Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-03-01
THE SKELETON DANCE.
Crotesque Amusement Of the Ma
tiveS of New South
Wales.

TlV0S OF NEW oOOIIl
Wales.
Dancing ''as she is taught" by French
masters is little in vogue with the ma
tives of New South Wales, but they do
something far more original and inter
esting in their own way-though rather
too violent and eccentric to be intro
duced into the civilized ballroom.
It is not a religious exercise like the
whirling antics of the dancing dervlshes
and the grotesque contortlons OF our
American Indians celebrating Good
harvest of victories over foes.
1t is rather tribal social event, and q
source of amusement, INDUCED in for the
purpose Of stirring the blood and getting
up little pleasurable excitement:
When time hangs heavy on the bands of
the young savages they decide, much
like their more civilized brothers, 10
liven up things by a dance.
A level spot edged by a forest some
where near their huts is chosen. Then,
when night falls, huge fire is built by
the women and youngsters, While the
young men who are to honor Terpsi-
chore-or whoever their goddess of dane
ing may be-retire to arrange their tot
lettes. This is done by chalking their
bare, brown bodies with pipe clay in
lines to represent bones; broad lines for
the arms and legs, and narrower ones
for the ribs. The orchestra consists of a
lot of shields vigorously beaten, and ac-
companied by voices the reverse Of tune
full.
When the fire burns brightly, throwing
the surrounding landscape into deeper
gloom, and the hideous din of the war
shields rends the sky. there suddenly
emerges from the shadows of the wood
what appears to the horror-struck spec
tator to be company of skeletons. They
execute a series of violent and curious
contortions of the arms and legs, much
resembling the performances Of paste
board jumpingjack keeping time 10 the
rhythmic clashing of the shields; then
they suddenly vanish from view as If by
magic.
This disappearance, so surprising to
see, is really very simple in execution;
| since the bodies of the dancers are only
chalked in front, they have only to turn
around to cause their dusky forms to
vanish in the gloom of the background.
| The uncertain CLEAN and flicker of the
fire, bringing out some of the figures in
bold relief while leaving others indis-
tinct and ghost-like, with a Rembrandt
ish effect of light and shadow, the in
| tensified darkness of the surroundings.
the anything but human gyrations of the
skeletons, all conspire to make a scene
suggestive Of Dante's Inferno. The per-
formers appear and disappear, continu-
ing their wild gesticulations and getting
| more and more excited till at last they
drop from exhaustion and the dance is
over. Indeed, dancing to a finish is a
characteristic common to all savage
tribes. Like most great ideas, this,
though so very simple, contains mag
nifcent possibilities, especially for the
| boy looking for something novel in the
way of entertainment.
The idea seems especially well adapted
for camping-out parties and initiation
| ceremonies. Nothing could be easier to
manage The white lines might be
drawn with chalk upon the front Of a
| black sweater. OF course no particular
skill need be used in outlining the skele-
tons-the more grotesque and absurd the
effect, the better for the end in view.
Then some dark night, when enter
tainment seemed to f1ag-when song and
speech around the campfire had iapsed
/ made werd assaults upon the shadows
| of the forest, the boys could CALAMITY
offer to do something to restore the
dropping spirits of the company. That
would be the time for the skeleton
| dance. Or they might announce the en-
tertainment beforehand, and make p1ore
| elaborate arrangements for lt-sending
| out invitations of appropriate design
such as a deaths head on a war-shield,
sketched on birch bark
The audience, however, must have no
| inkling of the real nature of the enter
| tainment 1t should be made a COM
! plete surprise.
But all these suggestions are quite I'M
| necessary Give an ingenious boy and
most boys are ingenious-an idea, and he
| will take care of the details. Indeed,
there is just where the fun comes in.
Campbell PendletOn.