Direct practical instruction is furnished on the subject of present-day ballroom dancing, to the extent of clear and exact directions for the performance of steps now fashionable in Europe and America. The chapter was prepared under the careful supervision of Mr. John Murray Anderson.
Neither in word nor picture does the book contain any statement not based upon the authors’ personal knowledge, or choreographic writings of unquestioned authority, or the word of dancers or ballet-masters of the utmost reliability. To these artists and to certain managers we are greatly indebted. Much of the matter has never before been printed in English; a considerable portion of it has here its first publication in any language. The illustrations of dances of modern times are made from artists in the very front rank of their respective lines. If the new material so contributed to choreographic literature proves, according to the belief of dancers who have read the manuscript, to be of value to producers, the authors will experience the gratification that comes of having been of service. But their efforts will be more directly repaid if the influence of the book hastens by a day that insistence upon a high choreographic ideal in America, and that unification of dance-lovers which must exist in order that worthy productions may be reasonably insured of recognition in proportion to their quality.
Finally, a word of thanks to those whose aid has made this book possible. Though busy, as successful people always are, they have given time and thought unsparingly to the effort, in co-operation with the authors, to make this a substantial addition to the layman’s understanding of the dancing art.
T. K. and M. W. K.
New York, November, 1913.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| [I. The Dancing of Ancient Egypt and Greece] | [3] | |
The dance a primitive emotional expression. Importance in Egyptianreligious ritual. Biblical allusions. Its high place in Greek civilisation.Origin attributed to the gods. Employed in observancesreligious, civic, and private. Practice decreed by Lycurgus formilitary discipline and cultivation of national stamina. A featureof Plato’s “Ideal Republic.” Ballet in drama. Interacting influencebetween dance and sculpture. | ||
| [II. Dancing in Rome] | [22] | |
Simplicity of early Roman taste and manners enforced by poverty.Vulgarity with riches. Degeneration of dancing with other arts,under Empire. Acrobatics, obscenity. Ballet pantomime. Pyladesand Bathyllus. | ||
| [III. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance] | [29] | |
The Christian Church lifts dance from degradation. Ballet d’actionin ritual of worship. A cause of disagreements between ecclesiasticaldignitaries. The Seises of Seville Cathedral preserversof dance in religious service. Moralities, etc. Mechanical effects.Ambulatory ballets. | ||
Rebirth of polite society; the masque. Cardinal Riario. Catherinede Medici, direct influence toward modern ballet. Elizabethof England. Richelieu, composer. Louis XIV, ballet performer,founder of national academy. | ||
Dawn of stars. Sallé. Prévost. Camargo. New standards.Expression. New steps added to those derived from old dances:Gavotte, Minuet, Pavane, Saraband, Tordion, Bourrée, Passecaille,Passepied, Chaconne, Volte, Allemande, Gaillarde, and Courante.Their formality; illustrations. | ||
| [IV. A Glance at the Ballet’s Technique] | [59] | |
Visual music: dance steps are notes, an enchainement is a phrase,a dance-composition is a song, the ballet is an orchestra. Balletdancing, as such, not based on imitation of nature; a convention,analogous to ornamental decoration. Intent: perfect beauty ofline and rhythm; abstract qualities exploited. Importance ofpantomime unsettled. | ||
Ballet dancing can be seen intelligently only by aid of acquaintancewith elemental steps. Fundamental positions of feetand hands. Gliding steps: chassé, échappé, coupé, etc. Battements,grand, petit. Changement. Entrechat. Brisé. Balloné.Enchainements. Pas de Bourrée, pas de Basque. | ||
Turns and pirouettes. Rond de jambe. Fouetté. Sur le cou-de-pied;en l’air. Renversé. En arabesque, etc. Optical illusions. | ||
Phrasing. Theme. Motive. | ||
Standards of form. Exactness. Beneficial relaxation of formality;results of unguided emancipation. | ||
| [V. The Golden Age of Dancing] | [100] | |
Early eighteenth century finds ballet profiting by many favourable influences.Royal patronage. Public enthusiasm and discernment.Great-minded artists in co-operation. Fortunate accidents. TheVestris, father and son. Noverre, “the Shakespeare of thedance.” Boucher, designer of stage decoration. Gluck. Costuming. | ||
Rivalries of Camargo and Sallé; Allard and Guimard. Coterieof great performers. French Revolution. | ||
Dance resumed with return of peace. An ambassador as impresario.Public controversy and enthusiasm over Taglioni andEllsler; opposites; none to replace them; singing supersedes dancingin opera. | ||
| [VI. Spanish Dancing] | [121] | |
Gaditanae in Roman literature. Spanish dancing resists Roman corruption,Gothic brutality. Favouring influence of Moors. Attitudeof the Church. Public taste and discrimination. | ||
Two schools, Flamenco (Gipsy origin) and Classic. The Gipsy.La Farruca, el Tango, el Garrotin; distinct character. Costume.Classic: Seguidillas family. Las Sevillanas; general character.The Fandango rarely seen. La Malagueña y el Torero. LasMalagueñas. The Bolero. Castanets. Los Panaderos. The Jotaof Aragon, character, costume, etc. Other dances. | ||
| [VII. Italian Dances] | [156] | |
The Forlana of Venice: Harlequin, Columbine, Dr. Pantalone. Pantomimeand tableaux. The Tarantella, character, costume. TheCiociara of Romagna. Italian fondness for pantomime. The Saltarello.La Siciliana, la Ruggera, la Trescona, etc. | ||
| [VIII. European Folk-Dancing in General] | [164] | |
Folk-dancing an expression of social conditions. Scotch nationalism.The Sword Dance; the Highland Fling; the Scotch Reel. Motives,basic steps. Reel of Tulloch. The Shean Treuse. England:Sailor’s Hornpipe. Morris Dances. Recent revival of olddances. Ireland: Jig, Reel and Hornpipe. Intent, steps, devicesof tempo. Irish festivals; Gaelic League. Sweden: recent revivalof old dances. The Skralât; Kadriljs. The Vafva Vadna; theDaldans. Holland: the Mâtelot. France: la Bourrée, la Farandole.Specimen freak dances: the Perchtentanz, the Bacchu-ber.The Schuhplatteltanz of Bavaria. Balkan region: the Kolo. Degenerationof dancing in Greece. Russia: Cossack Dance, CourtDance. Slavonic character and steps: the Czardás; the Mazurka;the Szoló; the Obertass. Temperament. | ||
| [IX. Oriental Dancing] | [196] | |
Symbolism, decoration, pantomime, story in the dance. Sensationalmismanagement in Occidental countries. Mimetic dancing a substitutefor newspapers. The Dance of Greeting; welcome, blessings,etc. Structure of Arabic choreography. HandkerchiefDance of Cafés; candour. Flour Dance. Popular narrativedances. Fantasia of Bedoui; religious outbreaks. Dancing fortourists; the Almées. Dance, Awakening of the Soul. Animatesculpture. Oriental technique. Sword Dance of Turkey. Dervishes.Lezginkà of the Caucasus. Ruth St. Denis; Nautch;Spirit of Incense; the Temple; the Five Senses. Antiquity;carvings in India and Java. Hula-Hula of Hawaii. Priestessestrained for religious dancing. Japan: dancing for all occasions.Abstractness of symbols. Dances of war. | ||
| [X. The Ballet in its Dark Age] | [228] | |
Sterilisation of ballet by struggle for technical virtuosity. Ballet inopera. Vulgarisms and counterfeits: the Can-Can; contortion;high kicking; skirt-dancing; insipid prettiness. A revival of goodwork; falsifications of it. Loie Fuller, silk scarf, electric lights.Serpentine and Fire dances. Imitators. World’s Fair of 1893;stigma on Oriental dancing. One class of managers. Obscurepreparation of a new force. | ||
| [XI. The Romantic Revolution] | [241] | |
Isadora Duncan, complete idealist. Her metier. Russia: dissatisfactionwith ballet. Duncan in St. Petersburg. Secession from ImperialAcademy. The romantic idea; choreography, music, paintingunited in a radical new school. The Russian ballet. Paris,United States, England. Influence and reception. Managementin America. | ||
| [XII. The Russian Academy and Its Workings] | [257] | |
Selection of pupils. Consecration to work. Contract, obligationsafter graduation. Advantages to the government. General education.Technical training: Italian ballet technique, music, drawing,acting, pantomime, plastic gymnastics, fencing. Care of health.Age of Academy. Russian ballet as distinguished from French-Italian;law-governed freedom. Addition to emotional scope.Recent ballet pantomimes. | ||
| [XIII. Social Dancing of To-day] | [269] | |
Revived interest in dancing. New forms of dance suited to the presentfreedom of individual expression. Rapid changes. The TurkeyTrot. New names for slightly altered dances already familiar.The Argentine Tango; significance. Detailed instruction for performanceof the One-Step, the Boston, the Hesitation Waltz, theTango, the Brazilian Maxixe. Tendencies toward revival of oldcourt dances. | ||
| [XIV. A Layman’s Estimate of Conditions] | [304] | |
Re-establishment of great dancing in the United States; will it takeand keep a high plane? Loose standards of judgment. Dependenceupon commercial management. Managers; their varied influences.Need of endowed ballet and academy. Difficulties ofballet organisation in the United States. Insufficient training ofAmerican ballet dancers. Ballet in operas; unimportance underold traditions, changing standards. Metropolitan and Russian ballet;ground gained and partly lost. Russians under other auspices.Ballet school; impositions upon it. Need of academy with dancingas primary purpose. General organisation; departures fromscheme of Russian Academy. | ||
| Bibliography | [323] | |
| Index | [327] | |