New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-05
THE DANCE.
A HISTORY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT FROM
ANCIENT TO MODERN TIMES.

light. NJ. Vuillier bears admirably. too the
test Of further and more minute examination
He takes his subject seriously. but he is not
dull Something Of the charm Of the dance has
crept into his text. and, nc matter how pro-
sale his diction may be- the spirit underlying
his invest igations procaims itself with clear
ness. He is in love with dancing. His read
ers must be in love with ii long before they
get to the last page His publishers have brill
iantly seconded NJ Vuillier's efforts. Not only
is the book sumptuously made but its Illus
trations form perfect gallery of beautiful
documents hardly a single one of them fail
ing to put the magic Of dancing into some new
light.
The heart of the poet. dancing with the daft
fodils, seems far enough away In all con
science from of pure frivolity. seems
nearer to nature than to art. yet the phrase
has legitimate reference To what seem 10 as
artificial pursuits If NJ. Nuillicr proves any
thing, it is that the dance, so far from being
a mere affair Of overheated rooms. fashion and
the like. is really one Of the most spontaneous
products Of human nature. Whether our hearts
dance with the dafodils or beat to the meas
urc of garish ballroom are At bottom
moved by the sam" Impulse We dance because
we cannot hell ourselves. be, ausc il is one II
the instincts of man to dance NJ. Vuilicr can
the dance somewhere in Egypt thousands Of
years ago. He is in fact. indisposed 10 st
down any arbitrary date but surmises justly
that the prim"tdl savage had dances or some
thing corresponding TO them, in which n salts
fed emotions kindred to those Of our own ball
rooms. But once have noted this elemental
character Of the dance. il j. divcrt!ng To fol
low NJ Nuillicr in his careful sequence of chap
tiers. tracing the dance from Greece To Rome
and from Rome to Paris, and marking IT.
changes The most interesting point developed
by this investigation il that. aside from their
fundamental notes Of emotion. the dances ~
ancient and modern times widely different
one from the other. The whole point Of Nicw Of
the Greek as Of the old Testament dancer was
removed from our OWN. Praise the Lord with
the sound Of the trumpet; praise Him with the
psaltcry and harp: praise Him viii the tim
brcl and the dance" We can make gucsses at
the character Of the dane, implied IN this pas
sage. We can divine the dancing Of Salome
1t must have been something Of frenzy, some
thing not unlike the modern Spanish fandanGo
in its ten. ?estuous moments. with touches
Of a greater ignty. NOR" solemn sraoc. But
1t is also likely that in Iiebraic times the dance
resembled in some points the darCe Of the
Greeks who looked upon the art OF Terpsichore
with eyes that would have been puzzled by the
reves of to-day. Greek dancing contained
good deal Of what we would call pantommc. II
was distinguished. also. by declaration and
various other arts Of the theatre In foot
note cited from NJ. Baron are told that what
we call dancing wholly unknown 10 the
ancients When the word dancing occurs in
an old author it should nearly always be trans
lated by gcsticuation,' 'declamaticn or panto-
mime Just as the word music should be, in
most cases. rendered by philosophy theology.
poetry. When read that an actress
danced her part well in the trapedy Of Medea
that a carver cut up food dancing that Hello
gabaus and Calgua danced discourse or
AN audience Of state we are to understand that
they-actress carver EmpcrOr-gcsticula
made themselves understood in language
without words The gulf between this and our
modern dancing is obvious
NJ Vuillier is eloquent on the absorption OF
ancient Rome in the photographic art The rival
all Rome by the Every citizen was "A
Bathyllian or a Pyladian,' and Vuillier tells
us in sober earnest that the intrieucs of these
,wo men were a cause Of disturbance to the
STATE "Augustus rcprovcd Pylades on one oc-
casion for his perpetual qua .rcs with Bathy Illus
Caesar replied the dancer. 1T is well for you
that the Dcople are engrosscd by our disputes;
their attention is thus diverted from your ac-
tionsp" The Punishment Of Pylad"s nearly
brought about an insurrection and he had To be
rocaIIed These dancers were really nlmics
Thou ware masks iiitr0 10 the characters they
Wished 10 represent, and their performances Dor
dcrcd i'm some respects upon those 81 the regular
theatre Hylas playing Hdpus, put out ms
ovn eyes and his rival who was present called
ont. "you can stin socr HyIas had imperfccty