New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-03-02

| though it invites comment
That the newcomer Cor the newcomers,
/ for we are inclined to insist that Mile.
Pavlowas male companion has full
share of the honors) gave great pleasure
there is no denying. There was enthusi-
astic applause after every exhibition or
skill which the public recognized as out OF
the ordinary line of such performances
| But it was not always easy to find an
ample or satisfactory explanation, for the
simple reason that defects were passed
over without expression of disapproval,
| and the ballet master was so overprompt
| in coming forward to show his gratitude
for things for which no one felt inclined
to be grateful that the general effect or
| the production Of the ballet. which was
| Delibes's ''Coppelia,'' was somewhat dis
| concerning to the judicious. Mile. Paw
| iowa possesses extraordinary physical
charm; also exquisite grace and lghtness
! of movement Better than any of the
dancers who have been seen here in re-
cent wears she makes one forget the pom
! derableness of human matter, and more
perfectly than any she creates the HUI
| sion that bodily movements are the physi-
| cal ef4iorescence of musical rhythm But
| in some of the technical details OF hei
| art she caused no surprise to sophlsu-
| Gated observers, though those details are
| of the essence Of her art Her pantohiinie'
arch and winning as 1t always was was
vet no better than much that mas oeeH
seen for years; and 1t was not dilncuie 70
recall dancers in the not remote past TO
whom some of the technical Achievements
seemed less laborious. Always she was de
her hast when she was aided by her male
COMPANION in whose arms she seemed to
| j0hf at all and where every
hexion of her beautiful body was exquis-
iteIv timed and executed with the exquls-
tie grace of a spirit Of the air But Nile
Pavlowa labored under difficulties she
could get no help from her dancing COM
panfons and she plainly felt the want o.
a sympathetic and elastic musical accom-
panin1ent It is an art of peculiar subtIety
to conduct the orchestra for a dancer. ana
Signor Podesti disclosed no familiarity
with it For what was expected and what
| it promises. however, the production OF
"Coppeia'' is a topic for discussion OF more
! than usual interest Just now, when ten
/ tative effort is making to establish a
school for professional dancing at the
Metropolitan Opera House.
What the ballet used 10 mean to the
/ opera house and theatre was plainly evil
/ denced in November. 1879. when Paul Tagll-
oni celebrated the fftisth year Of his ser
! vice in the Court Theatre Of Berlin The
celebration took place in the concert room
| OF the Royal Opera. Delegates were pres
/ ent from opera houses and theatres OF
many cities, and among the telegraphic
messages of congratuIation received was
/ one from Fanny ElIsler, then herself sixty
/ five years old, but still hale and hearty.
The old dancing masters wife was present,
and his daughters, Marie and Auguste. the
/ former then the Princess Windischgratz,
/ the latter an actress at the Prussian Court
/ Theatre Addresses were read from vi
emma, Naples Milan, Madrid, ST. Peters
/ burg and London; the German Emperor
/ sent decoration (Order Of the Crown,
| third class-the greatest of his ancestors
would no doubt have attended the function
/ in person.. q pious motel was sung and
/ speeches tnnumerable were made.
/ Eight years later the old man died. but
! as late as last Sunday Mr.. SInalley,
writing in The Tribune, called up recollec-
/ tons OF one of the daughters whom he
! had met and told of the times when En-
erson and Margaret Fuller could talk
| about the art of Fanny Ellsler as some
thing akin not only TO poetry but even to
religion. These things and the interest eX-
hibited last year in Isadora Duncan and a
/ Few Otner cancers ana the WISH OI MISS
| PavIowa suggest that possibly the ballet is
about TO come into its own Tor more than
! its OWN again. When the present devotees
/ of the opera house began their social ca
reers its glories seemed TO have departed.
/ In the days of their grandparents it doni-
mated the theatre and crowded play and
opera into the background. The elder
Vestris could reprove his son for not having
performed his duty by dancing before the
King Of Sweden when the Queen of
France had performed hers by asking him
to do So; he wanted no misunderstanding
/ between the houses OF Vestris and Bour-
bon. which had hitherto lived the best
Of terms" 1t was the same proud artist
who said TO his son, who had been ordered
I to prison for refusing to dance in Glucks
/ rArrnide'' because something had happened
! to offend his amour pTOpTe: Go, Augustus;
/ go to prison. Take my carriage, and ask
| for the room of my friend the King Of
/ PoIand!' So, at least, run the old stories.
/ Mr. SnaIIey spoke on Sunday of the TagIi-
/ oni who was a countess. One of the sisters
/ was a least a princess; but she was not
alone. Many a baIlerina has danced herself
! into the peerage. Theresa Ellsler. sister
/ of the greater Fanny, married Prince Adal-
| bert of Prussia. Long before her time
! BarDeTlna, an 1Iaian dancer, VINO SuOSe-
/ quently married Lord Stuart Mackenzie,
was at once less and more than wife to
/ Frederick the Great of Prussia. She had
/ to be included in the invitations extended
/ to the royal person TO dinner. and her debts
were paid by the state. While thus enjoy
/ ing the illustTious Kings favors she mar
ried a countryman. Against the head of
the unlucky priest who performed the
! ceremony Frederick Illuminated a decree
water. Then, the Kings anger subsiding
and his love returning, he ennobled his old
| favorite under the title Countess Campo
mini Thereafter she lived a blameless
married life. and after the death of her
husband she built a nunnery with her enor-
nous wealth and, entering 1t, became an
abbess, thus ending her life in the odor of
| sanctity,
| There are. no doubt, veteran theatrego-
the dancing of Fanny Ellsler. and even
come who may have witnessed the extraor-
J binary spectacle OF a ballet introduced for
! the sake OF Nine Giubilei and Paul Ia
gIioni at performances Of -'rfdelio'' late in
1899; but the full glory of the ballet never
shone on America. Most pitiful have been
! the ballet advertisements which have been
introduced to enliven our operas since the
old DAYS of the Academy of Music. The
world is growing old, or at least stiff: the
times are out OF joint, and Europe has al
most given up dancing said Rita San
GALL a generation ago. We have tried 10
7Fr-II