (4)--“Farewell”
(5)._
ARABIAN “DANCE OF MOURNING” (_Continued_) 202
_“He slept in my arms” (6)--“The house is empty” (7)--“Woe
is in my heart” (8)._
ARAB SLAVE GIRL’S DANCE 203
“HANDKERCHIEF DANCE” OF THE CAFÉS 206
_The handkerchiefs symbolizing the lovers are animated with
the breath of life, but kept dissociated (1)--Brought into
semi-association (2)--Separated and dropped (3)._
“HANDKERCHIEF DANCE” (_Continued_) 207
_She can dance about, between or away from them, indifferently
(4)--Made into panniers, the panniers express her
willingness to receive; turned inside out, her willingness to
give (5)--One of the two handkerchiefs is thrown to the selected
lover (6)._
“DANCE OF THE SOUL’S JOURNEY” 210
_The soulless body (1)--Asks for the light of life (2)--Vision
dawns (3)--Inexpert in life, she walks gropingly (4)._
“DANCE OF THE SOUL’S JOURNEY” (_Continued_) 211
_She draws aside the veil of the future (5)--Life is seen full
and plenteous (6)._
“DANCE OF THE SOUL’S JOURNEY” (_Continued_) 212
_But old age will come (7)--Grief will visit (8)--She shall
walk with her nose close to the camel’s foot (9)._
“DANCE OF THE SOUL’S JOURNEY” (_Continued_) 213
_Yet now, from the crown of her head (10)--To the soles of her
feet she is perfect (11)._
MISCELLANEOUS ORIENTAL NOTES _Page_ 215
“DANCE OF THE SOUL’S JOURNEY” (_Continued_) _Facing Page_ 216
_Rejoices in the perfect body (12)--And in all good things
(13)--Runs from the scene (14)._
CHARACTERISTIC PANTOMIME IN DANCING OF MODERN
EGYPT 217
_Express sorrow (1, 3)--Represents a prayer directed downward
and back: i. e., to spirits of evil (2)._
“DANCE OF THE FALCON” (EGYPTIAN) 218
_Shock as the bird strikes his quarry (1)--Rejoicing as he
overcomes it (2)._
DANCING GIRLS OF ALGIERS 219
RELIEFS ON TOWER OF THE TEMPLE OF MADURA (INDIA) _Page_ 219
PERSIAN DANCE. PRINCESS CHIRINSKI-CHICHMATOFF _Facing Page_ 220
ORIENTAL POSES 221
_Votive offering (3 poses)--Decorative motives (3 poses)--Disclosure
of person (1 pose)._
JAVANESE DANCER, MODERN 222
RELIEF CARVINGS, TEMPLE OF BOROBODUL, JAVA 223
_Dance of Greeting (1)--Dance of Worship (2)--An Arrow
Dance (3)._
“NAUTCH DANCE” 226
JAPANESE DANCE 227
ISADORA DUNCAN 242
GREEK INTERPRETATIVE DANCE 243
IMPRESSIONS OF ISADORA DUNCAN _Page_ 244
MLLE. LOPOUKOWA, MLLE. PAVLOWA, MLLE. NIJINSKA, WITH
SR. E. CECCETTI _Facing Page_ 246
MLLE. LYDIA KYASHT AND M. LYTAZKIN 247
“ARABESQUE” 248
“ARROW DANCE” 249
BACCHANAL 252
MLLE. LYDIA LOPOUKOWA 253
MLLE. PAVLOWA IN A BACCHANAL 257
MLLE. LOPOUKOWA, IN BOUDOIR 258
MLLE. LOPOUKOWA, INTERPRETATIVE DANCE 259
MLLE. LOPOUKOWA, IN “LE LAC DES CYGNES” 262
M. ALEXANDER VOLININE 263
REPRESENTATIVE RUSSIAN BALLET POSES AND GROUPS _Page_ 265
REPRESENTATIVE RUSSIAN BALLET POSES AND GROUPS 267
THE “WALTZ MINUET” _Facing Page_ 272
_Characteristic style (1)--Variation, position of hands (2)--Preparation
for a turn (3)--The Mirror figure (4)._
THE “GAVOTTE” SHOWING PRESENT TENDENCIES 273
_Characteristic style (1)--Characteristic style (2)--A curtsy
(3)--Arabesque to finish a phrase (4)._
SOCIAL DANCING; POSITION OF FEET (_Diagram_) _Page_ 276
THE ONE-STEP: THE TURN (_Diagram_) 277
THE ONE-STEP: GRAPE-VINE (_Diagram_) 278
THE ONE-STEP: EIGHT (_Diagram_) 279
THE ONE-STEP: SQUARE (_Diagram_) 279
THE ONE-STEP: A FIGURE OCCUPYING THREE MEASURES
(_Diagram_) 280
THE ONE-STEP: THE MURRAY ANDERSON TURN (_Diagram_) 281
THE ONE-STEP: A CROSS-OVER (_Diagram_) 282
DEVELOPMENT OF AN ARCH “À LA PIROUETTE” _Facing Page_ 282
_Cross to right (1)--Cross to left (2)--Start of turn (3)._
THE ONE-STEP 283
_The “Kitchen Sink” (1)--Position of couple (2)._
THE “BRAZILIAN MAXIXE” 283
_Characteristic position of advanced foot (3)._
THE “BOSTON,” ESSENTIAL STEP (_Diagram_) _Page_ 284
THE WALTZ _Facing Page_ 284
_A position of the couple in the Waltz-Minuet (1)--Correct
position of man’s hand on woman’s back (2)--A position
also assumed in the One-step Eight (3)--A Dip (4)._
THE WALTZ 285
_Correct position of couple (1)--Of feet, in short steps (2)--Of
feet, in Dip (3)--Another view of the Dip (4)._
THE BOSTON, STEP BACKWARD (_Diagram_) _Page_ 285
THE BOSTON, THE DIP (_Diagram_) 286
THE BOSTON, THE DIP SIMPLIFIED (_Diagram_) _Page_ 287
THE BOSTON, AN EMBELLISHMENT (_Diagram_) 288
THE BOSTON, AN EMBELLISHMENT (_Diagram_) 288
THE BOSTON, SAME, WITH TURNS (_Diagram_) 289
THE “HESITATION WALTZ,” THEME (_Diagram_) 289
THE “HESITATION WALTZ” VARIATION ON THEME (_Diagram_) 290
THE “TANGO” _Facing Page_ 290
_Characteristic style (1, 2, 4)--Woman circles man (3)._
THE “TANGO” 291
_Characteristic style._
THE “HESITATION WALTZ,” THE “LYON CHASSÉ” (_Diagram_). _Page_ 291
THE “TANGO” Page_ 294
THE “TANGO” 295
_The reverse (1)--The regular Tango walking step (2)--Style
of movement (3)--Position of hands sometimes assumed
to emphasize the end of a phrase (4)._
THE “TANGO,” THE “CORTE” (_Diagram_) _Page_ 295
THE “TANGO,” THE SCISSORS (_Diagram_) 295
THE “TANGO,” THE SCISSORS VARIATION (_Diagram_) 296
THE “TANGO,” THE MEDIA LUNA (_Diagram_) 296
THE “TANGO” _Facing Page_ 296
_The corte (1)--Characteristic style (2)--A variation (3)--Start
of a turn (4)._
A “TANGO” STEP 297
_Man’s foot displaces woman’s (1)--Woman’s foot displaces
man’s (2)--Each displaces the other’s foot (3)._
THE “TANGO,” THE EIGHT (_Diagram_) _Page_ 297
THE “TANGO,” A WALTZ TURN (_Diagram_) 297
THE “TANGO,” AN EASY STEP (_Diagram_) 298
A NORTH AMERICAN FIGURE IN THE “TANGO” _Facing Page_ 298
_Preparation (1)--After the twist (2)--Finishing with a
Dip (3)._
THE “TANGO,” EXECUTED TO THE REAR (_Diagram_) _Page_ 299
THE “TANGO,” A NORTH AMERICAN FIGURE (_Diagram_) 299
THE “BRAZILIAN MAXIXE,” FIRST FIGURE (_Diagram_) 300
THE “BRAZILIAN MAXIXE,” THIRD FIGURE (_Diagram_) 301
THE “BRAZILIAN MAXIXE” _Facing Page_ 302
_Characteristic style (1)--A dip (2)--Variations (3, 4)._
THE “BRAZILIAN MAXIXE” 303
_Preparation for a turn (1)--Finish of a turn (2)--Characteristic
style (3)--A dip (4)._
THE DANCE
[Illustration]
_The Dance_
CHAPTER I
THE DANCING OF ANCIENT EGYPT AND GREECE
Before logic, man knew emotion; before creed, ritual. With leap and mad
gesture the savage mimics his triumph, to the accompaniment of crude
saltation performed by a hero-worshipping tribe.
Not by argument is the coming storm propitiated, but by a unified
expression of tribal humility. To the rhythm of beaten drums, the tribe,
as one, performs the genuflexions and prostrations that denote
supplication and fear.
So on through the gamut of simple emotions--love and hate, fealty and
jealousy, desire and achievement--primitive man expresses his mood in
terms of the dance. History shows that dancing persists on a plane with
words, paint and music as a means of expression, however far a race may
advance along the road of evolution; and that the few exceptions to this
rule are to be found among peoples who have allowed a Frankenstein of
logic to suppress, for a time, their naturalness of spirit.
Egyptian carvings of six thousand years ago record the use of the dance
in religious ritual; and abundant evidence attests the importance in
which it was held at all times through the period of Egypt’s power. In
lines as stately as the columns of a temple, sculptors have traced
choreography’s majestic poses, its orchestral repetitions and
variations. As a dance may be, the religious dances of Egypt were a
translation and an equivalent of the spirit of the Pharaohs’ monumental
architecture; that they were no less imposing than those temples we
cannot avoid believing.
Plato, deeply impressed by these hierarchical ballets, finds that their
evolutions symbolised the harmonious movements of the stars. Modern
deduction carries the astronomical theme still further: the central
altar is believed to have represented the sun; the choral movements
around it, the movements of the celestial bodies. Apis, the sacred black
bull, was honoured in life by dances of adoration, in death by ballets
of mourning.
Either dancing was attributed to the divinities (according to a
Christian saint of later centuries, it is the practice of angels) or
some of the divinities were represented by dancers in the religious
ballets. A carving in the Metropolitan Museum of New York shows Anubis
and Horus kneeling, their arms completing a pose that is seen to this
day in the dances of Spain.
Important as was the dancing of Egypt as the root from which grows the
choreography of all the Occident--and of India too, for anything known
to the contrary--the carvings reveal little of its philosophy or
symbolism. But the history of other peoples at once
[Illustration: _Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York_
TANAGRA FIGURES
To face page 4]
[Illustration: _Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York_
GREEK CERAMICS]
demonstrates its force as example, at least, if not as teacher of actual
technique. The Hebrews of very early days gave dancing a high place in
the ceremony of worship. Moses, after the crossing of the Red Sea, bade
the children of Israel dance. David danced before the Ark of the
Covenant.
Numerous Biblical allusions show that dancing was held in high respect
among early leaders of thought. “Praise the Lord ... praise Him with
timbrel and the dance,” is commanded. With dancing the Maccabees
celebrated that supremely solemn event, the restoration of the Temple.
To honour the slayer of Goliath, the women came out from all the cities
of Israel, “singing and dancing ... with tabrets, with joy and with
instruments of musick.” Relative to the capture of wives the sons of
Benjamin were told: “ ... if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance
in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man
his wife ... and the children of Benjamin did so, and took them wives,
according to their number, of them that danced, whom they caught”
(Judges 21:21 and 23). “Thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets,
and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry” (Jeremiah
31:4). “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance” (Jeremiah 31:13).
“And David danced before the Lord with all his might” (2 Samuel 6:14).
In the solemn chapter of Matthew narrating the beheading of John the
Baptist we read: “But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of
Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised
with an oath to give her whatever she would ask.”
Perhaps with an idea of forestalling discussion of the art’s antiquity,
one of the early writers eliminates argument by a simple stroke of the
pen. “The stars conform to laws of co-ordinated movement. ‘Co-ordinated
movement’ is the definition of dancing, which therefore is older than
humanity.” Taking this at its face value, human institutions are thrown
together into one period, in which differences of a thousand years are
as nothing.
In turning to Greece, years need lend no aid to make the subject
attractive. In that little world of thought we find choreography
luxuriant, perhaps, as it never has been since; protected by priesthood
and state, practised by rich and poor, philosopher and buffoon. Great
mimetic ballets memorialised great events; simple rustic dances
celebrated the gathering of the crops and the coming of the flowers.
Priestesses performed the sacred numbers, the origins of which tradition
attributed to Olympian gods; eccentric comedy teams enlivened the
streets of Athens; gilded youth held dancing an elegant accomplishment.
Philosophers taught it to pupils for its effect on body and mind; it was
a means of giving soldiers carriage, agility and health, and cultivating
_esprit de corps_. To the development of dancing were turned the Greek
ideals of beauty, which in their turn undoubtedly received a mighty and
constant uplift from the beauty of harmonised movements of healthy
bodies. Technique has evolved new things since the days of classic
Greece; scenery, music and costume have created effects undreamed of in
the early times. But notwithstanding the lack of incidental factors--and
one questions if any such lack were not cancelled by the gain through
simplicity--the wide-spread practice of good dancing, the greatness and
frequency of municipal ballets, the variety of emotional and æsthetic
motives that dancing was made to express, all combine to give Greece a
rank never surpassed as a dancing nation.
The man-made attributes of man’s gods are a synopsis of man’s important
thoughts. Cybele, mother of the gods and friend of mankind, taught
dancing to the corybantes as a fitting gift to be passed along to her
mortal foster-children. Apollo, speaking through the mouths of
priestesses, dictated further choreographic laws. Orpheus journeyed to
Egypt to study its dances, that he might add to the scope of the
Hellenic steps and movements. One of the nine muses was devoted to the
fostering of this particular art. All of which shows a profound belief
in the Greek mind that dancing was worthy of a great deal of divine
attention. Certainly no subsequent civilisation has been so well
qualified to judge the importance of dancing, for none has experimented
so completely in the effect of rhythmic exercise on the body and mind of
a nation.
Classic sculpture no more than suggests the importance of dancing in
Greek life. An assemblage of a few Greek thinkers’ observations on the
subject furnishes an idea of the value they gave it as a factor in
education. Plato, for instance, specifies it among the necessities for
the ideal republic, “for the acquisition of noble, harmonious, and
graceful attitudes.” Socrates urged it upon his pupils. Physicians of
the time of Aristophanes prescribed its rhythmic exercise for many
ailments. Lycurgus gave it an important place in the training of youth,
military and otherwise. Among the special dances whose teaching he
decreed, was one, the _Hormos_, that was traditionally performed without
clothing. Plutarch tells of a protest against the nudity of the women.
The Law-giver of Athens replied: “I wish them [the women] to perform the
same exercises as men, that they may equal men in strength, health,
virtue and generosity of soul, and that they may learn to despise the
opinion of the vulgar.”
[Illustration: FROM A FOURTH CENTURY VASE.
In the Louvre.]
Of great men’s dancing in public there are instances in abundance. The
very method of choosing the leaders of great civic choreographic
spectacles insured the association of people of consequence, for these
leaders were always selected from the highest rank of citizens.
Epaminondas, Antiochus, and Ptolemæus are variously mentioned for their
skill in dancing, as well as their prominence in national affairs.
Sophocles danced around the trophies of the battle of Salamis. Æschylus
and Aristophanes danced in various performances of their own plays. And
Socrates, one of the very fathers of human reasoning, danced among
friends after dinner. Aristides danced at a banquet given by Dionysius
of Syracuse. Anacreon, in his odes, declares that he is always ready to
dance.
Professional dancers enjoyed high prestige. Philip of Macedon had one as
a wife; the mother of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, was a dancer.
Aristodemus, a famous dancer of Athens, at one time was sent to the
court of Philip of Macedon as ambassador.
[Illustration: GREEK COMEDY DANCING.]
This chapter must not be understood as trying to represent that Athenian
civil life was given over to an endless round of choreographic
celebration; nor have the later chapters concerning the courts of the
Louis any intent to picture a set of beings whose minds were devoted to
dancing to the exclusion of all else. What is intended, however, is to
call attention to an important omission in the writings of the general
historian, who never has given dancing its due proportion of
consideration as a force in those and other high civilisations.
Literature and the graphic arts followed the coming of civilisation, and
are among its results; they have been analysed with all degrees of
profundity. The dance is, undoubtedly, among the causes of Greek vigour
of mind and body; but it is of far less concern to the average
historical writer than any disputed date. The microscopist charting the
pores of the skin knows nothing of the beauty of the figure. And the
grammarian’s myopic search for eccentricities of verb-forms atrophies
his ability to perceive the qualities of literature, until finally he
will try to convince his listeners that literary quality is, after all,
a subject for the attention of smaller minds.
Greek philosophy, mathematics, political and military science are part
of the structure of Occidental society--a good and useful part. Had the
importance of the dance been appreciated--had proper authority
recognised its inherent part in the Greek social organism--who can say
how much dulness, ugliness and sickliness of body and spirit the world
might have escaped? Folk-dancing has been introduced into the public
schools of certain cities; a movement too new to be judged. Let it be
neither praised nor censured until results have had time to assert
themselves. If at the end of ten years the children who have danced
their quota of minutes per day do not excel in freedom from nervous
abnormalities, the children who have not danced; if they fail to
manifest a better co-ordination of mind and body, and a superior power
of receiving and acting upon suggestion--then let public school dancing
be abolished as of no value beyond amusement and exercise.
[Illustration: STATUETTES.
From (A) Tanagra; (B) Myrina--now in the Louvre; (C) Tanagra
(disputed).]
Of recent years a good deal of ingenuity has gone into study of the
dances of classic Greece, with view to their re-creation. From paintings
on vases, bas-reliefs and the Tanagra statuettes has been gathered a
general idea of the character of Greek movement. The results have been
pleasing, and in Miss Duncan’s case radical, as an influence on
contemporary choreographic art. But, beautiful and descriptive as they
are, the plastic representations are of scattered poses from dances not
as a rule identified. If, therefore, present-day re-creations often fail
to show the flights of cumulative interest common in modern ballet,
Spanish and Slavonic work, the shortcoming is due at least in part to
the lack of explicit records of sequences of step, movement and
pantomimic symbol. For it is impossible to believe that the dance
composers of the age of Pericles did not equal their successors, even as
their contemporaries in the fields of sculpture, architecture and poetry
left work never yet excelled.
Of the names and motives of dances the record seems to be pretty
complete. Sacred, military and profane are the general categories into
which the very numerous Greek dances divide themselves. The sacred group
falls into four classes: the _Emmeleia_, the _Hyporchema_, the
_Gymnopædia_, and the _Endymatia_. Of these the two latter seem to have
been coloured by sentiments more or less apart from the purely
religious.
Of the _Emmeleia_, Plato records that some had the character of
gentleness, gravity and nobility suitable to the sentiments by which a
mortal should be permeated when he invokes the gods. Others were of
heroic or tragic aspect, emphasising majesty and strength. A
characteristic of this group was its performance without accompaniment
of chorus or voice. The origin of the group is attributed to Orpheus, as
a fruit of his memories of Colchis and Saïs.
The _Hyporchema_, equally religious, were distinguished by their use of
choral accompaniment. In some cases it might be more accurate to say
that the dances were an accompaniment to recited poetry; for in very
early times the dances seem to have been employed to personify, or
materialise, the abstractions of poetic metaphor. Both men and women
engaged in dances of this group, and its plane was of lofty dignity. In
it were the oldest dances of Greece, besides some composed by the poet
Pindar.
The _Gymnopædia_ were more or less dedicated to the worship of Apollo,
and were especially cultivated in Arcadia. As the name implies, the
performers were nude--youths wearing chaplets of palm. A material
character seems to have marked this group: Athenæus finds in it points
of identity with the _Anapale_, which is known to have been a pantomimic
representation of combat.
The _Endymatia_ crossed the border-line between the sacred and profane.
They were brightly costumed dances, and in demand for general
entertainment. In connection with this group we find the first allusion
to the highly modern institution of dancers’ “private
engagements”--professionals aiding in the entertainment of
dinner-parties. The Greek and Roman custom of seeing dancers instead of
listening to after-dinner speeches is too well known to justify more
than a mention.
These four groups are the fundamentals from which numberless other
dances were derived, to be variously dedicated to gods, public events,
abstract qualities, crops, and fighting. If no particular occasion
offered, people would dance for the good reason that they felt like it,
as Neapolitans dance the _Tarantella_ to-day. To the
[Illustration: _Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York_
GREEK RELIEF DECORATIONS]
[Illustration: _Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York_
GREEK CERAMIC DECORATIONS]
glory of Bacchus were the _Dionysia_; the _Iambic_ was sacred to Mars,
the _Caryatis_, a dance symbolising innocence, and danced nude, to
Diana. Hercules, Theseus, the daughters of Jupiter, Castor and Pollux
were so honoured--each dance having its special identification of
movement, meaning or costume.
[Illustration: STATUETTES.
From (A) Myrina; (B) Tanagra; (C) Myrina.]
Semirelated to the religious group were the dances of mourning. Unlike
certain modern dances of the same intent, these are not recorded as
having been primarily an individual’s pantomimic dance representing
qualities of the deceased, or illustrating his relations during life
with friends and family; although there was a time in which the
_cortège_ was headed by an individual dressed in the clothes of the
deceased, imitating his virtues and sometimes also his failings.
Regularly, however, the dancing was strictly ritualistic, forming a
solemn decorative concomitant of the vocal and instrumental music. (At
what point in his evolution did the Occidental determine that his
ritualistic expressions should be directed almost exclusively to the
ear?) A corps of fifteen girls danced before the funeral car, which was
surrounded by a band of youths. Naturally the brilliancy of the
function was more or less proportionate to the station and estate of the
departed.
On dances of war the Greeks relied as an important element in the
soldier’s training. In their pantomime the veteran lived over the
moments of combat, while his children and even his wife caught anew the
spirit of Hellenic arms.
Plutarch wrote: “The military dance was an indefinable stimulus which
inflamed courage and gave strength to persevere in the paths of honour
and valour.” It is still known that a body of men moving in step feel
fatigue distinctly less than when walking out of step. One of the things
learned by the long-distance runner, the wood-cutter, or any other
performer of continued work, is the importance of establishing as
quickly as possible a regular rhythmic relation between the separate
parts of a complete movement, including the intake and expulsion of
breath among those parts. Such a rhythm once established, movement
succeeds movement with something like momentum; the several steps, or
blows of the axe, do not each require a separate effort of the will.
Something of this was Plutarch’s “indefinable stimulus.”
Apart from efficiency of the individual, experience has shown that a
command moving “in time” is unified in the fullest sense, with each
soldier more or less perfectly proof against any impulse at variance
with the _esprit de corps_. To weld a number of men ever more closely
into the condition of a military unit is one of the purposes of drill.
Drill is in great part a matter of keeping in step. The Greeks carried
to a high pitch the unification of a military body in respect to all the
movements of attack and defence. History repeatedly records the
demoralisation of the enemy, carried by the assaults of the perfectly
organised Greek fighting bodies. But undoubtedly an important value of
the study for perfection of corps unity was the disciplinary effect on
the Greek soldier himself.
As a means toward such perfection, Greek law prescribed dancing for the
soldier. An obvious benefit from his practice of the art was the
advantage due to mere muscular exercise; and that in itself is no small
thing when the dance is performed in full armour, as the Greek soldier
performed it.
Authorities classify the military dances as _Pyrrhic_ and _Memphitic_;
but the division seems hardly essential, since the meagre technical
descriptions draw no distinct line between the two groups. In both,
performers carried sword or spear and shield. The movements brought in
the manœuvres of individual combat--cutting and thrusting, parrying,
dodging and stooping. That they might be carried to a degree of realism
is indicated in a description by Xenophon. At the end of a mimic combat
between two Thracians, at the conclusion of which the victor sang a song
of victory and possessed himself of the vanquished man’s weapons, the
spectators cried out with emotion, believing that the fallen man was
killed.
Of the words “Pyrrhic” and “Memphitic,” the latter seems to connote a
performance less insistent on the element of combat. To Minerva is
credited the origin of the _Memphitic_ group, legend having it that the
goddess of wisdom composed these dances to celebrate the defeat of the
Titans. The usual accompaniment was the flute, according with the idea
of comparative tranquillity. Both styles were danced by women; special
fame for proficiency was given to the vigorous daughters of Sparta,
Argos, and Arcadia, and to the Amazons.
Pantomime was important in most Greek dances. Greek writers interested
themselves in an effort to trace pantomime to its origin; but they were
not very successful, because they went no further back than the
demigods. Whereas sign-talk, if inference may be drawn from savages,
antedates spoken language--which is beside the point of the present
sketch.
Pantomime artists of Greece were of various ranks, according to the
plane of thought represented in their work. _Ethologues_ represented
moralities, or [Greek: upotheses]; they “depicted the emotions and the
conduct of man so faithfully, that their art served as a rigorous
censorship and taught useful lessons,” writes De l’Aulnaye, in _De la
Saltation Théâtrale_. They were not only artists, but philosophers of a
moral standard of the utmost height and purity: the poems of one of
them, Sophron of Syracuse, were among the writings kept at hand by Plato
during his last hours. [Greek: Thumelikoi] were pantomimists of lesser
rank, whose work was principally comedy of a farcical nature--though the
word seems to have the primitive meaning of “chorister.”
Rich in scope was the Greek stage; and, until later days, generally high
in plane. For its effects it drew upon poetry, music, dancing, grouping
and posing. Little is known of the music; re-creations of it (how
authoritative the authors do not know) are simple and melodious, with no
attempt at grandeur. But in the other departments, what veritable gods
in collaboration! Euripides, Aristophanes, and Æschylus are of those who
supplied texts. Sculptors whose works are no less perishable gave their
knowledge to grouping and posing. Of the merit of the performers there
is no adequate record, for lack, among other things, of an explicit
choreographic terminology. (This deficiency was first made up in the
French language, after the organisation of the National Academy of Music
and Dancing, in the seventeenth century.) What is known, however, is
that dancing was considered a proper medium of expression of great
motives, and that great-minded artists chose it as a career; not in
spite of a public condescension to it, but with the support of a
profound public respect.
[Illustration: DANCE OF NYMPHS.
From an antique frieze in the Louvre.]
Accuracy of rhythm is of an importance obvious to grades of intelligence
far below that of the Greeks. They laid stress no less on what may be
called rhythmic quality than on mere emphasis of tempo. A time-marker
was provided with an assortment of sandals soled with metal or wood of
various thicknesses; by means of these he produced sounds consistent
with the changing sentiments of the action. (Compare the modes of
getting varied sounds from castanets, in chapter on Spanish dancing.)
Castanets, too, were used in Greece, essentially the same as those of
Spain to-day; also flat sticks in pairs, like clappers, but which
unlike clappers were gripped between the thumb and fingers. Little
cymbals on the dancers’ hands sometimes added their voice, and the
tambourine was popular. The variety of these time-marking instruments
indicates knowledge of the many effects attainable by tempo alone.
Indeed a reading of the poets emphasises this: their selection of words
for sound as well as meaning will force even a mediocre reader into an
observance of the author’s intention of ritard and accelerando, legato
and staccato, emphasis and climax. Associated with ballet production, as
the ablest poets were, it may be taken as assured that the devices of
tempo were made familiar to dancers--unless it was the dance that taught
the metre to the poets.
Masks were worn to identify character; but their primary function
appears to have been the concealment of a sound-magnifying device to
carry the voice through the great spaces of out-door theatres. Women’s
parts in the ballets were played by men at least frequently; whether the
reverse was a conspicuous exception is also uncertain. Both usages were
destined to survive in pantomime through centuries. Objection to the
mask always was overruled by authority; the Greek play was such an
irreproachable organism that deviation from its accepted formulas was
deemed an impious and dangerous heresy. In the eighteenth century a
premier danseur’s absence put a French ballet director temporarily at
the mercy of the second dancer, a young radical, who refused to “go on”
wearing a mask.[A] Not until then was the mask tradition disturbed.
[A] See also page 101.
Though exact data of the steps of popular dances are lacking, literary
allusions record dance names and general character in great number. A
complete catalogue of them would offer little inspiration to the lay
student or the professional; no more than a hint of their broad scope is
necessary. Dances suggesting the life of animals were plentiful. Some
were underlaid with a symbolic significance, as that of the crane, the
bird’s confused wanderings representing the efforts of Theseus to find
his way out of the labyrinth, the legend in its turn probably having
some relation to life and the tricks it plays on its possessors. The fox
was a favourite subject, and the lion was not overlooked. Though the
author of _Chanticler_ may have been the first to avail himself of the
grotesqueries of poultry, the Greeks danced owls and vultures. Similar
to the Oriental _Danse du Ventre_ was the _Kolia_, probably brought
across from Egypt. Another suggestion of North Africa was known in Greek
language as the _Dance of Spilled Meal_--what more reasonable than to
infer that it was the same in scheme as the _Flour Dance_ of present-day
Algeria? The flour or meal that identifies this performance is spread on
the floor, and a more or less involved design traced in it. What follows
is interesting chiefly as a test of a species of virtuosity: the
dancer’s object is, in her successive turns across and about the design,
to plant her feet always within the same spaces, the loose meal exposing
any failure. Rapidity of tempo and involution of step may raise the
difficulties to a point beyond the reach of any but the most skilful.
The children’s game of Hop-scotch is a degenerated kinsman of the dance
in and over a design.
There were dances of satyrs and goats, nymphs, monkeys, gods and
goddesses, flowers, grapes and the wine-press. Combat was rendered into
poetry in the _Spear Dance_, the _Fight with the Shadow_ ([Greek:
skiamachia]), the fights with shields, with swords. There were
“rounds,” performed by an indefinite number of people joining hands in a
ring; traces of these are said to survive as peasant dances of the
Greece of to-day. There were solos, _pas de deux_ and _pas de quatre_.
Pythagoras made a period of dancing a part of the daily routine of his
pupils, _Hymeneia_ were danced to help celebrate a well-conducted
wedding. Prayers, sacrifices and funerals, as stated before, were
incomplete without their several and special dances.
Movement no less than speech is a vehicle for satire, wit, sensuality
and indecency. Theophrastus, with the intent of showing the degree of
shamelessness to which erring humanity may fall, tells of a man who
performed a dance called the _Cordax_ without the excuse of being drunk
at the time of the deed. Covering a wide range of light motives was the
_Sikinnis_, the word being applied both to a certain dance and to a form
of satirical mimo-drama. In the latter sense it burlesqued the politics,
philosophy and drama of the day. As all peoples divide themselves into
masses and classes on lines of taste as well as of money, so also
eventually the Athenians. In the hands of the Athens rabble--catered to
perhaps by ancestors of certain twentieth-century managers--the
_Sikinnis_, as a satire, fell into the slough of vulgarity.
As a dance it may be thought of as a favourite of that Alcibiades type
of youth in whom education has not depressed Arcadian frivolity. How
such a one vexed the solemnity of a court is the subject of an anecdote
compiled by Herodotus. Clisthenes, king of Sicyon, in order to marry his
daughter to the greatest advantage, decided to settle the selection of
her husband by competition. The invitation met with due interest on the
[Illustration: _Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York_
TANAGRA FIGURES
To face page 20]
part of the rich and the great. Suitors came from far and near, among
them two from Athens. An ominous circumstance, for “Attic salt” was out
of the same barrel as the “_sal de Andalucia_” of to-day; both have the
record of becoming operative immediately on exposure to any air of
oversolemnity.
After days of regal festivity, Clisthenes dedicated a hecatomb to the
gods, gave a final banquet, and announced that the suitor-selecting
competition would be along the lines of music and poetry. When it came
to the turn of Hippoclides, one of the two Athenians, he asked that a
table be brought in. On this he mounted, stood on his hands, and traced
the figures of a _Sikinnis_ in the air with his feet!
Until the king’s temper was quite gone, the performance was received in
silence. Herodotus supposed that Hippoclides interpreted the silence as
encouragement; but Herodotus very clearly did not know that kind of boy.
The polished though inverted youth on the table was estimating the
horror among his worthy spectators, and luxuriating.
Greece, with her fine simplicity of thought, furnished the pattern on
which was cut the civilisation of early Rome; Greek art, the concrete
expression of her lofty thought, furnished Rome a model. Which model
Rome followed until loot and tribute provided her with means to express
the taste that was her own.
[Illustration: GREEK COMEDY DANCING.]