St. Landry democrat., 1879-06-28

think me ridiculous to wish for the
benefit of exercise as necessary TO the
health of the body as to the elegance Of
deportmsnt." remember not long ago
hearing the Rev. Dr., q ~----
Presbyterian church, deliver a-sermon
against "the practice of the light tantss-
tic" Among other things, he said,
"No man OF greatness of mind has
ever been a dancer" Most of his
points were we'll taken, only enc
felt arising. Quaker fashion, and
combating ais statements from another
view of the case-what an advantage
this getting up in meeting and talking
back" 8 privilege wag once conceded
to the Episcopal church because of the
responses. Cato was wise nan, and
notwithstanding his austere and method
ical manners, did not disdain to dance
sitter he was sixty years old, finding a
pleasure in practicing in his age what he
had learned in his youth. A host of
ancient writers have also commended it,
while Addison and Locke, the former
under the title of the "Tsttler," and
the latter in en essay on /" EducatiOu,"
both Gignifed dancing as useful bodily
exercise, an i1ofensive relaxation, being
Of the opinion that when the body is in
motion the mind rePo*es itself, the
figure, the steps, the movements of the
dance being equally amusing to the
spectator ana the dancer. Dancing
seems to have been the origin of the
drama. Among the first mentioned in
history were the" Mysteries ~ and q No,
ralities," two religious plays ct the
rudest character, the "Mysteries being
representations partly in pautonaime
and dialogue, and TAX from some we'll
known incident related in the bible, and
the Moralities" sort Of discussion
and enforcement Of religious doc
trire or noral truth by allegorical per.
sonsges. At first they we're performed
almost entirely in the churches upon
scafolds, erected icr the purpose, some
what in the form Of g small theatre, and
! divided from the altar, much ss may be
seen to this day in the churches Of St.
| Clement and St. Pancras at Rome.
There, in imitation of the Levites Of cid,
the clergy jo4ed with the people in reli-
gious dances Indeed, cur ancestors
seemed to have really enjoyed the priyi-
lege of going to q cathedral and seeing
satan and an archbishop dancing horn
pipe with the Seven Deadly Sins aud
the Five Cardinal Virtues. In aome
parts OF France as late as tee seventeenth
century it WAS still the custom for the
priests and people to join in the dance
of the churc=,, and to sing, instead of
the Gloria P4tria, these lines:
Oh, pray far us, good St. Marcsn,
Whilst We trip it along with you.
In a!l the ancient religions priests
were dancers by education, because
dancing wac considered by al nations in
the world as ore OF the most essential
parts of tie worship paid to the
D.ity. This: idea OF dramatic aud
allegorical dancing is still carried Oh
in most of. the theatres in Italy,
frequently the ballet Of an opera
occupying at least one-half OF
the evenings performance. They are
more like rhSthmical psntomimes OF
mytholoeicals fantastic, warlike or pas
toral character than our ordinsry ballet
of to-day, WINCH seems to have become
unfaithjul to ats original design and to
its true artistic significance and to con-
tent itself wif1 exhibiting mere teats Of
ability, distortions OF the person to almost
acrohatic dexserity, and Il e balancing o.
the figure in sttitudes sometimes, to say
the lesst, uneracetul. 1t was not until
the seTenteelth century that women
made their appearance in bsllets, in
plays OF operas. Up to this time men
had been tie exclusive perf9rmers,
though durin, the reign OF Eiizabeth the
dance OF "Ti=e Mysteries is spoken OF
as having been performed in fer own
household a4l By her attendant ladies,
the queen not disdaining to take
part in it herself. They represented
the ten Virgins mentioned in the
gospel, some OF them having their
lamps we'll trimmed and burning,
Others without oil Or light and begging
both o; the former, so that if women did
not dance in public before the ssyen-
teenth century they certainly had their
little hops and skips. IN France snd
Italy, however, social dancing at this
time was considered quite inelegaat,
most of it being performed or the
amusement of guests by professional
dancers and not by the guests them
selves. On one occasion Louis XII.
danced at s court entertainment; ss
likewise did Louis XIV. il his youth:
both OF whiGh extraordinary exploits
were OF suffc@eo5 importance TO entit2e
them to special historical mention.
Having professional dancers at enter
tainments is still common among the
eastern nations. IN Egypt there are
dancing and singing girls, called Almeh,
who are especially educated for This
vocation. NJ festival could be complete |
without tneiE sttsndanca They were