Arizona republican., 1921-05-09
sv FREpERIc J. HAskIN

WASHINGTON, D. C., May T.- s'The Dance of the Machine Gun was recently enacted by a young man at a local amateur performance before a highly edified audience. In this artistic effort the young man LOOK something distinctly modern and tried to interpret the emotions which it would arouse in a sensitive be- holder just as the early Egyptians, the American Indians and many oth- CT ancient and primitive peoples have interpreted the familiar and striking features of their lives in dance.
 Opinion was divided as to the merits of the young mans perform ance. It was. in fact, rated all the way from the sublime to the ridicu- lous But it had to be conceded that he was an artistic pioneer of high order. Ever since certain stage stars popularized interpretative dancing in this country some years ago, the vogue of it. as an art has been spreading. There are schools of in- terpretative dancing in nearly all Of our cities. Plump ladies dance to get thin and thin ladies dance to get fat, and all of them dance, of course, to express their souls. In addition to women, there is a small and courageous band ui male danc- CTS. These are the real martyrs of the cause, for, although among most primitive peoples dancing has been more a male than a female art. al- though David, in the Bible, danced for the glory of Jehovah in the face of his wife's disapproval, solo danc- ing has now come to be regarded as primarily a feminine art. Social dancing by couples. of course, is an entirely different thing, being form of communal counting. and lineal descendent of the social orgies of savage tribes, and not an artistic ef- fort at all.
 But the important point is that this brave young man of the ma chine gun dance was trying to in- vent an American and modern inter pretative dance. and so get away from the initiative character of all our dances. Just as our architecture in this country is a grotesque mix ture of Creek, Gothic. English and Italian. with dabs of Oriental, so our interpretive dancing has been fmita- tive of Greek, Egyptian and Hindoo efforts. Tn neither is there anything original anything "one hundred per cent American." Now our literature just recently is showing strong signs of indigenous originality. and our architecture. dancing and other arts should be able to follow suit.
 Some Possible Themes
 If the young mans mechanical mo- tion was followed out. we should have likewise the dance of the steam drill. the dance of the steam shovel and above all, the dance of the steam roller, which would afford special opportunities for the heavy talent which is so abundant in dsncing cir cles. But the new American schoo If dance shor'd express the soul oi the great American people rather than the mere mechanical externals Of it's industrial technology For exar'ple. opposed to the famous bacchanal of the ancient Romans we should have the prohibition dance The ima gination fairly riots witf possible details. Likewise the dance of the blue laws would surely be one of our masterpieces. embodying the very soul of our traditional Puritan. ism. Ima zine also other dances which interpreted the spirit of a grea- American amusement park. and think of the effects which could bt wrought in a dance of election night or dance of the Red Peril,
 Does it strike you as ridiculous It is by just such interpreta tions O their national and racial life tha, the ancient raised the dance to :, plane of equality with music anc painting as an art. And it is by ou failure to interpret ourselves that W. have let if degenerate into jigcint and cIogging
 We are at disadvantage in creat Ing dance form typical of o, period. because dancing has held al most no place in our lives as a rite Q for self expression. Tn the bepinnin Of the race. the primitive man hera- spont4ne neonsiy to initiate the a++ra n tive ~hvthm of the vaves or grass + the wind. Then rhvthms became a accesorv of worship and for ceo tiir'eS eavages, Egyptians. Greet, and Hebrews danced tefo-e their al tars. But in the early mediaeva times relieious dancing began to los favor until now only in Spain. anon civilized nations, is there any relig ious dancing. and even there it ha survived Inv the evasion of an edic- Modern religion. with indoor. service. has no place for the eCstatic dance.
 Our Unrythn1ic Lives
 Nor do our amusements and occu pations lend themselves readily f rythmic mimicry. We are told tha the Greek maidens played knuckle