LYRIC DANCING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1746, 10 May 1913, Page 11

LYRIC DANCING.

Very soon, now, wo shall have that accomplished lyrical dancer, Madame Genee, amongst us, and then wo shall realiso tho wisdom of Greek philosophers, who taught that education meant the development of a fair soul in a fair body, and that tho chief means to this end were athletics and the dance, writes "Queen Bee" in tho "Australasian." Wo havo had capable and graceful dancers here before—notably Letty Lind and Sylvia Gray—but they knew only a variety of dance, which depended a good deal on stage conventions and the agility of the feet. • . The finer type of lyric dancing, which tho Russians have made so popular iji London, is practically unknown to us. It includes, of course, the action of tho feet, but the great achievement is the dance in which the entire body is harmoniously active and expressive. The French Lave, in some measure, always kept-alive lyrical dancing in their midst, and call it by a name that has another significance, "Melodrame," its very derivation proving that it means action, acoompauied by music. With Madame Genee poetry, music, and dancing are interwoven as one art. In order to enable her to display this art true "melodramas" have been specially written, and these are danced through from beginning to end with a word being spoken. There is personality in every motion, and those who havo seen her declare that she has the art of not only dancing with her body, <but with her whole soul. Light as a gossamer, sho goes through her little'plays from end to end in - silence, laying bare her happiness and her misery, her trust and her disillusionment, for all to see as clearly as if her feet had tongues, a masterly interpretation of emotion by means of motion. Tho advent of tho lyrical dance has been welcomed all the world over by teachers. Miss Bentley, a celebrated instructor, believes that rhythmic expression through bodily movement'should be the basis of all musical study, and that the interpretation of the different emotional asd dramatic instincts of childhood through the medium of bodily movements will establish that harmony of the mental and physical powers which has heretofore been a quality won only after the experience of middle Such persistent effort in the training of children will develop a .generation in whom expression in song and dance will a natural vent for emotional life. The lyrical dancers have brought many things, one being that it is possible to add a good deal 6f pleasure and interest to school life. It is generally admitted that in the past brain-cramming, has been paid too much attention, to the neglect of the physical mechanism upon which it is entirely dependent for its adequate working. To feed the intellect day after day, to cram it, in fact, without a corresponding nourishing of the bodily emotions, is to bring children up in a lop-sided manner. Only by a judicious process of supplying mental nnd physical pabulum can we hope to produce the. perfectly-balanced and fair 6oul in a fair Jjody. The dramatic instincts of childhood are very pronounced, as those who h&ve had everything to do with them know, and, apart from the pleasure. dance studies would yield, there is possible the development of any predilection pupils show for various forms of bodily expression. Moreover, dancing is the means of producing a better carriage, and this alone is a great gain, for it must be admitted that graceful walking is not one of the Australian woman's strong points. Ono has only to ask of a lady wno. carries herself iwell to learn that she has been taught to dance correctly in her youth by some of.

the able instructors amongst us. However worthy the ordinary ballroom measures may be, festival, pantomime, and folk dances are the greatest of. all educators. They serve to express natural and national Characteristics, arouso interest in history, in costume, and in the manners and customs of other countries, while the "team work" produces spontaneity, enthusiasm, a sense of interdependence, and classic ideal, nil of which lead to that higher life we are striving after. Those who care to learn more concerning lyric dancing should read Miss Ellen Terry's book, "The Story of Jly Life," wherein she appreciates brightly, with great knowledge and taste, the lasting good such performers as Genee, Isa'dore Duncan, Pavlova, Nijinsky, lvarsavina, and Adolph Bolm hpve done to the allied arts of dancing, music, acting, and scene painting.