The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-12
THE BALLET.

weep alonel
THE BALLET.
Concerning Nudity and 1ndecency'
We. copy the following from recent article
In Blackwood:
Itcannot be asserted by the severest moral
ist that the ballet, though It par.shes oa ine
indecent or immodest, and that it may not re
made fhe source OF much limo :ent and rehned
.aninSrnent. II is q mistake, too, to suppose
fhst the ballet has exclusive attracuons for
man. Educated and accomplished women.
both Young and old, love to see handsome
girl, handsomely dressedor draped. d'spaying
herself in the graceful igures and movements
of the dance, upon the same principle that they
admire picture, poem, flower, tree, q
landscape, or anything in the works OF God OF
nan: that appeals TO the sense Oh peau
", proportion and harmony. And II one
such young woman Il Deautno! s,smt, aS
fifty or q hundred or more OF s9cn
,yofnset,s dressed alike, or slightly. differing
3nr aha contrast OF color, are par! pdsSu,
ha.ntifui spectacle, when t.cyy perform ther
rrrstions and evolutlone upon the stage, and
Father by gesture nor sign nor suGSestioH
convey or seek to convey, to tho mind OF the
heh6Ider any impression but that which springs
from the Legitimate exercise OF their art. 1he
scanty drapery Of the ballet. girls, Wnen noe
carried to the extreme that s99gesIs-hott 't
dsucina. or the ease and grace OF dancing, put
snrHetf,ing slse-is no offence either against
16Odestyio or good manners. Yet ever since tne
DAYS of Martial, and perhaps long before, the
Prf1aes' Puritans and sterner moransts oI so-
ciety have seen in the public dance means tos
the corruption Of public manners through tne
eye, which they have never wearleo eae ~ ~ tbe ue
spectator, from which extract has already
been made, has good-natured hng 81
the' stage dancers of his day wnen oal-
,at vss ss vet unknown. ST." he says, who
know nothing Of women but from seeing pisys,
car Efye great guesses at the WHOLE ssI iaSn ue.o
M fha fair ssS By being innocently placeo IN
Ma MA and insuited by the petticoats OF the
dsncersr-the advantages Of whose pretty per-
smS arel a great help to Q dull play. IT 'os'
fnme OF tbs modern ballet of thirty years ago,
Wb06 ,Ysgh6ni'S graceful skirts barely dlspiay.
ed the knes, was objected to by the prudes OF
buth- h-ssxes: ID spite, however, o. oD!ectiIns, ! ss
Continued TO grow in popularity, and the ssists
al the dancers 70 grow less: and such enter
tsinrne,ts hsy4 spread from tbs Italian opera
ho1sas 10 the great. and afterward to1he minor
fhaatrea. and, fihxlly, have invaded and taken
possession Of the music halls.
.lBaileyis lovely statue OF Eve at the foun-
tain. xica there ls not sne 81 ,be divine
form. fresh from the hands OF the Creator, ls
purity itself; aud any one who sees lmpurlty m
ft has the impurity in his own heart. In the
ssme manner, there is no lndecacy IN the dis.
pley OF the pretty bare legs OF little maldens OF
from four or flve years old, or In me Daie leet
md ankles Of the bonny Scotch lasses, inuo,
cerIt alike of shoes and stockinS and OF evil
intAnt. though there would be iadecency In the
iisplsy Of naked leg and foot in the streets
Of London or Edinburgh by full grown DAM
sells, who made the DISPLAY for meretrlcfous
purpose. There are statues and statuettes
tSbe seem Ill over Europe in which nuouy 10
as complete as 1t is beautiful; 6pt wnen sucn
statues or statuettes are initiated by purYeyor Dts
Oelobscenity, and crowpei with modern Don,
nets vrapped in o modarn shawl, and encased
Il, modern stockings, and nothlog else, tneiI
vlle Intention becomes apparent, ana tney !an
properly upd,r the cognlzance OF the pouce.
ms disphy la not Indecent per- Sc, as wnen an
actress Of high attainments and genius; IN ue.
fsult OF, an actor OF. tFuthfulness and talent
efouef, 70 undertake the part, appears as Ho-
meo: sny. more than it.is indicate or impro-
per Tor man TO hide the form by appearing IN
oetticoStS TO 'pixy fhepart Of one OF the witches
In Macbeth. = Ther erintention 10 everything, lust
as il is in killing. II you intend to XII, you
area murderer. and deserve .ne 81. @G,aefer ;n ;nos
and patriotic Icauss--like a. soldier-you are
not blamable, but virtuous. In like manner,
the s,anty drapery Of the ballet for the purpo-
ses Of art, and art alone, Ia no offence against
good tsste o. good maeners; but i the bullet
Of sttfxcting4 lexd attention overdoes the
the sesntiness and betrags the lmmodesty OF
her mind BY her moti9ns Or gestures, she
commfts an offence and ought 70 be hissed
from the stage which she diBgraces.
II st any place Of pdblic entertainment: the
undress OF women is Of, @ charactar 70 deter
men from Introducing their pure.minded moth
performance, such place Of entertainment is
doomed topapiruptcy. IL may drag on pre-
caTious existence for awhile, by keeping within
hair 's-brsadth Of the penalties Of the law that
prohibits tia iimmo6est exposure OF the per-
son; bpt tho yoyl9 and, the worlds opinion are
agaf4T II, and Il nauss &c. the Way ., su
saach hfopisms and offences against the puonc
copeeisnes, Bat let Us not. IN tne oatery
against short pettacoats. SommS NIL .ress4n req ~
f6e eratific .tion OF the sense OF beauty. An
trnS ~ ia like muaic-it cannot be indecene
or imnroper in itself, and Ia only made so
bv the extraneous association OF words ana
thoughts that come out OF the mind OF tne o9-
server. and not out OF the Things opss5veo'
vTo the pure all thipgs are pure" "lu dauc-
inc. % saws Sir Richard Steele, ''all the charms
Of an agreeable person are in their highest ex-
erciss: M every limb and feature appears with it's
reflective grace As all ,rt Is an imitation OF ma
tnre. so this is an in. tation OF nature In lts
highest excellence. tt. business OF dancing
is to display beauty, and for that reason an aus
tortion and mimicries, as such, are what raise
aversion in.tead Of pleasure.
The dan ,ers on our stage are very faulty IN
this hind; and what they mean by wr1t6lng
themselves into such posture3 ss 1t would De
q pain tor any one Of the spectators to stand
in, and yet hope to please those spectators, Is
mintelheible." And it is in this resp ct that
reform IN, in our day, still more needfol than
It was in the days when Addison and steele
were the srbiters Of taste and the high priests