Evening star., 1915-02-07

last season.
THE sixth mornings practice is devoted
to something rather apart from technic.
We will call it composition work. Its pur-
pose is to train the ability to think of and
execute steps in sequences. In the vocabu-
larry of the dance consider the individual
step as a word-dividing it into syllables
represented by its component movements,
if YOU will. Now, in the poetry of words,
one of the requirements is that words shall
be put together with reference to the sentl-
ment conveyed by their successive sounds,
irrespective of their dictionary meaning. In
the poetry of motion the gesture OF explicit
meaning tends toward pantom1me. The step
and movement of the dance, considered
apart from pantomirne, are concerned only
with a sentiment that is analogous to the ex-
preston of musical sounds. We already
have considered the emotional properties of
some of the steps.
Now, after individual steps, the dancer
must consider their performance in Sc
quence; that is to say, in phrases. She must
be able to think of several steps as a unit.
Otherwise her performance of phrase runs
a risk of being disjointed, exactly like a
speech of person using an unfamiliar Ian
guage. In Europe where the standard of
the ballet dancers technical training is high,
there is an added need of ability to compre-
hend in units of phrase: ballet master,
taking charge of corps for rehearsal, does
not read his instructions step by step. The
instructions to a group will come in form
that presupposes a mind, as well as a body,
trained to the art The command spas de
bourree, jete, pas de :bonrrse, fonettee, ara
besquels includes phrase of four steps and
its finishing pose.
So much for the dancers morning prac-
tice,-an hour and a quarter daily except
Sunday. Before each performance she
spends another thirty or forty minutes in
brisk warrn-up, consisting of steps both
rapid and balanced, and stretching exer-
cises. In addition to the mere preparation
of the muscles for their exertion, Madame
Genee lays distinct emphasis on the value of
taking the exercises in three distinct speeds,
fast, moderate, and slow. Mind and body
alike are in that way prepared to ego on at
the height of their perceptions and capa-
bilities
THAT endless effort to give to their en-
L ployer, the public, their best,-is it not
somewhat overwhelming, just as a propo-
sition of honesty?
We have seen the daily preparation of the
work of the individual, assuming that she is
not learning new material or revising old.
OeIlcldNN SliC ID OCCuplCd Will ChC vi eiiS
other That means rehearsal added to tech
nical practice, or substituted for it in whole
or in part, if the day is not long enough to
include both. Aside from that, someone has
to be incessantly thinking about new cos
TUNES: either satisfied public must be
given variety, or public not yet won must
be angled for with bait of new colors. The
publicity man must be kept supplied with
new photographs. Each session with the
photographer means several hours of work
that is peculiarly exacting on the energies
and attention of a dancer, since she must
often hold unstable poses during a time ex-
posure. Interviews have to be given, and
good interview requires preparation. The
day is literally not long enough for an am
bilious dancers necessary or at least inevita-
Bile tasks; and many dancer will tell you
that an irrepressible review of the evening
performance, with nerciless emphasis on
faults, invariable begins passing before her
eyes as soon as they close in search of sleep.
Fortunately the great artist of the ballet
usually has the backing of one of the Eu-
ropean ballet institutions, by whose almost
paternal oversight she is relieved of the ne
cessty of attention to the financing of her
work On the other extreme there are sew
eral varieties of dancer whose work require
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