The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-04-09
BUT THEY'LL NEVER
| DANCE HERE AGAIN
Not Enough Russians at Acad-
envy to Start a Decent
Turkey Trot.
AUDIENCE BITTERLY sTUNG
Show Very Good as Far as 1t
Went, but Didn't Go
Far Enough.
AUDIENCE BITTERLY sTUNG
Down and out.

Down and out
1t was proved last night at the Acad-
envy of Music that Richmond theatre
goers, in part at least, don't like ART
in tiny casket, but prefer II In vast
profusion; small perfect canvas,
but many huge works of art in gal
leries as rambling as the Pitt and the
| thzi combined; no Single perfect
dover. but a bouquet as large as a
bush, with ribbons galore and a paper
lace holder.
| All of which simply means that, ex
cept ITO n few In the audience. which
packed the playhouse from top 10 bot
! tom. the Russian Dancers were a dis
1 appointment. so grievous, in fact, that
twice during the performance IL was a
toss-up whether or not the dance
would be turned. in the TwinklinE OF
an eye. 10 vulgar rough house"
Kisses and cat calls of most insist
ent nature shattered the dignity of the
occasion, while ribalS applause
/ drowned the efforts of the ov.hestra-
thing never before known in the
| Academy.
| Tae secret OF this ou;burst is ex-
plained when 1t is stated that the
violently so. upon the discovery that
the much advertised company con
tanned but four dancers-two men and
two women--instcad of the many that
were here last January
| Each OF the four
Vol!ninc.
Schmolz
| MoroScn
! P!askowaskaia
! If 81
performances. single and together,
were altogether charming. but there
were those who seemed unwilling to
enjoy seeing Mile. Schmolz dance for
two minutes and then have 10 OBJ
serve. with more or less patience, the
! wcll-knowm but slightly hacknayed
I scene depicted upon the Academy
! stage curtain for a quarter o: an hour
| The orchestra, brave souls. s;rug-
gled manfully and unsteady TO fill in
the gap, but the crowd wouldn't have
III. and owled down the melodies.
! Tabloid Dancing.
What the audience wanted was
| dancing, ant plenty OF it, and what ii
| got was dancng-the very art itself
| but in tabloid form, and in very tiny
| tabloids
| When the Russians won such I'M
| stintcd applause in January. on their
| first visit to Richmond the perform
ancc included The Tales of Hoffman,"
! ch"rmingly danced by some twelve or
fourteen people, while in the second
| part these same people, sngly and to-
gether splcndidly accompanied by a
large orchestra. made wonderful ocular
music with their bodies.
ii was revelation, but alas! the
public. like Ariovistus OF old. delights
In new things, and the Russians re-
turned last night with nothing new.
Ht-ff ], I,,t
pany: without LA Petite jamie;
without the hard-work and good
looking chorus TO fill in the interludes;
without the excellent orchestra: with
! ont The Tales Of iIoffman"-in fact,
with just four artists and Vladimir
Pogorcloff, who played several airs
acceptably upon the balalail5a, the
Russian three string mandolin.
And so a frost followed close after
the sunshine.
There can be expressed only praise
for the four artists who braved the
stormy reception and whose perform
ances were chccrcd to the echo. For
II wa sa strange state of affairs which
caused Kisses, because that which was
given was so delightful that the aud
icnce wanted more---Olivcr Twist all
over again.
In the opinion of this critic, Mile. Plas-
kewcskaia's waltz OF the Butterflies;
NJ Moroseff's ana Mile. Plaskeweskaia's
Spanish Torcador dance; Mile. IIalena
Schmola's Variations Copelia, or best
of H. NJ. Volininc's and Mile. Schmolz's
Polka Nio!ettc, were well worth spend
ing an evening to see But the galleries
evidently did not concur in this opn-
ion--not by million miles, which Is
long shot.
The dcnizens of the lofts evidently
hungcred for the past but palmy days
of The Black Crook" and '"rhc Devils
Auction" dancing productions which
carried hfty--count 'cm--"lady" dane
ers. ranging from the pony to the cle-
plant; dancers who raised thunderous
clouds Of dust. who strained the sup
ports OF the stage and who kept
things going hot" until after the
trysting hour of midnight Those were
happy days
Poor Russans-thcy. dainty. poetic,
artistic, but numerically abbreviated,
belong now to that class so classical
~ described by that eminent purist.
John LeonIdas Sullivan. aH Down and
! OUT
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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