The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-03
NINE. DELSARTE BEGINS.
PHYSICAL CULTURs THE REIGN.
ING SOCIAL SENSAT ON.

ING SOCIAL SENSAT ON.
The Eldest D .ugatsr Of Frances Apos-
tie Of Eshetic Movement Appears
in the Draw nR Hoom-What viii
IAN Blsikie, Jenness KILLER and Ed
win CAeckley Say about the Pres
ent Status of Physical Training.
NEW YORK, Jan. 2.-Fhysical culture is
one Of the fads that have come to stay with
Us for some time. This became obvious q
good while ago, but nothing gave the fact
greater emphasis than the arrival the other
day Of Mime. Marie Grady Delsarte.
Everybody has heard that Nine. Delsarte
is the eldest daughter Of the famous Del
sarte; that after her fathers death she pre-
sided over the old Delsarte house at the cor
ner Of the Boulevard Conrcelles and Pare
Ionceau, in Paris, until after She became
successful in art; that she and her sister
| Medelaine have both exhibited in the Salon;
that Madelaine is one Of the instructors in
the Julian school where Marie
BeshkirtseH was a pupil, and that
/ Marie Delsar.e is very interesting il
not a very highly gifted singer. But every
body has not mad the opportunity to know
/ That Nine. DelsarJe IS a woman of remark
/ ably fasclnatirg appearance. She IS not
I beautiful, but sae Is charming. Somebody
| has sud she lOoKs Ike Sarah Bernhardt
! he resemblance is not readily detected.
| For one thing, she is very dark, with a
! plenty OF dark brown hair. She is very
French in appearance. OF course the chief
living exponent of Deisartism Las q finely
| modulated voice. OF course her walk is a
! poem Of motion. OF course, being French,
| she complacently does not speak English
and you have 70 chat with her in the best
| French yeu have and, being American,
| your French is probably very bad, almost
as bad as II you were English.
Nine Dolsarte will be occupied for a
c2nsderabisIsnne IN te9ing Us what Delsar-
tlsin is not. Un9tRlD.e tly much that is
laid at Delsarte's door by modern teachers
| Of physical culture and elol utlon is very
VIDE or the mark the distinguished iustruc-
tor aimed TO hit. Nine. Deisarte has already
found that her fathers teachings are be-
Ing worry widely caricatured here; that
scores of fantastic ideas have been grated
upon the original stem Of the Delsarte
theory. She has come to correct our
notions on these points Sac
has come 70 tell US that her fathers theorIss
have II re TO do with the art Of dramatic
expression than with physical culture, but
she promises 20 show also how intimate is
the relationship between the two arts.
Genevieve Slebbins says that what Comte
has done for exact science, Buckle AID Mill
for history, Spencer for culture and Ruskin
for painting, Delsarte has tried to do for
actlou.' After having taught Rachel,
Son az, Pasca, MonsaUro and other stage
stars, Deisa-te died in 1871.
Steele Mackaye began the Desarte furore
In thus country good many years ago. Dol
sarte's daughter stas begun a ew crusade
upon the aesthetic impulses. Her first pri-
yate appearances in New York have excited
much curiosity. Her dresses are not sur
prislng, yet they possess a distinctive charm.
She prefers very low tones. She is never
bizarre IN anything.
A few lines will explain Mime. Delsarte's
system as It applies to physical culture AID
III those respects which may be communi-
Gated without teacher. The system begins
with a series OF exercises to attain flexibility
in the body. "DeeompOsing exercises" these
are called. The preliminary "aathetic
gymnastics" are divided into twelve
departments, as follows: Fingers.
hand, forearm, entire arm he'd, torso,
foot, lower leg, entire leg, entire
body. eyelids, lower jaw. In the first
exercise, for instance, the pupil is in
structed to ''let she fingers fall from
knuckles as il dads in that condition shake
them. Vital force should stop at knuckles."
This "deeomposss" the fiaGers. In the same
way the head is treated drop the head
w WAC HANV htCpiIl DNbGtt, ~ VIII gradually
describe half circle, moving from its own
weight As you have seen persons asleep
noddlng. In the second suageo of the less 9ns,
after bhe pupil has learned To "decomposen
| comes the training in harmonic poiss Of
bearing Then comes the relations
Of the principle Of trinity" to thought and
action, and after that vital DIVISION
treating OF the different physical
| elements. After this Mme Delsarto carries
her pupils into the moral division" In
which the pupil learns, for instance, that
the torso has three divisions: The mental
zoue-the seat Of conscience, honor. man
hood and womanhood moral zone-seat Of
the affections; vital 2one-seat of the appe-
tltes. The science Of expression now begins
TO unfold and take on complications. The
training OF expression In the eye alone Is on
the most scientific basis. Nine Delsarte
follows strictly the teachings aud
Technology CT her father in de-
| soriblug the ampification OF expression
in the eye. This terms "norrno4
concentric, "conCsntro eccentric "excen-
| tro-normal and so on, are bewildering to
the bt ginners or the onIookers, but soon be-
gin to mean something. Tue nose is made
eloquent by the mere shadow Of wrinkle.
| Senslbllity, ayr SSion, senSuousness and
other phases are Illustrated by the nostrils
and wrinkles over the nose. The mouth
naturally affords field for profound
sbuuy. he study or pautOnime"
leads the way to the voice, Of
which Delsarte made a deep study.
Mime. Delsarte, here as elsewhere, takes ocos-
sion to illustrate her fathers theory by per
sonal effort. Her father wrote number
of songs for her that he might m them and
through her voice illustrate the theories of
vocal exp. ession. the few who have been
admitted to Ame-, Besarte's salon chats
since she stepRedk@3 ha, 6fascoigee last week
say that to hear her sing is an experience
| of q notable kind. But few peonle are
likely to hear Mne Delsarte sing. Like her
father, she Is extremely independent in her
way.
II Nine. Delsarte is to touch physical
culture on the highly aesthetic, the elocu-
! tionary and the musical sides, Jenness- Mil
Ter is getting at it on the side Of dress. Jen-
ness-M Miller started out upon tho line of dress
reform pure aad simple. Her sister, Mabel
Jenness, took up physical culture. Mabel
JenneSs succeeded better than her sister.
| Women liked the fundamental ideas of
| physical training better than they did the
Ideas OF dress reform. What Mrs Miller
! said IN her lectures about beautfying the
form and tho connie Vim troh r,,cra