New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-03-06
TUR IUMORdLITY.

Here in New-York, the gods have not voucli-
safed to us Lord Chamberlain. Public opin-
"ionp is the only censor to which oar Crummleses
bend the knee. 1t is barely possible that mere
some theater might give spectacle so grossly
and shamclessly indecent that the metropolitan
Police would be obliged to interfere; but this IS
noint upon which we must confess, from past
experience, that we have grave doubts. what
the people hero want to to see. they generally
do see, provided they can make satisfactory
pecuniary arrangement with the m0ney-taker'
What they have SEEM rushed in crowds to see,
fought, struggled, pushed, jostled and iiustied
each other in the lobby to see, it is unnecessary
for us particularly to explain. 1t is to be hoped
that the reign of theatrical pruriency 10 well
nigh over, but enough Of it remains to Ill us
with shame and self-contempt. Critically, stage
dancing il of no value whatever; If, indeed,
worse than worthless, unless 1t is dramatically
good. and has o well-defned dramatic purpose.
How can it be any pleasure to q man oil taste
to see q crookedlegged, scrawny, ana grinning
creature, bobbing about most uncertainty pre-
tending to do what was so beautifully done by
Elsler, Taglioni, or Cerito, and exposing her
ncapacty, not at every step, for she can take
no steps, but ut every hop and shamblef For
some reason real beauty is not common upon
the stagc-perhaps it is not very common any
where but it rather enhances the ugllness OF
the corps dballet that it assumes the airs OF
the most superb aud ravishing loneliness We
mark the abbreviated habiliments, and mildly
Whispering Wherefore 7" to our neighbor. wo
90 on without calling for ga check" 1t
would have been so much pleasanter if the
| ~ ~. l,gh or,uloftuO n nair of tonga
had been just little longer kirtled! Once for
all. IL should be remembered that this unpleas-
mt scantiness OF raments has nothing to do
with the yeritable Terpsichorean grace. There
| could be nothing finer than Mile. Fanny
Elsler's Minuet dc la Cour, which she danced In
a dress with train five yards long, while the
mingled dignity and vivacity of her perform
ance were worth more than oil tho graceful
gymnastics of her other exhibitions. lmmodesty
Is the peculiar vice OF the modern school OF dan
cling. The Italian performers in London, in the
last century. would have been shocked it asked
To appear in the dresses OF their calling now
In vogue. In collections of theatrical prints,
we find the Indies Of that period very pref
tly and rather modestly clothed We hear
much Of the "degradation,p the "dcgeneracy."
and the downfall" of the drama; and we
hear much which is not, in any sense, true.
There are theaters, we admit, in which
indicate dancing is the principal attraction;
but the ballet, in its best estate, is but
minor and rather unmportant form OF
the dramatic art. 1t is not true, either,
that Shakespeare has been driven from the
stage by saltatOry women. His best plays are
frequently given to large audiences, and with
great ability. II is true, however, that there
are theaters which are full of glittering shame
lessness, of hardened immodesty, and of coarse
and vicious spectacle II is for the paying
| Public to suppress these. and this can easily
be done. not by writing letters, but by staying
resolutely away.