Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-12-16
TERPSICHORE in
SPLENDID FORM
Spirit of the East Beautifully
Interpreted by Famous
Classique Dancer

Preceded, flanked and surrounded
by a finished troupe of sterling vassals
OF Terpsichore. Ruth st. Denis, aided
and abetted by Ted Shawn, unjustIy
termed THE Beautiful Man." undu-
lated her way into the appreciation
of many tensely interested spectators
at the Orpheum last evening. One
feels somewhat at a loss to know
where to begin in writing the praises
of this most rhymic of dancers. 1t
was all so wonderful, so fraught with
the sense of. fanciful unreality, that
1t was with something of a shock
that the audience was brought at the
close to realization that the treat
was ended. Miss st. Denis deserves
all that may be said of her in a COM
pllmentary way, and it is peculiarly
flattering to say that she was not
overshadowed in the least by the
splendid dancing of her company,
which in itself could have held the
delighted attention of the audience,
whose sense of motion was lulled into
pleasant dreams by the smooth un-
wavering movements of the various
Dances
The spirit of the Orient so much
talked of and so little understood.
that intangible, abstract accumulation
OF the thought, religion, emotion, and
action of the East, reached the climax
OF Its expression in The Mystic Dance
of the Five Senses in which native
ttindoo assistants and elaborate
scenery provided the proper setting
Tor Miss st. Denis Interpretation of
Laurence Hopes Garden of Kama"
But in the Peacock" dance she was
at her best Here she proved most
conclusiVely that one need not have
any feet at all in order to dance. In
this Indian legend, the choice of
vanity rather than love, condemned
the princess to live the life of pea
cock, and the realistic impersonation
of the proud peacock emphasized the
famous dancers skill to the best pos
sible advantage.
Every single minute of the melange
of dancing was full of absorbing in
terest, but there are just a few fea-
lures that are worthy of mention by
reason of the enthusiasm with which
they were received. One was the
'lmpromptu" dance, in which Miss
st. Denis cast aside her Oriental at
mosphere, figuratively speaking, and
gave full expression to the modern
dance as it is undoubtedly conceived
and beheld on any dance floor to-day
by the really aesthetic dancer The
audience howled with appreciation
and again when Claire Niles cavorted
about in a baseball dance, throwing
the imaginary ball wildly in all di-
rections and finally capturing the
game in the tenth inning with a
beautiful home run and fadeaway
slide. The crescent moon, and the
soap bubble artists, beautiful girls,
every one-we fail from lack of
breath to give due appreciation to
each and every member of the com
pany which entertained us so pleas
antly. 1t is fitting, perhaps, to close
this rather feeble attempt to describe
the effect which such a series of
classique dances has upon the lay
mind, by mentioning the portrayal of
Isis and Crisis" an Egyptian dance
with Egyptian settings, in which the
dancers blended so harmoniously with
the settings that one imagined him
self gazing at inscriptions and paint
ings on some old ruined temple. We
shall certainly be glad to see you,
Ruth, if you ever return this way.
MAX ROBERTSON.