The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-25
A spring symphony. The Alys E. Bentley dancers.
Their Views on the Inward Meaning
of Recent Renaissance of Greek
Rhythmic Expression

n the reason why we are so hard 70
please. 1t * easy enough to get a
Photograph of II beautiful movement
detached from its continuity of eN-
preston. but il Is getting the pose that
means something that il SO difficult.
We must sense the motif, the purpose
of the dance, and express that or We
wholly fail.
I'VE must seek to escape the self
consciousness of the artists them
selves. for there are very few persons
dancing before the camera who are
absolutely lacking in clf-conscious-
ness. They pose unconsciouSly.
What YOU want is the absence of pose.
Yet while YOU are lighting against the
self-consCiouSncss of the dancers o
have To- get "A mental response from
them, which seems p~aradoNical. so 1t
is hard on both sides. The dancer
herself must forget she is dancing
before the camera and the operator
must lose his technique IN the artistic
sense of the composition or must
blend the two in q satisfactory whole.
This new movement is all very In
tercsting and there is no doubt at all
but that it will result in a rcnaissanCe
e art In this country. When We be-
come alive to the beauty and rhythm
81 the dance We will hc able To accom-
l,iish great things, for all this loveli-
ness TO which we respond VIII he reg
| istercd IN our brain To stir 1t TO new
activity. For it has come % he UNDER
| stood that the cultivation and appre-
citation Of the beautiful have "A very
) definite and scientific value in the de-
vclopmcnt of the mlnd and influence
the quality Of it, output To an extent
! little realized in this mdterialistic age.
There is no doubt but We are com
ing to sense Just this thing. for I be-
. l.cVr tho Whole Of the dance move
mcrt is a sort Of unconscious protest
against generalization. People are
pin.ng for some sort of physical eX-
preston II never was iutonded that
we should live such narrow, self-cer-
tired lives. We are like potatoes IN
a dark cellar sending forth pale ana
mic shoots in an effort to find the
light. Tho situation is unnatural.
The cabaret, about which such \
storm of protest has arisen, is truly "A
morbid sort of thing, hut il is all a
part of the same desire for self-ex.
preston, \ little while and this phase
Of dancing Will hay" passed. Like
an eXCrcsenCe IN a beautiful plant IL
Will have been Topped off and in it's
place Will come the new shoots of the
classic revival which, being far re-
mOvcd from the suggestivencss and
hancful effects of the tango and the
turkey trot. Wi! charm and elevate
by its native simplicity and beauty"
In their effort 10 record the new
phase of physical expression Miss
Johnston and Mrs. Hewitt have been
experimenting with moving pictures
of celebrated dancers and they have
made reels Of PAM swan, Florence
Fleming NoNes and others. In their
studio there is an almost life size fg-
ure of The Winged Victory which is
one of the most famous plastic mas
terpieces of lifelike motion in the
world. II Is to the two Photographic
artists not only an inspiration but Is
set by them as an ideal which they
hope 10 attain in their motion picture
photography,