New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-07
rur REVIVAL OF DANCING
s,;ll Another Handsome Book
on the Art.

,vcING AND DANCERS OF TO-DAY.
~ Modern Revival OF Dancing as an
tn 10, Nv Caroline and Charles H. CAT
With numerous illustrations. Svo,
, IN sol Dodd. Mead Co.
This is the third serious work on the
..,,val of dancing as an art to be pub
u,,Ad within the last three months.
Tke its two predecessors. it is profuse-
:, and handsomely illustrated with
no,,raits and poses Of the world famous
LADDERS of the movement in Europe and
:, this country. for Mr.. and Mrs. Caffin
Az not fail to lay the proper stress
nan the achievements and the service
an the cause Of Isadora Duncan, Ruth
G. Denis and Maud Allan, the Cana
Alan daughter OF this continent. who
has often. but most unjustly, been ac-
cused Of mere imitation. The Russians
receive their need Of space and praise.
and Of pictures of the grace of motion
caught al a static moment The au-
thors suggest, and one accepts the sug-
sestion at once, that the Russian revolt
classical ballet-meeting, filtration.
denial, fight and pursuit-in favor Of
stronger emotions. Of plots Of greater
depth and meaning, is directly traceable
10 the stark realism Of contemporary
russian fiction. They also find one
source of inspiration OF Isadora Dun
cans work in the primitive dance Of
the Cambodians, whom she saw in
Paris
| This book does not trace the history
of dancing beyond ancient Greece; its
ttrue scope is with the here and now
More space is devoted, and rightly. to
the origin and development OF the bal
let 10 its decadence In Western Europe
and It's preservation and technical per-
aection in Russia. Brief glimpses are
sxiven at the dances OF the South Sea
Islanders and the North American Ind
kisns-in this regard the book widens
'the scope Of its predecessors. Adeline
;genee has, Of course, a chapter all her
'ovn. with welcome pictures OF her airy
grace and charm. most welcome Of
sheni all, perhaps, one Of her Hunt
Dance" which one wishes her TO revive.
And-belated justice-Rita Sacchetti is
not overlooked. while Crete Wiesenthal.
In Hungarian dances. is added 10 the
gallery.
The book is made decidedly Ameri-
can BY close study OF negro dane
ing. from the vanishing buck-and-wing
dance 10 a clever analysis Of the cake
walk. This is too long TO quote in full
but here is its conclusion:
As, written there is little to distinguish
she cakewalks from the little Harlequin
or Pierrot and Columbine episodes, In
which both French and ltaian Oaliets
used 10 abound But in the performance
ol II there Is the elusive syncOpauoI'
which is apparent in the dancing as well
As I'm the music. and the ever present
clement of the grotesque, which is toollns
even In it's little comedies. There are
none of the airy senumentalties Mlli
which the Italian ballets would be filled.
There will be a certain tricky impisn-
ness even in the iady's part; gestures OF
shoulder and arms which are ehtlreiy
rrotesoue. caricature rather than comedy.
BIT that is the nauNe genius VI N4lt hN7i'
brought in touch with our civilization.
one wishes that picture Of the late
George Walker and his graceful wife
the most accomplished Of our negro
stage dancers, had been included.
The authors are TO be thanked for
their inclusion of such an excellent &c
,ar+,.;c dancer as Bessie Clayton.
Montgomery and stone, also included
fan into the category Of acrobatic
rather than artistic dancing. The COM
parison between the mephitic drama
Of the "Danse de rApache" and the
"exuberance Of energy and vitality
the out-of-door atmosphere or the
Tommy Dancers, is happy touch.
There are chapters on court dances ana
tolk dancing, and on artistic dancing IN
xchools and for social diversion.