The Appeal., 1902-05-24
- 4 h HO invented dancing?"
"A ~ asked an enthusiastic
vV young society bud re
Gently.


"Why-er, don't
the French, didn't they?'' replied her part
ner.
''Certainly not! Dancing is mentioned
in the Bible long before France was ever
thought off,
"Oh, of course, know that; but I sup
posed you meant the waltz and all that
sort of thing"
'Well, yes; but did the French invent
the waltz?" -:
Now, come to think Of it, it is of Ger
man origin, isn't it? Didn't the French
take it from them during the revolu-
tion?"
"I must confess I don't know; but my
curiosity is piqued and I'm going to look
it up"
Dancing was not invented. 1t is an evo-
luton. The love of dancing is inherent in
human nature. From the first forma-
tion of societies." says Rousseau, "song
and dance, true children of love and leis-
ure, became the amusement, or rather the
occupation, of idle assemblies of men and
women" 1t is allied to poetry and music.
The quickening of the muscles, the invol-
uptary tapping of the feet and the skip
ping about or cla piping Of hands by chill
dren under the inspiration of a lovely
strain, are but simple manifestations of
an instructive desire on the part Of the
physical being to respond to the stimula-
tion Of the mental. While the rude caper-
1ngs OF the savages are in a measure a,
cruder form of the same impulse, the
rhythmic postures which reflect the sweet
and caressing sensations Of the art as we
know it are part of the inheritance Of
civilization.
Dancing in EARLY Ages.
beautifully illustrated book. entitled
"A history of Dancing" is published by
D. Appleton & Co. 1t is from the French
of CASTOR Vullier, with a sketch of dane
Ing In England by Joseph Gregg. Accord
ing to the author, a flower of the night.
dancing is said to have germinat ed under
the skies of the Pharaohs. Tradition
speaks OF the rounds, symbolic of sidereal
motion, circling beneath the stars on the
august soil of Egypt It manifests itself
first In sacred sciences, severe and hier-
attic; yet even then it babbled brok
OF joy and grief in the procession of the
Apis.
Later on in the course of the ages If
became ineterwoSen with all the manifes-
tat1ons of popular strife, rejecting the
passions OF man and translating the most
secret movements Of the soul into physical
actlon. From the solemnity of religious
rites, from the fury of warfare is passed
to the gayety of pastoral sports and the
dignity and grace Of polished society," 1t
TOOK on the splendor of social festivities
the caressing languor of love and even
dolefully followed the funeral train.
Greeks Teach Romans.
The Romans, who Initiated the Greeks
IN all their arts, borrowed their dances
just as they adored their gods, although
the Romans were primitive when the
Greeks were in their splendor But the
arts of Greece soon degenerated after
their migration to Rome The virginal
dances of Greece, the feasts of sacred
mysteries, the flowers and balmy sunshine
OF returning spring became unrecogniza-
'ble, serving as preteXts for every kind
of license.
Theatrical dancing, however, attained
extraordinary perfection among the Ro-
mans, and pantomine, an art unknown
to the Greeks, had it's birth among their
rivals. -Ns e.
After centuries of folly, which brought
about the downfall of the great races,
the art of dancing disappeared 1t re
appeared, however, during the early years
OF the Christian era more in the form
OF religious rite, although these in turn
degenerated and served as pretexts for
impure spectacles.
After the darkness of the Middle Ages
1t was Italy, under the impulse Of the
Medici that aWOke to a knowledge of the
literature and the arts and sciences of
ancient Greece and Rome and with it the
art of dancing. The sixteenth and seven
teenth centuries saw it flourisi1ing. at
every point Under the patronage of
Louis XIII. of Richelieu and of Henry
Nv. it took on peculiarly French char
acter. 1t had followed the great Cath
crime de Medici to France and formed
feature of all the festivities she organ
ized with so much splendor. But the
statelinesS that had marked it among the