Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-04

Rhythmic Motions Originated
With Wood Nymphs in the
Ages Past.

the world-a mania for movement
that has attacked society with such
force that 1t IL as a physical demon
stration of the law of perpetual mo-
ton. Everywhere Ii Is the same
dancing. dancing, morning, noon and
night, without cessation; 1t appears to
be the one and only amusement of
the present age. And this does not
apply to society as confined to people
Of wealth and position, but to the
world at large when 1t looks about for
a way TO pass the time.
But upon second and more intro
spective thought 1t appears more ra-
t1onal, for indeed 1t is an expedient
outlet for the spirit of unrest that is
the product of modern civilization.
/ Ana going deeper still, II Is found that
dancing is not modern at oil. II is
one OF the most ancient arts Many
archaeologists claim that It il the
most ancient of all arts, and even the
most astute and austere scientists ac-
knowledge that the modern method
/ OF expression Is simply a modification
+ of the ancient dances.
Aeons and aeons ago q wood nynph
wandered fitfully through primitive
paths. 1t was in the budding time of
spring, and within his heart surged
the longing for it's blossoms. In an
sWer to his desire, which had the
strength of prayer, he saw one
white, starry face peerinR at him
from on high. Unable to grasp it, he
sprang In the air. With q swift leap
he caught II unto himself and with 1t
came the tingling joy of rhythmic
motion. Again he leaped, this time
from sheer glee. And thus the dance
was born.
Fanciful as this very old Japanese
folk tale may be, there is no history
h0WaVgr par dos a,Iy
does not contain some reference to
tancing.
| IN the Nedas of the Hindoos, some
OF which date back 5000 years before
| Christ, there is steady reference to
| dancing as an expression of triumph,
| worship and even deepest grief 1t is
! the same in the Zendavestas of the
! Persians, Dancing with cymbals and
| tamoourines, with bells ted to their
| ankles and wrists or around their
waists, was an art that the priest
esses in the temples must understand.
| In the Bible, as early as the days of
Moses, Miriam and her sisters danced
before the Ark of the Covenant when
it was being taken into the prom
Used land.
We read in the Book OF the Dead"
which contains the papyruses of
Egypt's most ancient seers and schol-
ars, that dancing was a part of
Egyptian worship. In fact, the hero
| glyphics themselves, denoting adora-
ton, triumph after battle, gloom at
the death of a monarch or high
priest, were often figures of men or
women in dancing postures.
In the very Far East Confucius,
who lived nearly 600 years before
Christ, mentions the dancing of war
| riors and Of the outcast women. In
the ancient Japanese scrolls constant
pictures appear of dancing girls and
warriors. And in Phoenicia and
Lucania, Sparta and ancient Greece,
always we find that dancing was a
part of the life of the people, just as
it is today.
In Greece it was actually a part OF
the religion. Wisdom, we know, was
believed by them to have sprung full
armed from the head of Power, but
the twelve muses. were half-divine
and half-human, the children of earth
memory and heavenly power. And
because they preferred the beautiful
things of the earth-the brooks, the
ocean, the forests and the flower
starred meadows-they forsook
heaven and came down to delight In
the material.
Three of these demigoddesses-
Terpsichore. Melpomene and Thalia-
were devoted to the expression of the
emotions by means of the body.
Terpsichore, who loved nature, de-
| lighted in the harvest and vintage
feasts and led the choral dances and
songs of praise and gratitude. Thalia
| was q merry muse and tripped gayly
| to the sound of the running waite
and the sway of the boughs In the
spring breeze. while Melpomene in
spired the slow and stately tread Of
| the dithyramb when mourning or
/ dignity was to be called into action.
| 1t Is these three distinct phases of life
that dancing portrays.
| We know from the dramas Of Eu-
r'pides and Aeschylus what dancing
meant to the Greek civilization and
| how 1t followed the Western trend
into Rome. With the fall of these two
| classic Civilizations and the invasion
of the barbarians the humor of the
art changed. Instead of portraying
| spiritual qualities and appealing to
the finer senses, we find it expressing
all the baser instincts, such as Jeal-
ousy, rage, pride. sensuality and other
OF the seven deadly sins.
The ideal purity of classic dancing
| passed away. except for the part 1t
| played in the painting of the Renais-
sance period, until the present CEN
/ fury, when 1t was revived by Isadora
| Duncan, Maud Allan and other of the
modern classic dancers. Maud Allan
| has said that the first inspiration she
received was from Botticeli's
| "Primavera." From the dancing of
| the three graces she conceived the
| idea of dance expressing the Spring
/ Song" of Mendelssohn.
There was also another sort of clas-
| sic dancing-one that dealt with the
! grosser emotions. They came from
| the East, many years before Christ.
| We read of them in the Songs Of
| Solomon, in the Dance of the Seven
/ Wells, in the arabian Nights" With
I an insidious power they spread
/ through Northern Africa, Southern
| Asia, Asia Minor. and came over by
way of Carthage and Algiers into
/ Europe, where they blended with the
classic, barbaric and more modern
/ folk dances, until they formed the
/ dance which holds the modern word
( In it's thrall. For the present-day
/ dance is just as much a product Of
| the various periods Of the past as the
| painting and sculpture of the century
/ is the product of the various schools
| of the ages.
There are many high minded peo-
pie who dispute the claim of dancing
as an art, and they point with DIS
dain to the gyrations that are often
| INDUCED in nowadays. Acl5nowl-
edging this, nevertheless it is an art.
| for art, after all, is only the highest
expression of the individual. Any
I thing that can express Is art in some
10 hn I'M AZ