The Washington herald., 1912-04-13
SOCIETY ENJOYS
ORIENTAL DANCES
Mrs. Christian D. Hemmick's
Production Is Striking
Success.
ART AND CHARITY MEET
Mrs, H.nnisk Herself Play. Role
in aOn the Love of
Echo"
ART AND CHARITY MEET

ThS latest ritual OF the dance. ranging
from the Arcadian Greek and the LAM
guorous Egyptian 10 Paris-not, however.
the Paris of Montmartre. but Of the
"crinoline days" OF the '60s-was well
exemplihed by a delightful performance
given under the auspices Of Mrs. Chris
tian D. Hemmick at the Belasco Theater
yesterday afternoon.
The success Of "on the Love OF Echo
was indisputable. The first two parts"
Of the programme, lie Reve, daDse en-
crtnoline," and ''rhe Orientals.' =ere
almost equally so. The elfin grace Of the
Edancing. the wizard-like weaving OF col
ors n the mise en- scene, the effectiveness
Of the idyl1s as presented In ballet form,
all won salvos Of applause from the audi
| ence. which filed the theater to over
flowing, and which was one OF the mcst
distinguished gathered in any Washing
ton playhouse this season.
Production Eagerly Awaited. \
For weeks "on the Love OF Echo" has
been eagerly awaited, and the event
proved well worth the waiting. Charity
and art clasped hands and smiled in uni
son. Neighborhood House the social set
tlsment Of the Southwest. was the beneh-
| ciary of the performance.
The novelty OF q homemade ballet.
written, evolved, and literally created"
/ by a Washingtonian. more than justified
Itself in the fulhllment of the glowing
| promises which were held out. Likewise
the novelty Of the hours Of the perform
ance, from 5 to Z o'clock, appealed to
many as an element quite in keeping
with the quality Of the performances
/ itself.
Mrs HemmIok herself, deIightIng In
surprises, furnished the biggest sensa-
I -
| auet. Mrs. Mary owen" name which
has been puIzling society for weeks, she
danced as ''the huntress'' and ''the lady
| OF mists" in ION the Love of Echo"
Waves OF applause broke out when she
was recognized in a striking costume,
and danced IN an eloquent and inter
pretative fashion. Her appearance in
the piece was not entirely unexpected,
although there was no suggestion Of II
on the programme.
| 1t was eDSrsly appropriate that the
| woman Sho has been responsible for
alSsost every feature OF the remark
I able performance should appear as an
| integral part of the production, for
without this the matinee would not have
seemed complete.
Ballet of 'sThe MIsts."
waIlowy in its plastic grace and almost
wIstful in the subdued coloring OF Its
atmosphere, the hrst scene from ''On
the Love Of Echo" perhaps held more
distinction than any other. The ballet
of The Mtsts," danced to the la
| Source ballet music OF Delibes, struck
| the keynote Of the idyll, Bathed in the
faint light Of daybreak, the forest scene
disclosed its nocturnal nymphs swaying
dangerously after the nights frolic and
sinking TO their rest. Brief as IL was.
| the ballet revealed some OF the most ex-
Quisite graphics of the matinee, and the
ensemble Of its grayish shadowing,
sketchy coloring, and the grace Of its
motion made scene long TO be remem-
bered.
The uymphs Of the mistE" were the
Misses Hunt. Harris, Sargent, Alder
man. Willis. De Grange, Anderson, and
Mayer. The willows" were MEsdRmes
Bedford and Timmons and the Misses
Buchanan, Stark, Kerr, White, Horrell.
Hines, Wilson, Prouty, Atkinson, and
Hill.
Another high light of the ballet was
! reached in the dancing OF Miss Florsnee
Fleming Noyes in the role of Echo.
The charm OF her Swing dance" la
Isadora Duncan, was an artistic thrill,
eyoking prolonged enthusiasm.
Parts Taken Admirably.
The dancing of Miss Jane Sands as
'the enchaptress Of streams" was charm
ing. Likewise, that of Miss Buchanan
as 1.-THE lady Of willows" The chief male
role was that OF "Nascissus," which was
admirably sung and acted by Bangs
Bryan others in the cast included Miss
Roberta Amies as the 'whirlwind," Mrs
Edward Hale as Shepherdess. Louis
Thompson as Shepherd, and Bassett
Biaekney as Fauh.
In an altogether different mood and
meter was lie Reve." In this frag-
/ ment a tale Is woven around a Paris
school in 1850, involving the love OF a
| Pierrot and Pierrette-the latter in the
form of a Httle seminary girl who falls
IN love with Pierrot's picture. The cast
| included Miss Roberta Aimies as Emile,
| Miss lie Grange as Mile. Pincenez, Mr..
| Blackley as Pierrot, and MIR. Butman as
lie Cure. Les Eleves' were Mrs. Pat
terson, and the Misses Allen, Buchanan,
/ Hunt, Wheaton, Hitchcock, P1lIng,
Harrison. and Woodward This viyacious
sketch, involving much clever dancing,
was cordially received by the audience
and proved an excellent appetizer for
what was TO follow.
Many Unique Dances.
Several surprises awaited the audience
in The or1entsls." One was the unique
dances furnished by Bangs Bryan under
the pseuoonym OF hayrDs Inc urst De-
ing the East Indian snake dance, the
second that Of Pharon. the boy lover Of
| Cleopatra, 20 whom q cup of poison Is
given because he dared gase upon the
splendor OF the Queen.
The Oriental color of the scheme which
was laid in the auoFsnce hall OF an
Indian MaharaJah," was entirely difrer-
ent from that which preceded and fol-
lowed. 1t furnished a setting ror q
series Of dances, including songs and tab
ieaux from the tower OF Babel, which
included the songs OF Ham. the songs Of
Shen, the Oriental, by Edith L. Gros-
venor; the songs OF Japhet, the Greek,
by Pygmaiion and Galatea, and the
dance OF the Awakening OF Hebe, by
Miss Florence Fleming Noyes. Louis
Thompson won a real triumph in his
singing OF pale Hands" Indian love
songs. The two wordless tragedies, each
consisting of a prologue and a dance,
as enacted by ''Nayrb,'' were briiiiant-
ly done, the eerie snake dance being
one OF the most original terpsichoreanl
conceptions seen in Washington IN many
moons.
Members OF Cast. "A
Others in the cast included Frank Dain-
gerneld. as the Maharajah and Mrs