Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-07-08
MODERN TERPSICHORES
"Dance of ihe Machine Gun' One Of
the Very Latest.
FROM SUBLIME TO RIDICULOUS
Subject Of Dancing ir General is Dis
cussed-More Popular Now Than
Ever Before Perhaps.
BY Frederick ]. Haskins.


BY Frederick ]. Haskins.
Washington, May 1.-THE Dance
Of the Machine Gun" was recently en-
acted BY a young man at a local anna
teur Performance before a. highly edi-
fed audience In, this. artistic EFFORT
the young MANI took something dis
tinctively modern and tried to interpret
the emotions which it would arouse in
a sensitive. beholder, just as the early
Greeks, the early Egyptians, the Amer
lean Indians and many other 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 performance. II
was, In fact, rated all the way from the
sublime to the ridiculous But it had
to be conceded that-he was an artistic
pioneer of high order. Ever since
certain stage stars popularized inter-
pretive dancing in this country some
years ago, the vogue Of it as an art
has been spreading. There are schools
Of interpretive dancing in nearly all Of
our cities. Plump ladies dance to get
thin and thin ladies dance to get fat,
and all If them dance, Of course, to
express their souls In addition to the
women, there is small and courage
Gus band Of male dancers. These are
the real martyrs of the cause, for. all
though among most primitive peoples
dancing has been more male than
female art, although David in the Bible
danced for the glory of Jehovah in the
face OF his wife's disapproval, solo
dancing has now come to be regarded
as primarily. a feminine art. Social
dancing by couples, Of course, Is an en-
tlrely different thing. being form of
communal courting, and a lineal des-
cendant Of the social orgies Of savage
tribes, and not an artistic effort at ALI
But the important point is that this
brave young man Of the machine gun
dance was trying to invent an Ameri-
can and modern Interpretive dance.
and so get away from the initiative
character OF all our dances. Just as
our architecture in this country is
grotesque mixture of Greek, Gothic,
English and Italian with dabs Of Ori-
entail, so our interpretive dancing has
been initiative Of Greek, Egyptian and
Hindoo efforts. In neither Is there
anything original, anything 100 per
cent American" Now our literature
just recently is showing strong signs of
indigenous originality, and our arohi-
lecture; dancing and other arts should
be able to follow suit,
-. Some Possible Themes.
II the young mans mechanical no
ton 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 opportuni-
ties for the heavy talent which is so
abundant in dancing circles. But the
new: American. school Of dance should
express the soul of the great American
people rather than the mere mechanical
externals of It's industrial technology.
For example, opposed to the famous
bacchanal Of the ancient Romans we
should have the prohibition dance. The
imagination fairly riots with possible
details. Likewise the dance Of the blue
laws would surely be one of our mas
terpieces. embodying the very soul OF
our traditional puritanism. Imagine
also dances which interpreted the spirit
of q, great American amusement park,
and think Of the effects which could be
wrought in a dance of election night,
or a dance of the red peril.
Does it strike you as ridiculous? II
is by just such interpretations Of their
national and racial life that the ancients
raised the dance to a plane Of equality
with music and painting as an art. And
it is by our failure to interpret our
selves that we have let 1t degenerate
into jigging and clogginG.
We are at q disadvantage in Great
ing a dance form typical of our period,
because dancing has held almost no
place in our lives as q, rite or for self
expression. In the beginning of the
race, the primitive man began sponta-
neously to initiate the attractive rhythm
of the waves or grass in the wind. The
phythm became an accessory to worship
and for centuries, savages. Egyptians
Hebrews and Greeks danced before
their affairs. But in early medieval times
religious dancing began to lose favor,
until now only in Spain, among clViliz-
ed nations, is there any religious dane
ing, and even there it has survived by
evasion Of an edct. Modern religion
with indoor services. has no place for
the ecstatic dance.
Our Unrhythmie Lives.
Nor do our amusements and occupa-
'tions lend themselves readily to rhyth-
mic mimicry. We are told that the
Greek maidens played knuckle bones in
/ their dances, and the Indians have ar
row, bead. feather. and spear dances.
symbolic of their interests.