Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-30
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GREEKS NOT DOING GREEK DANCING.

TRACTION. To the. Greek audience this
would not have been So but the mod
ern dancer cannot expect to overthrow
in an afternoon the traditions of his
time. So the conservatives argue, and
their point of view is worthy of notice,
since it rarely gets much attention.
But after all. the costume shouldsnot
be the most important point in the
presentation of a classic dance. 1t
seems strange that a detail of that sort
could have stood between modern
youths of Greece and a return to the
dancing ideal Of their famous ances-
tors.
Yet. when the Greeks dance today.
they do the latest ballroom steps, or
occasionally at festivals, peasants per-
form national folk dances. :
In one of the typical folk dances, the
peasants join hands in a long chain:
Many of the dancers are in modern
| clothes. Some of the girls wear the
voluminous peasant dress with en-
broidered skirt and apron and white
| sleeveless coat, and some OF the men
wear the full white skirts n tight
Ieggins of the national costume. They
wing along in a simple step, keeping
| time to slow music. The leader waves
a handkerchief. and the rest of the
! line follows along, dancing the same
| rather monotonous step. around and
around. These folk dances are said to
| Dear a faint resemblance to the classic
| dances Of Athens and Sparta, but the
| resemblance is vague n not easy to
trace.
The dances in honor of Athena. Df-
ana, Hera, Dionysius and Aphrodlte
were performed as expressions OF deep
religious feeling. In the highest period
of Hellenic culture the dances were
graceful, dignified and altogether arts
tic. 1t was only as Greece degenerated
that the dances became abandoned.
The Greek folk dances are a far cry
from the wild Bacchanales that are
associated with the last stage of the
classic dance. If the folk dances can
be traced back at all it would be TO the
dignified professionals in the groves of
some calm and stately deity.
Ancient Dances Described
Though diagrams and complete de-
scriptions of steps have not come down
to US, we can be fairly certain of some
facts about the dances performed by
the dance-loving Greeks. Homer. Pla
to. Hesiod and other writer's described
the dances, and the rhythms of Greek
poetry were occasionally employed to
indicate the rhythms of a dance. In
statues, paintings and has ~reliefs. Greek
artists depicted dancers in all sorts
of poses.
Dancing naturally played q large part
in the art of that time because it played
a prominent part in everyday life. The
religious feeling of the Greeks was
largely so expressed. Births and mar
riages were celebrated by dances, and
at funerals grief was c~ustomarily shown
by suitable pantomime.
Sculptured figures graphically show
us the sort of dancing approved by the
Greeks, and it is mainly to the work
Of the sculptors that modern naturalis-
tic dancers have gone for their inspira-
ton.
Studying the figures carefully. they
have discovered secrets of poise. mus
cular tension. balance and grace that
characterized the Greeks when they
were at the height of physical perfee-
ton. A figure on tiptoe with draperies
swinging to one side and arms swung
TO the opposite side might suggest to
some of us only Il model posed BY an
artist in a graceful attitude. One stu
dent of dancing. Maurice Emmanuel.
finds that such q pose represents the
end of a twirl not unlike the ~pirouette
of the ballet dancer.
BY analyzing thousands of figures of
Greek art. Monsieur Emmanuel found
that much of the ballet technique was
known to the Greeks, although they
performed the steps in a freer and far
less technical style than the ballerina.
The dance experts agree that the
Greeks danced with the entire body.
using the head, hands, arms and torso
to express their meaning. At first,
we are told, the dancers enacted their
pantomines very definitely.
They depicted their emotions and
thoughts SO perfectly that the dancer
Of today often finds the highest pos
sible self expression in the poses that
pleased Phidias 2,400 years ago.