Evening star., 1934-01-18


playing OF Rameau's pieces en- Con-
cert" which were dainty and elegant
morsels bringing out good combined
tonal quality of the players. The
audience was large one and kindly
in its appreciation Of none too in
teresting program.
In LEAVING Constitution Hall last
evening, after witnessing the per-
formance of Shan-Kar and his company
Of Hindu dancers and musicians, the
predominating feeling was sense OF
gratitude that such beauty existed in
the world and such talent as Shan
Kar's to so completely incorporate it in
single evenings entertainment. Real
izing, as one was forced to do, the hope
lessness of trying to grasp the inner
meaning OF that which was evolved
through centuries, it is on the superb
art Of Shan-Kar himself, who has
visualized it for Western eyes, that the
attention was focused
Shan-Kar is a revelation of the art
Of dancing. In him are united and CO.
ordinated to the finest degree every
artistic movement which each part of
the body Is capable of achieving, and
y
fection registers subordinate impress
sion, for it is the sensitive feeling of
each Interpretation that grips one and
enthralls. So delicate as almost to pass
unobserved, and so gently interviewer
with a subtletry that modern dancers
have never even thought Of, 1t resolves
itself to amazing climaxes Of breath
taking beauty. Shan-Kar's dancing is
living rhythm. It Is an electric force
that flows through and permeates his
entire body. melting each movement
into the other, returning upon itself and
renewing itself with inexhaustible power
One is lost in a bewildering maze of
movement. The supreme importance
of the slight but infinitely varied
changes of the hand arrests the atten-
shoulders. the neck, the head or an in
tricate body pose. Yet not for mo-
ment can one forget that a story is
being told, fascinatingly evident in
every gesture. Another amazing fea-
ture of Shan-Kar's art it is calmness.
With no stressing Of special moments
and without drama, it unrolls itself
like great panorama and the drama
Is there and the moments have been
underlined and the story told with un-
forgettable art.
AS dancer Shan-Kar is superbly
endowed with a splendid physique, that
has been trained in special way, so
as to eliminate all harshness. Robust,
powerful and aggressive when need is,
there is nevertheless no overdevelop-
ment of muscle or disturbance of a
natural bodily beauty Of line. with
impassive facial expression, breaking
momentarily into life, he is a reincarna-
ton of his own all-wise gods, who have
watched repetition of the drama of life
through the centuries.
Beyond description, but unforgettably
engraved on the memory. were Shan
Kar's presentation Of the Dance of
the Snake Charmer," "Indra" and
Kama Deva."
As a spectacle the performance Is
colorful and gorgeously presented. The
costumes are rich and lighting effects
| appropriately varied. The dancers who
support Shan-Kar are but slightly in.
ferior to him in the perfection Of theil
art. To his partner, Simkie, must &c
almost equal praise for her exquisite
and profoundly impressive interpreta-
tions, which, in either solo number
such as Rama Chandra," or together
with Shan-Kar, contained a maximum
of poetry and charm. Particularly
with Kanak-Lata. Debendra, in the
Dance of the Hunter" gave thrilling
and marvelously detailed picture Of 9
prey, which had in part to be repeated
Two concerted numbers, "Astra Puja'
and "Tandavs Nrittya" brought tha