The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-11-21


dancer in the world. and sovereign
OF all ballet queens. appeared with her
company at the Academy last night
and entertained a packed house Mile.
Genee recently came from Boston and
in order that her art may be fully
appreciated, prolonged solo by an
analytical Bostonian with bulging
htaE and yet unmistakabiy q heaying
heart as well, Is appended.
Alone aIaong the dancers OF the
fret rank hat we In America know.
Miss Genee perpetuates the tradition
of the classic schooi--of the dancing
that descended from the eighteenth
century into the nineteenth, that flow
cred In the golden years of Tagiioni
! and Eilsler. Grssi and Cerito. fell away
into the sterile and finieai virtuosity
that sill ffourishes on the stages OF
/ Paris and Petersburg: and that has
reincarnated itself for us of England
and America in Miss Geuee Never
has she seemed more the present link
| fiji the great fire Of dancers. the pres
ent incarnation of their artistry In her
own fragrant personality, th.n she did
last night. BY chance or design
much more probably the latter--she
! emphasized this descent and heighten-
Ell this simii.tude by her choice OF
pieces. In one she danced and mined
as La Camargo. the illustrtous dancer
of the Paris OF Louis XIV. who Wild
ened the technical range of the ballet
land who. beyond all her sisters of the
Eighteenth century, clothed her dane
ing I'm the vivid traits OF her person
ality. In another. Miss Geriea danced
In the ballet of the nuns ghcstly temp
Itations from Meyerbeer's opera, Rob
ert the Devil" 1t was a ballet of the
thirties and the forties. a real French
ballet" in white tulie skirts and flesh
ings. as our grandparents would have
called it. IN such hallets did the dan
GERS of the golden age dance. Be-
tween whites. too. Miss Cenee disport-
ed herself. with her own adept fac
| ulty as Coincidence Of the dance. in
s. comic polka of a Columbine In light
play with Harlequin
The mined and danced tale OF the
piece called La Camargo'' has al
ready been told in this place. 1t is
iserviceable. but not especially inter-
esting or imaginative, while akin is
Miss Dora Bright's music for it.
though she does make now and then
happy instrumental touches. Meyer
beers music. unheard here, perhaps.
fer generation or two, was full OF
those big. Instrumental strokes that
surprised his time by their attempts
phisticated ears think only laboring
and blatant. The ballet music from
Robert" Is like all his ballet music
Eoverintrfcate when 1t would be fine,
coarse and ponderous when it would
be large and fuff-throated. More, 1t
la as difficult fer the dancer as HE
hravura is for the coloratura singer.
Fortunately for IL and for the audi
ence. Miss Genee Is prima donna.
For those that know and care for
the classic technique of the dance and
for those that only half suspect out
| OF auickened feeling its exactious
and feiicities. Miss Genee's dancing In
the ballot from Robert. was very
rare pleasure. She accomplished In
It nearly every possible feat Of viz
tuosity in a fawiess perfection that
seemed to rise with the diffieuity of
the achievement. Her light bounds.
her graceful swirls, her rhythmed
steps about the stage seemed aerial
| and bodiiess. Her perouettes were lit
tie rhapsodies In technique. Her poses
flowed Into beauty and grace of line
/ that suggested no effort, that bore not
| a trace OF stiffness Artifce they
were but spontaneous and beautiful
artifice- The subtler attributes and
graces Of the old dancing shone in
her--in the varied poise Of her head
and shoulders. In the management of
her hands, in the keeping Of her body
| In flowing or arrested arabesque. She
accomplished NH these things with an
| ease, a sureness an elegance and COM
| pleteness that was style in itself In
conscious but unobtruded perfection.
Then entered the personality Of the
dancer to glamor this dancing, In the
narrow sense of the word. with beau
! xvxA vr,ktt ~ oh AH1.,x Rxnsx -
let In spite Of it's elaborate program
Of temptations expresses nothing to
the imaginations Of 1912, but the
beauty with which the dances can
ciothe It. Dancing In 1t. nowadays. Ia
absolute" dancing existing for its
! own sake and making Its appeal in its
! own right In the fashion of absolute
! music. Since there IL NO passion or
mystery In the music or the iHaagin-
inss behind. It was at one with Miss
Geneess own spirit. She seeks the
| absolute" and abstract quality Of the
/ dance--the body weaving beautiful
| patterns upon the air and animatlng
and illuminating them. with the glow
| and the charm Of the spirit behind.
or such disembodied beauty was her
| dancing In Robert"
La Camargo.. duly ret on the stage
in a boudoir wherein Bouchers fat
ana rosy nymphs looked down firm
the walls and diversifled by entrances
| OF Louis XIV. himself, i distressed
] mother and q hAIf-gratAful and
| half-auxious soldier. badh Miss Ee-
nee mime - wen u dance. Shs
| was Ia GamsrE0 HaomAntaffIy mel
anchcly ana interpretive. ana ever
I this disiffastou she threw the wistfEl;
charm " iacs And usotsom which y /