Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 350, 22 January 1903, Page 7

Sketcher.

HISTOBY OF DANCING. SKSPANCING was not. invented. It is »>sT an; evolution- r The loveof dancing ~gj&rd is inherent in human nature. .' From the first formation of societies,' says Bosseau, * song and dance, trae ehildren Of ldvp and leisure, i o®&Tstj& the amusement, breather the of idle assemblies of men and women.* >s& is allied sto poetry jand : quickening of the muscles, the involuntary tapping of the feet and the skipping about or clapping of hands by children under the inspiration of a lovely strain are but simple manifestations of an instinctive desire oa the part of the physical being to respond to the stimulation of the mental' While fne rude caperiogs of the savages are in a measure a cruder form of this same impulse, the rhythmic postures wbjieh reflect the sweet and caressing sensations of the art as we know it ara part ofi'the inheritanaeyqf civilization. ■'' -""'"' *^^ Dancing in Eably Ages.

A beautifully illustrated book entitled ' A History of Dancing/ is published by D. Appleton and Company. It is from the French of Gaston Vallter, with a sketch of dancing in England by Joseph Grego. According to the author, a flower of the nighjE, dancing is said to have germinated under the skies of the Pharaohs. Tradition speaks of the rounds, symbolic of sidereal motion, circling beneath the stars on the august soil of Egypt. It manifested itself first in sacred science, severe and hieratic; .yet even then it babbled brokenly of joy and grief in the procession of the Apis. Later on, in the course of the ages, it became interwoven with all the manifestations of popular life, reflecting the passions of man and translating the most secret movements of the soul into physical action. From the, solemnity of religious rites, from the fury of warfare it passed to the gaiety of pastoral sports- and the dignity and grade of polished society, fit took on the splendor of social festivities, the caressing languor of love and even dolefully followed the funeral train. Greeks Teach Bomans.

The Bomans, who imitated the Greeks in all their arts, borrowed their dances just as they adored their gods, although the Bomans were primitive when the Greeks were in their splendor./ Bnt the arts of Greece soon degenerated after their migration to Borne. The virginal dances of Greece and fesste of sacred mysteries, the fbwers and balmy sunshine returning spring became nnrccog-,. hizabie, serving as pretexts taHkind of license. r /"'-? a || M§ § ! Theatrical dancing, however, attained ' extraordinary perfection among the Bomans, and pantomime, an art unknown to the Greeks, had its birth among their rivals. After centuries of felly, which brought about the downfall of the great races, the art of dancing disappeared. It reappeared, however, during the early years of the Christian era, more in the form of a religious rite, although in turn degenerated and served as pretexts for impure spectacles. ■'". * -*** After the middle ages it was Italy, under the impulse of the Medici, that awoke to a knowledge of the literature - and the arts and sciences of ancient Greece and Borne and with it the art of dancing. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw it flourishing at every court. Under the patronage of Louis XIII. of Bichelleu and of Henry IV. it took on a peculiarly French character. It had followed the great Catherine de Medici to France and formed a feature of all the festivities she organized with so much splendor. But the stateliness that had marked it among the cloaks and heavy swords of the knights and the long robes pf the ladies gave way to a loveliness, an animation and a certain voluptuous character under Italian influences. This influence not only added splendor to court functions, but.spread a taste for dancing throughout France. The queen moreover organized allegorical ballets, thus laying the foundations of opera. ...■■;- - r v JGbeat Impuesb-to Abt. i't- .. •:

We come now to that great century where all the arts burst forth with dazzling blossoms, when everything seemed to flash and quiver under a novel impulse. Hitherto the theatre had ministered only to the amusement of the court. 'lt now opened its doors to the populace and the populace entered.with delight. Women made'their first appearance on the stage. Louis XIV. founded the Academy of Dancing, and, anxious to give a prestige to the art, he himself took part in the const ballets. , ..( u*J The dances of the eighteenth century had.a charm all their own. With their stipple and rhythmic grace they surrounded man, and in a still greater degree womai, with ah atmosphere of beauty. A constellation of dancers, male and female; gave a dainty grace hitherto unknown to theart, Danoing in Blood,. _ "But there was I fearful morrow to those days of supreme eleganee and careless gaiety-—The roarof the revolution broke ■> in the dream ;V kings,! women ahjt? ! poets ■ were dragged/in tumbrils to thai scaffold, while cannon, thundered ort' thtr frontier. ''" * ■' v * v ; '"''

And yet dancing went on; but now it was the sinister dancing of the red-capped Carmagnole, to the refrain of the Ca-ka. Men and women danced round the scaffold, their feet stained in blood; a strange frenzy seemed to have taken possession of the nation. Perhaps oblivion was sought in movement, a diversion from misery, horror and alarms. T .roaty-three theatres and 800 public balls were open every evening immediately after the Terror. Women attended them clad in garments of ancient Greece, with sandaled feet and bared breasts and arms. k tS |

The empire was 1 hardly favorable .td the develop meat of the art. Bat soldiers danced oa the eve of battle, eager to forget thedangers of the morrow, and a certain number of official balls took place during the consulate of Bonaparte and the reign of Napoleon. After a favarish internal, while Napoleon's star was fading on; the horizon of the world, two planets rose in the firmament of opera—Taglioni and Fanny Elasler. Other stars succeeded them, but never eclipsed their radiance. The Tuilleries were far from gay under Louis XVIII. and Charles' X, but after some preliminary dancing on M, de Salvandy's famous volcano, the pastime made its appearance again in the king's house-hold in 1830. ,