DRESSING IN "NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 135, 3 March 1919, Page 2

DRESSING IN "NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"

The principal ladies in this very clever comldy appear in only two different costumes each, but these are very charming and characteristic. Miss Lolita Robertson's first.gown is of floral silk, the ground being soft blue, and having tones of rose, violet, and heliotrope in the design. The sleeves were bell-shaped below the elbow, and were lined with heliotrope. The charming draped skirt had ribbons of violet, and tho violet hat had streamers of tho . same colour. The undor-dress was tighter nnd had a lace flounce at the foot. In the s-.econd and third acts Miss Robertson wore a frock of a.soft pink satin, the graceful draperies at each 'side showing a lining of palest green. The pointed sleeves were of georgette,, and finished with ball : points. In theso acts Miss Robertson ,wore no hat, and one could admire her beautifully-poised, head with • its glossy dark hair—such lovely hair and so simply\ dressed that it relied entirely on its loveliness for effect, and secured it. Miss Emma Temple was, as 'always, most tastefully gowned. Her first gown was of 'soft oyster satin veiled in georgette, with which she wore a very smart black tullo ecnrf with flounced ends and a wide black hat. Her second gown was of palest heliotrope satin, the overdress of chiffon very smartly trimmed with black, and the collar, having a. fichu effect, pointed at the back and finished with little balls of heliotrope. A rose at the waist gave' a touch of colour, and she wore a rope of pearls. . Miss Caryll's frocks were both of. them dainty and girlish. The first was of pale pink georgetto with a sash of old rose, lho skirt made with graduated tucks, and having a prettily draped bodice. With this she woro a pretty pink hat. An added note of smartness was given by touches of black. Miss Caryll's second frock was in two shades of blue. The foundation of tho deeper tone was made with wide tucks on tho skirt, and the paler shade, tho colour of blue plumbago, forming a vcrv pretty' pinafore effect back and front "and finishing in a very smart bow at the back. With it she woro a long string of coral beads. "The hat"—tho causo of so much trouble, was, for tho purpose of "truth," a quaintly appalling affair of heliotrope, with trimmings of red and black and purple, which still had a, certain charm when Miss Caryll wore it, which proves that it isn't so much the hat as tho. wearer! Miss Nellie Wilson and Miss Lucie Carter, as Mabel and Sable, of the "Varieties," dressed to emphasise the character, especially Mi;s ', Wilson. Her first frock, of white' crepe-(le-chine, was worn with a vivid rose I satin sash, coatee, aud hat; her second i gown of red velvet, with Trillings at nt-ck j and wrist of cream tulle, and worn with I a red velvet lam-o'-sliauter gave exactly the noto sho wished in her clover scene 1 with Mrs. Rnlston. Miss Carter's first gown was a. smart affair of black and. , white, with which she wore a wide hat I with a black, and white bow. Her second frock was a figured silk of pretty design, I with which sho wore a wide violet hat with feather-trimming.

EURYTHMICS 'an interesting study. The study of eurythniics, although well understood, doubtless, on the other side of tho world, still remains a mystery to many people here. The briefest account of eurythniics, taya Miss Campbell, is to describe it as .the use of the body as a musical instrument. If this seems an odd statement it is only because we conceive of music in too narrow a sense, as if music were wholly an affair of sound. What music is in essence we do not know. It is, at any rata was. not in the violin .or the voice, not in the written score or. the conductor's hands and feet, keyboard and strings, notation, and letters are all alike, instruments by which the "soul," as we sny, of music can reach our souls. Now the function of the expert musician is to lay hold of these instruments, .and get the most out of them. The untutored voice, for example, can. express deep emotion, and can make its own music, but it cannot ko fnr without aid, ana especially it cannot, without' guidance, share its feelings with comrades. And so, for the sake of higher achievement in our emotional lives, and for the sake of fellowfeeling, <we submit to discipline, to technique; with great pains and labour we learn the technidue, IV o reiine the various instruments. Eurythniics, wo.say, is the use of the body as a musical instrument; all other instruments, piano, flute, and the rest, touch solely the ear and voice, but music belongs to • the whole of the body; evory muscle, and nerve 'are concerned in the physical response to fine music. . If alt we can do do with music is to hear it, then it has lost half its meaning; to lis. Eury : thmics, then, is a system which.has 'invented a.technique by/which the human body can. take its place, side by side,, with violin and piano, as a.'niaster instrument. Technique is a necessity, as I have stated before. Any.little child will make' graceful and free movements .in response'to the niusica of n," concertina;, but, as wo have seen, every mode of'llio expression, of music needs a. technique—that is,, it needs great labour andinyent.'on to produce what we call lino , art, out of.- the exercise. ' The eurythmic exercises may be divided into two groups—exercises of control and exercises of interpretation, (It must be understood that there is-, no rigid .line between the two, and many exercises' may belong to .both groups or to either.) The object of the exercises of cantrol is to enable the will to.check.or alter a movement with rapidity and certainty; there are exercises to train different parts of the body to move independently of each .other.

We then ,come to the exercises of interpretation. ' .In order to make these clear, it must-first be explained that in general the arms are used for beating time, while the feet, take one step for every note played. • Many exercises merely consist in the pupil listening to a bar, ,or a series of-bars, and afterwards realising them', as it is called, with these arm and leg movements. But not only the line and actual notes are to be shown by the body—every shade in music, the change from staccato to legato, the 'ores-., cendos and diminuendos, the nccelerandos and riteratos, must all be instantly rendered by physical movement. Another question remains' to be answered: "What is "the use of eurythmics?" Certainly they are in their infancy, nndwhnt they may develop into or what may develop out of them, cannot yet be finally announced. But even now we can see somo of tho directions in which tho method is of value, and wo enn name without hesitation, education and art. In a musical education it is clear that the training of the. rythmic .sense is valuable, but it is probably only personal experience which can show the difference between :an intellectual mathematical comprehension of ivr.vt.hni and. Ihe complete realisation'of it with the whole body. Tt is, moreover, by a nntionnl instinct that the body responds to musical stimulus.. But the value of eurythmics in education is certainly not confined to the musical education. The exercisps for the. conlrol of .the body are of much more general application. • Concentration, quick reaction to stimulus; equilibrium, nipntal and physical, and selfreliance, are amongst, the qualities which, every form of education, m'ust pursue, end which eurythmics especially develoD. But, after all,-eurythmics. are:not only grind as a means, but as an end in themselves. The pleasure of moving to tho' music, of.receiving it. and giving it out "c"><'n, of express'"" it with one's whole body, amply justifies, the- method,-and can onlv be-nnnreciatedby those who have taken, part in it. '.