New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-05
Leon Bakst ON the Modern Ballet
Art When 1T Is Too Young Be Weakened by
Civilizations Is Great Enough When
~ snssrs-ris Is the Faith of the Arts: Who Has @
Emoi0n Of Russian

En-
IN fact, forgot Il entirely after the prelirni-
rary shaking of hands and choosing OF seats as
we settled down in the quiet hushed room
which spelled of work
had come to interview him? Well and
good He had already formulated his notes
in his mind and would begin right away He
thought he might speak Of the development OF
the modern ballet ard the meaning of Min
sky's and Miassne's art as it will be shown in
New York this winter through the Metro
poitan's efforts And he began very well
studied lecture on the history of the ballet,
rounding out phrases and working out SMILES
as he went along.
It wasn't exactly what wanted. I wanted
to FIRE questions at him and hear his live an
swers, wanted to know the meaning of his
own art, what were his own ideas, how had he
come upon them, what was it he was seeking
Wait" | said TO myself, I'll do what he
wants first and then perhaps he'll do what
want"
And so it was.
BAKST'S DECLARATION OF FAITH.
I sat down with my little pad of paper in
my lap and a pencil in my hand, which he had
sharpened with good American pencil sharp
ener and wrote as fast as he spoke.
81 am going to talk dryly,' he said. as II it
were lecture in chemistry. 1T embarrasses
me to talk about myself" he explained
But it is about art and not about your
self. you know"
He laughed
Good. You shall have my whole declara-
ton of faith. But first about the ballet.
1--WE owe the renaissance of the ballet to
your compatrot, Issdora Duncan. 1t was she
who first broke with classicism and freed the
dance from stiffness and rigdty. In Russia
the ballet had attained degree of perfection
which constrained it by its very perfectness.
But the Russian soul, always a searcher and
always restless soon took advantage OF the
break that Duncan had effected. Michel Fo-
kline. the recipient of gold medal from the
old school OF dancing, took the stage ideas OF
Miss Duncan and grated them upon the classic
ideas of the ballet He made composite art
which. in his time, turned out to be most
revolutionary step. The Greek and pagan ten
dency suggested by Miss Duncan, united with
the classic Russian dance, plus touch OF that
something indescribably Slavic at bottom.
made of Fokine's dancing thing purely SEN
suous.
81 think we can say there were three stages
in the art of modern choregraphy. First, the
one made by Duncan which was return TO
the Greek and pagan the second, by Fokine,
which was composite of the pagan and the
Russian. and the third made by Nijinsky and
his great rival and colleague, Miassine, which
has the mystic for its motif, for the Russian
soul. ever seeking and ever restless, never linn
tied and never lying still. kept searching for
the one tendency which is always dear to it
mysticism.
This modern strain OF mysticism in the bal
let first suggested itself, though timidly, in the
mind of Nijinsky, whom l consider the great
genius of the ballet of the future. Inspired
by me at first in the sensuous and pagan he
began with those tendencies which he showed
in the ballet Of the Afternoon OF Fawn and
which was in plain and open rupture with the
tendencies of Isadora Duncan.
ART TO RETURN TO ITS CRADLE.
Personally, have always looked forward
TO a return of art to its cradle, that is to say,
TO the archaic art of the people. The archaic
art is young in form and seeker OF all art
and when one is not too much weakened by
GENERALIZATION one can always find inspira-
ton from the fountain spring OF archaic art.
These ideas inspired Nijnsky, who was seek
inc 10 break away from the over-mannered
and over-refned style of Duncanism. The re-
suit obtained by him brought him to prin-
ciple of choregraphy which was united to the
archaic. vet strongly modernst
This idea was first clearly brought out in
N;;;nskvs ballet called I'm jaime Septembre.