The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-26

Some of the Tragedies. Mysteries and
Intrigues That Have Been Linked
With the Russian Dance

music that EVER lived. His f~l'ir..n
Ia not decadent and artificial. d.,
| spontaneous. Stravinsky's 'Tctrons.
ka" and Fire Bird" are .v,ollep.
ballots. full of imaginary gov and
suggestion. The only drawback lies
| in the old fashioned form of cuns,rv..
| ton and in the use Of dramatir char.
acteristics in the order of jhe old hal.
let's.
The DiaghileY ballet thus has
solid foundation and talented leador.
| ship. You will find in 1t little If n.
| toe tricks and gymnastic display o,
| the exponents Of the old ballet. you
will find Nijinsky and K~arsavna
dancers, but hardly acrobdts.
Their fiower,ike bodies, representa-.
the spirit OF the Russian youth, woay, :
dreams with silent and graceful move.
ments Like magicians of II difieron,
era, they remove you from the world
OF flesh TO a dimension of on,han,.
ment. While Nijinsky with his plan,
Elasticity ~personiiies the adventurous
Russian youth. karsavina with bop
gazel,elike grace and Oriental beauty
proves herself as the blossom of Ius.
& sian w~omanhood.
They dance the music. although no,
so truly as does Lada. the young
American girl. yet smoothly and fuU
of passion. Their bodies speak si'en,
tales OF a Thousand and One Nights
They visualize certain passages ~ the
music with magic power. Their al,
is supreme.
Tho weak point Of the Diaghilc~
ballet lies In its keeping to the o4
classic style of acting n IN dancing
the dramatic stories. ] have enpha.
sized in my book on dancing this do.
ficiency and its remedy more full
or all the modern dancers perhap.
Lada. Trouhanova, Nijinsky and r..
kline have grasped the truth more
closely than any other Of their rlva
Vet they all are not altogether r..
from the old troubles.
All want to dance a story. haya
| had a hard time to persuade Lada =,
defy the acting. the story in the dam,
which destroys the very essence Of ,NA
choreographic art and eats away '.
very texture. 81 do no speak ac4i-s
the working out OF such. ] spea
against an independent working ont
that is. a separate ~ running a
course other than that in which mus
Is the greatest essential.
II remember one If tho hes, ha'.
lerinas comforting herself IN VIII
movements Of anguish while the not,
of the violin were dying away In 4
long sound of "A trill. She acted an
49, L., - aa,..a 49, la.-. - II
but she acted according To her ldoas
instead of acting according To mus
II Is just the same sin as If % singer
were TO execute "A lyric song W.T.
b%,avado." c'Tha Dance" ny the
author.)
| am sure that the p.achiler Ia e.
VIII toe u great source Of -timu'a'ieL
for tho American artist and dane
However. II Is a pity that F'okIn" -
not connected with the ballet ON n 8
occasion. ! doubt that DiaEhiler a.
keep up tho high standard of his 'o'r-
pany without Fokine for any lc. -
of time. What ~Stravinsky is in u..
Baks in painting, that is Foklrr .
choreography; a perfect master o. Of.
human plastic. The initiative o' he
Daghilelf ballet belongs to Mhs'
Fokine. and he, 20 my mird, IS n.
great dance reformer. the moir
Noverre.
There are two physica, aCen,s ~
means OF which We appreciate urs
These two agents are the ear. ~ 70.
CARDS sound, and the whul" nervous
system As regards rhythm. tn NOE
defect of the DiaGhlleff ballet =, ~
has been hat It develops IN, dance
Independently of music. Look AT some
Of their dance, definite aUd c,r',
which has c~rystaliized lire Z VIII n
well established limits. You may 'ook
AT it even without nus g. hu' .-v -
watch a pantomime without w.~ N
the first pace II will b- "A u,- Wrt
out color, quite an a'r'p ~ 'r l'ttu
IN the second, Il viii Ice Il puDy VIII
out skeleton. something uIa'septat. r
The main fault with the leaders ~
the modern ballet is thai ''c, pat he
centre OF gravity of ~" o,ny" IA t'-
plot, in the event, TIC story. what
in painting is called literature
Whereas the subject of tho lance $
not the plot. but the subject is in N"
| music.