Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-14
DANCES FOR ALL THE WORLD
They are all Pantomimic, and Mean
Love, Worship, War or Fun.

Love, worship, war or FUN.
''The growth in popularity of the cotillou /
regard as a most welcome symptom of progress
upward in the dance Of modern days" said
fashionable dancing master 70 STAB reporter
the other day. 'As a matter of fact, the
dances Of the nineteenth century, though more
varied in their character now than for long
time past, are far inferior as expressions Of the
terpsichorean art to those Of the ancients.
The Greeks Of old, indeed, regarded the dance
much more as an art than as an amusement.
By them it was developed to greater perfec-
ton than has ever been known before or since.
dare say you are not aware that the most
beautiful figure employed in the german today
Is simply a reproduction Of the famous
years ago, or nearly. The notion il Is intended
to express is that of the famous 'clew' Of
Thescus, by which Ariadne led the hero
through the labyrinth where lurked the Mino-
taur. In the dance, as originally performed.
one pretty girl was chosen a leader. and the
other dancers, first youth and then a maiden,
linked together with handkerchief which rep
resented the clew, followed her about with
graceful rythmic steps.
DANCES SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING.
at seems to me-" suggested The STAR writer,
''that waltzing is much better fun"
Doubtless. That is one great trouble about
modern dances, that they have for their object
simply amusement and not primarily grace of
motion or the representation of an idea. They
are solely practiced for the enjoyment of those
participating and not at all for the entertain
ment of the spectators. The best that one sees
IN the way of freshly accepted fashionable
dance in these days is a new sort of hop skip
and jump, with kick at the end perhaps, ut
terly meaningless and frequently ungraceful.
Now, this is all wrong, for the dance should be
always pantomime expressing something. II
Is the very essence of the dance theory that it
shall be pantomimic. 1t may be religious,
erotic, martial or comic; but it must have u
meaning. The waltz is satisfactory in this one
respect at any rate; 1T is an undisguised love
dance. The ancient Greeks had love dances,
TOO; but they would have been Mortified at the
notion Of love dance that permitted the
actual physical contact OF the sexes even to
the point OF a continued embrace"
so you really think the waltz immoral?"
mot at all. simply mean to say that from
the ancient Greek point Of view our manner
OF dancing would be thought excessively I'M
proper. But then the Greek notion of pro-
prlety was different from ours altogether.
For instance, their young men we're accustomed
to appear at the contests in manly exercises
without stitch OF clothing on, although all
the women folks were present as spectators,
and nothing was thought of il. These people
VINO have so much to say about the immortality
OF Waiting merely indulge nasty ideas; pure
minded young people are not accustomed to
entertain srch morbid thoughts when partici-
patlng In this harmless amusement, as certain
supposedly pious and virtuous persons seem
disposed to imagine. l read whole book a
while ago on the immortality of the waltz en-
Titled The Dance of Death and the impress
sion got from Its perusal was that the author
mad managed to collect from his diseased
imagination more foul ideas than l had ever be-
fore seen gathered together in a lump. And
yet the volume was highly Endorsed by many
eminent and sanctifed authorities"
RELIGION AND THE DANCE.
Civilized people do not employ religious
dances, do they2"
ITO some extent In the Roman Catholic
churches of Seville, in Spain, during services
OF unusual solemnity, young boys dance to joy
ful music. OF all religious dances the most
beautiful was that performed i'll ancient times
by the maldens OF Carya in honor Of Diana.
The attitudes of the young girls who bore on
their heads flower baskets which they fteadied
with one uplifted hand has been perpetuated
by art In the 'caryatid.' The Christians of
Abyssnia have religious dances and the Ameri-
can Shakers likewise. The most remarkable
love dance ever invented is the 'nautch dance
which had its origin in southern Asia goodness
knows how many thousands of years ago, its
movements portraying In graceful pantomime
the progress OF a courtship. 1t became popu-
lar i'll Europe long before the Christian era,
was fashionable i'll Rome under the empire and
is found at this day in Spain under the name
OF the fandango. 1t is related that once upon
time the holy inquisition of Spain deter
mined that the fandango should be abolished
and all the professional dancers in the country
burned to death at the stake. But one of the
clergymen present at the trial of the wicked
ones suggested that it might be good idea to
see what this internal dance was like before
the sentence was executed and, consent of the
council Of judges having been obtained two
celebrated female dancers were brought in
and requested to give an exhibition of their
skill. This they did and with astonishing eff
feet, for they had hardly begun their perform
apce when the judges, whose austerity was not
proof against the ravshment of the spectacle,
rose mechanically to their feet and soon the
whole consistory joined with the utmost activ-
ity in the dance. The result was that the pris-
oners were pronounced acquitted, the inqusi-
ton withdrew its ban from the fandango and
this highly seductive exercise is today the ma
tional dance of Spain"
FUNNY SAVAGE cApERs.
"How about savage dances?"
"Some Of them are very curious. all being
pantomimic in one way or another. A good
specimen of the primitive war dance is the
Fee-Jee club dance. Savages frequently imi-
tate in their dances the movements of animals
The native Australians have kangaroo dance
the North American Indians, buffalo dance
and the kamschatkans, bear dance The
most remarkable of known dances is that of the
natives of New South Wales, who skip around
the camp fire at night, their arms and legs
painted longitudinaiiy with broad white
stripe, and their ribs indicated likewise, SO as
to make them look like so many skeletons as
they leap about in the fitful freight, vanishing,
reappearing and vanishing again. The vanish
ing process is accomplished by simply turning
their backs to the fire, the stripes being in
front. The effect is said to be exceedingly
weird and ghostly. Perhaps the most extra
ordinary instance Of mimicry in dancing is to
be found in New Zealand, where the natives,
who are exceedingly fond of the sea, initiate in
their movements the uneasy motion of the
waves The art of dancing is well worth cul-
tivating as a preparation for the next world IN
asmuch as st. Basil says that it will be the
chief occupation in heaven, and SO it will be
well to practice 1t on earth"
The Literary Vanderbilt
Kansas City Stars New York Letter.