The mirror., 1923-03-29
DRAMATIC INSTINCT


and sunshine, Joy in motion or love of
adventure is the dramatic instinct 1t
is the key to the gateway of imagination;
it is the vista of the land of might-be
opening out from the windows of daily
living; it is color and romance grated
on to the rugged trunk of the familiar
and commonplace.
Children feel it so keenly that they, of
their own accord, dramatize the stories
they love, initiate their elders in gesture
and mannerism, dress up on every posi-
bic occasion in the costumes of the adult
parts they wish to play. Children of
larger growth may not respond with the
same naivete to the promptings of this
instinct but it makes its presence felt in
many of the adult pursuits. Witness the
tendency of men to gather together in
secret cannish orders in which ceremony
and costume figure largely, and note the
steady stream of would-be dramatists,
those sanguine writer's contemptuous of
technique or tradition, trusting entirely
to the guiding finger of instinct
The child hastens home from the circus
to play acrobat and horseback rider. His
response to new experience is in doing
the thing witnessed in so far as he can
The adult, of more restrained impulses
is probably content with criticizing the
actors he sees. But the act of criticism
implies the possibility of seeing himself
in the other mans place. Else how would
he have an opinion as to wherein the ac-
tor erred There would be neither ap-
proval nor criticism by one utterly lack
ing in dramatic instinct.
Society and the good manners which
are the backbone of social intercourse are
based to large extent on this same little
sprite of dramatic instinct. Society, Gus
tom, and tradition create part to be
played and the ordinary individual is in
tent on his cue, and diligent in fulfilling
the part assigned. He builds up char
acter for himself in the eyes of the world,
and then tries to live up to the part. True,
sometimes, he throws aside his mask in
the privacy of his home, and reveals his
rnvarnished attributes; but in the main
he refuses to step down from his charac-
tcr-playing. Happily there is possibil-
ity that he may grow to the greater pro-
portions, if his role is good one.
Interpretive dancing, whether it inter-
rrets music, emotion, beauty, or story,
embodies drama. The tendency Of
modern dancing seems, indeed away
from dynamics, toward the side of drama.
Modern painting and scul pturing appear
to be an effort to express not beauty of
line, color or form, but drama force, con-
fict. The crashing dissonances of the
new music, seek to arrive at dramatic
effect with quick impatient strokes. The
realistic novel is the writer's way of dis
playing through the commonplace, the
universal note of drama!
If the development of modern art, re-
'fecting the restless spirit of the age, tend,
away from Mozartian harmonies, toward
the portrayal of vivid conflict perhaps
we may say it is good sign Dramatic
instinct is strongest in youth, and the
world of art is in its youth The strug-
gle of the radicals is the revolt of youth
against the beauty and staidness of con-
vention. When this bubbling over of
effervescent youthful energy has passed,
we may emerge into new period where
matured growth and wisdom govern the
untold possibilities of the thing we call
dramatic instinct.-Ex