Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-04-08

ballet with suitable music and settings would
be very interesting.
"There are American institutions too,
that offer dance material. Few people would
think OF a newspaper cartoon as the germ
of a ballet, yet Adolph Bolm is doing bal
let with specially-written music, based on a
newspaper comic sheet character called
KraZy Kat"
But whether America adds any of its per-
sonality to the ballet or not most of the i'm
portant ballet work of the near future will
be done here, Mr.. Tchernikoff believes Bal
let is featured in operas, spectacular stage
productions, vaudeville programs, and re-
citals.
Ballet is popular and yet, strangely
enough, people know very little of it's history
or technique. Mr.. Tchernikoff tells of Sc
ries Of recitals given by himself and sew
eral other dancers which were accompanied
by lectures the history of ballet and dem
onstrations of the exercises and positions on
which ballet dances are built. To most of
the audience these exercises were the novelty
of the program. 4
Popular Fallacies
There is a great deal of misunderstood
ing in this country regarding the ballet, Mr..
Tchernikoff finds.
For instance" he says, there is a popu-
lar belief that dancer must begin studying
as small child and spend years doing moth
ing but exercises. This idea discourages
many dSplTduCS TO pallet VINO Io0l CnaC Ln6y
cannot enter the work because they missed
this early training. Pavlowa did not begin to
study dancing until she was about eleven
years old, and even then she studied a num-
Der of other subjects at the school which
she attended.
Years of work do not necessarily make a
great dancer. Many a ballerina has worked
as hard and as long as PavloWa without
achieving prominence because she lacked the
rare combination of strong constitution, a
body suited in build for ballet work, per-
sonality, finished technique, and a gift for
pantomime. Lacking any one of these quail
ties a dancer may just miss being star.
Yet the idea persists that the main requisite
for successful career as dancer is to start
training as a child Of three.
Another misconception regarding ballet
is that dancer must be monstrosity of
muscle. We know now that there is such a
thing as entertaining. The French ballet
dancers used to give unnecessary attention
to exercises that over-developed certain mus
cles. The bend of the knees called pile
would be practiced by ballet dancer four
times in each of the five positions of the
feet, alternating the right and left foot, or
forty times in all This would develop the
knee muscles so that they were not beauti-
full and yet there was no particular benefit
derived from practicing this simple bend of
the knee so strenuouSly.
Both the muscular back, arm and leg,
and the normal appearing body are seen on
the stage today. The dancer of great muscle
may be good technician, but not necessa-
rily SOL
Such fallacies about the ballet have be-
come deeply rooted, Mr. Tchernikoff says,
because so little has been seen of the art in
this country. Until recently, ballet in the
United States was a familiar spectacle main
ly in New York and Chicago, where the big
opera companies maintain their corps of
dancers. Other cities saw exhibitions only
ment of community opera and with ballet
schools springing up over the country we
have the prospect of ballet as popular
American art