The Washington herald., 1910-02-05
MAUD ALLAN SCORES.
Dance with Russian Symphony Or
Chestra Programme Pleases.

At the National yesterday Miss Maud
Allan and the Russian symphony Or
chestra gave one of the most pleasing
and unusual entertainments that It has
been the pleasure of the music and
dance loving public Of this city to wit
ness. 1t was an entertainment in which
everything-music costumes. dancing,
and artiste-combined 20 delight the ear
and eye
Miss Allan revived the old Greek style
of dancing and has brought IL 10 a very
| high degree Of perfection and beauty.
In her appearance she shows her study
Of the figures OF the Greek vases that
are dug up every now and then, and
! the graceful curves Of her figure. taken
| together with the simple yet beautiful
FGreek dress, makes a picture that car
! ries one back to the days Of Sparta.
! The first Of the series of dances that
/ the artistic gave was composed OF three
Of Chopins-a valse and two mazurkas-
and then she followed these by what
proved TO be the most beautifully exc
/ cuted number. with one exception, Of the
| afternoon Mendelssohn's Spring Song.
! Her conception Of this, one OF the great
I composers greatest and most familiar
pieces, was exquisite. She interpreted
the first part as a chase for a butterfly
and the last as sort Of flower dance.
! At times she seemed literally TO float
over the Stage, and It was hard 10 real
ize that ii was dancing al all. so beau
/ tifully easy and graceful was H.
Following a selection by the orchestra,
she gave a suite from Peer Gynt" and
in the second of these. The Death OF
Ase," she gave one Of the best exhibit
tons Of what might be called emotional
! dancing imaginable. Her facial express
sion was splendid. and the dance was de-
| serving OF more applause than 1t re-
ceived.ir for no other reason than the
acting that Miss Allan did. Anitra's
dance, which followed. relieved the ten
sion, with its lightness and gayety. The
last Of the suite was the Dance Of the
Gnomes" weird snake-like. almost
grotesque dance. which reminds one Of
the ''Tarantella." danced here by another
/ earlier in the season.
The final numbers on the programme
were a hassepied by Delibes and Strauss
Beautiful Blue Danube" The latter
was especially worthy OF notice, and tht
applause was so great at the conclusion
that the dancer was forced to respond
with an encore-Rubinstein's ''Valse Ca
price" another beautifully executed BIZ
Of light music
But Miss Allan was not all Of the en-
tertainment. The Russian Symptom!
Orchestra, under the leadership of Modes
IAltschuler. furnished accompaniment
which came fully UP to the standard Sc
by the dancer. But II was in the over
ture and intermeZzOs that they really eX
celled. The overture was "Mignon," an'
the leader brought out Thomas hauntinl
melodies in a masterful manner.
The real musical treat Of the after
noon. however. came in the two selec
tons Of the Russian composer, IppoIitow
Ivanow. In the AuI' and the "Marcl
Sardar." The wild. almost barbara
rhythm Of these selections was felt 10 tn
full. and one could hardly imagine bet
ter rendering than that given by the or
Z chestra. The leader was congratulated Of
the rendition OF these numbers.
! The combination OF Miss Allan an
3 Herr Altschuler's orchestra IS a happ
j one and. having heard and seen, no on
wonders at the popularity gained abroad