Pueblo chieftain., 1921-05-27
REVIVAL OF THE MASK

the Peacock Headdress, the F1irt or
Silly Girl Madame Butterfly, and the
head of monk. The interiors of the
masks. not having been made eepe-
cially for Miss Seevrn, are misfits. par
ticulary the head of the Flirt whose
scraped her nose.
The only drawback to the use OF the
mask is that II cannot be worn con-
tinuously thruout a performance. Ow-
ing to the difficulty 1t presents to
breathing, the time limit for Its con-
tinuous wear is 10 minutes. In tho
case of pantomime when they are
worn thruout the entire scene, they
are promptly removed as the curtain
falls.
Masks Of Long Ago
Mr.. Benda, who is the nephew of the
late Madame Modjeska, has always
been Interested in the theatcr. 1t was
his knowledge of the history of the
drama which caused him to become
Interested In the making of masks.
In the libraries and museums he found
samples of masks that had been worn
five centuries before Christ. And
they were pretty good masks. too" he
said. Even those of the early tribes
were crudely artistic, while those of
the Greeks represented real artistic
achievements"
No one knows when the first masks
came into being. but ii is well known
that they were used in ancient tribal
dances. The tribal dance. or course.
was the first form OF dramatic art.
1t was tho races first form OF self
expression and was developed in con-
nection with religious worship. Tho
dance is still the only form of dram
attic art practiccd by primitive tribes
existing in the world today.
Among the Aleutians mystic mask
dances form part of their holy cerc-
monios.' We arc told by one authority.
Some OF these dances arc performed
by women. Hundreds OF women dance
round their idols by moonlight. and all
have their faces covered with wooden
masks, painted in imitation of tho
heads Of sea animals. These masks
have no apertures for eyes, only holes
beneath the nose. which allow tho
| bearers to look downward but in no
other direction.
American Indians also have mystic
festivities at which pantomimcs arc
performed and the actors appear dis
guiscd. usually as animals. and belong
to secret societies. No outsider Is ad-
mittcd to these strictly ritual dances.
Many of them have passed out of cx =
istencc hut others are still held with
great regularity. Membership in these
secret societies is always restricted
and the members enjoy ccrtaS0 special
privileges Thus. the Hamatsa' which
is a society among the northwestern
Indians, was once allowed TO cat hu-
man flesh.
The secret societies among tho Pol
ynesians Kill and cat anybody who
happens to intrudc upon their dances.
Tho dancers wear monstrous animal
heads or Erotcsquc human faces.
carved of light wood and gaudily
o..
head covered with framework Of
cane. decorated with vegetable sub
stances to represent hair Sometimes
the masks are made OF two tortoise
shells deliberately put together and
carved.
In New Britain the natives OBJ
serve tho pleasant custom of using
the skulls OF their Diseased relatives
for masks. Tho skull h provided at
the back with q transverse bar. which
tho dancer keeps in his torih while
whirling about. Tho head II covered
with a kind OF clay, painted with rcd.
white and hluc stripes around the eyes
and mouth"
The Greeks also used masks for their
dramatic, interpretive dances. but after
this they seem largely to have dis
appeared. Probably they met their
doom with the birth Of Christianity
and tho subsequent Dark Agcs. which
stncd so much OF the carly art. Al
any rate. the restless twentieth cen
tury has rcdlscovercd them and found
them Just as fascinating as they were
when the race was young.
The woman Of today needs to learn
and play more athletic games than
ever before II she is to take her new
posi;ior in America aS the bearer OF
the burdens OF citizenship. according
to DR.. William Rurdlck. supervisor
Of physical education for the public
schools of Maryland.
Fannie Dorman. an aged ncErcss
who died recently at Scaford Del
wilied her life time savings Of several
thousand dollars to two white women
who had been kind to her in her old
age.