The morning call., 1893-05-28
Ga,va>rJ S Rogels~.
DIXEY ON DANCING.
The Stage Stepper's Art at Its Very
Best

The first great feat It dancing for the Stage Is
not TO learn a step or series of steps, but TO
acquire perfect pOse, which confidence In
ones own powers alone can give. The best
method that l know OF to get this ease In bal
ancIng ones self Is 10 lake six months course
OF The rudments in fencing, In which the pupil is
made TO stand lightly on the ball of either foot
changing from one 10 The other as occasion may
require. Fencing lessons Will also give one the
supplenesS Of the torso, which is absolutely in-
dispensable to graceful dancing. and which has.
until OF late years, been entirely ignored both
by The italian ballet dancers aud th oId-style
jig and clog dancers. No one who has seen the
latter, more particularly eau fail TO have no
ttced and possibly laughed at the stiff position
OF a clog dancer, as II lie had poker up his
back. The skirt dance was the first move in
the light direction In stage dancing and most
of the styles that have followed of the serpen-
tine order are only improvements on IT. The
acrObaiic effects of splits. quadrines and jerky
walk-arounds are, 10 my mind, as far removed
from real dancing as was the clog or jig.
Graceful dancing should, | think. combine
dainty steps and movements OF the body.
think that the highest type of woman dancer
will come from some oriental country, where
graceful, sensuous posturiues and posings OF
the body are now considered the correct thing
But he feet must be taught pretty steps. such
the French excel In. A perfect daucer
should have the torso of N Egyptian anc the
legs and feet OF a French woman.
The French and Italian male dancers are
anything but graceful to my notion They are
merely animated jumping jacks, with acrobatic
tendencies, except when they do the groiesque
which is difficult: but not graceful For my
part l could not dance In tile grOtrsque fashion;
| love to dance too well 1t Is a pleasure to me
reveI in the lights and the beautiful surround
ings and whether the music Is in what Is caiied
dance time or not it seems 10 inspire me with
a feeling OF airiness that 1t Is impossible to de-
scribe. could dance to fugue or 4 Jig, 10
wedding march or waltz, and change from
one 10 the other without any difficulty what
ever.
here is ons thing absolutely certain, and
that is that neither men nor women can be
really graceful aud artistic dancers unless they
are we'll formed, and unless all the muscles Of
the legs and back, and even OF the neck arms
and hands, are trained to the supplepess and
almost the firDness OF the prize fighter as he
goes into the ring Perhaps the best way to
explain my own method aud style of dancing Is
to say that don't think l ever dance twice in
precisely the same way.
newspaper man who has cultivated his
habit of observation for a long time viii better
understand what mean when be lemen NJ bers
that ofientimeS when he starts In TO write a
story odds aud ends of experience which have
been tucked away in some nook Or Granny Of
his brain come to him and seem 10 flow into his
pen In filling out the column. So my expert
ence in the different known and tabulaed
dance steps comes into my brain and goes from
there TO my legs, called there by some pleasing
melody of the orchestra.
never rehearse dance myself; that Is the
last thing think of; nor am particular as TO
The tim of my music, and. whenever during a
performance "A melody pleases me, am apt,
almost unconsciousiy. to break into step or
TWO. Idance as L eat. as waik-without any
seems TO me 10 be second nature. use the
term "seems TO be second pature'' advisedly
because it is really the fruit Of long and early
training.
/ have found in my career as an actor that
pretty music has more to do With dancing than
almost anything else. For instance, l have
often known ef good dancer WHO would al
ways be encored II he danced to a popular air ;
but should he. In his searcn Tor a novelty. in
troduce some new music that failed to please
he would be almost bissed from the Stage 1t
is just like sipging there are some songs that
even Patti could no, make popular.
In conclusion would say that graceful dane
Ing will always be, as it has always been one
OF the most popular forms of light eniertain-
ment, and thai believe the present style OF
aerobatie dancing will soon be thing of the
past. Graceful dancing is an art, acrobat ic
dancing 4 fad. HENRY E. DIXEY.