,,the ,,russian ,,ballet ,by ,ellen ,terry ,withdrawings ,by ,pamela ,colman ,smith #aiac ,illustration3 #jjja ,illustration3 #jjaa ,illustration3 #jjab ,illustration3 #jjah ,,the ,,russian ,,ballet ,introductory ,,the ,russian ballet1 at least that section of it which ,m4 de ,diaghiliev1 patron and grand seigneur rather than agent1 has taken all over ,europe during the last few years1 and more recently to ,america1 is now more than a darling of its own nation1 a naturally ballet-loving nation4 ,it has become an international possession4 ,in ,england the ,russian dancers have perhaps been acclaimed with more whole-hearted fervor than elsewhere1 because before their coming the land was barren4 ,in ,france and ,italy they had ballets of their own4 ,they have a standard by which they can measure the visitors from ,st4 ,petersburg4 ,but ,english audiences1 like children presented with a new toy1 first shyly wondered at the novelty of the agile strangers1 and then fell into transports of enthusiasm4 ,uncritical enthusiasm toward art and artists is an amiable attitude of the ,english once they have been gained over4 ,and this enthusiasm has a way of persisting4 ,the ,english public may be slow1 said a musician who had taken a long time to win their suffrages1 but they are damnably faithful6 ,if the fashion in ,russian ballet should age elsewhere ,i feel sure it will not in ,england1 the last country to adopt it4 ,so these notes by an enthusiast have a good chance of being seasonable for many years4 ,yes1 ,i claim to be an enthusiast1 although1 perhaps1 the fact that ,i am not an ,english enthusiast but one who is half ,irish and half ,scotch makes me more canny than some of my fellow-admirers4 ,i have never opened my mouth and swallowed the new ballet and all its works without thinking4 ,these are1 all the same1 impressions rather than criticisms4 ,and the impressions are not intended as an explanation of ,miss ,pamela ,colman ,smith's pictures any more than her pictures are intended to be an explanation of my impressions4 ,her pictures surely speak for themselves4 ,and like the clerk1 ,i need only cry ,amen to her eloquent drawings4 ,illustration3 #jjbj ,illustration3 #jjbb ,dancing ,in ,general ,,what is dancing8 ,the ,russians have done much to show us that it is something more than sauterie1 although they can sauter1 or leap1 with the best4 ,as an actress ,i salute dancers with the reverence of a man for his ancestors4 ,the dancer is certainly the parent of my own art1 but he has other children4 ,all arts1 of which the special attribute is movement1 descend from the dancer4 ,the ,greek word chorus means dance1 and the ,greek choruses were originally dances4 ,it can be proved that dancing movements formed the first metres of true poetry4 ,why do we speak of feet if not because the feet of the body used to mark the rhythm of inspired utterance8 ,religious ,dancing ,,it seems strange that the ,dance should have almost everywhere degenerated into something base and trivial1 while its children1 ,music and ,poetry1 in spite of lapses1 should have preserved their dignity and beauty4 ,it seems even more strange when we remember that dancing had a religious origin4 ,among the ,jews1 as among other peoples1 dancing was constantly associated with the ceremonies of faith4 ,illustration3 #ijbd ,in ,christian churches the choir was originally designed as a place in which the chanting of hymns and canticles might be conveniently accompanied by rhythmic movements4 ,on feast days the honor of leading the dance was reserved for the bishop4 ,this is why he was known in those days by the name1 of praesul1 the is1 he who dances first4 ,a bishop as premier danseur6 ,we can hardly believe it now1 yet why should we not1 seeing that the movements of priest and server at mass have the nature of a solemn dance8 ,and there are places in ,france and ,spain where liturgical dances still exist4 ,the most notable is the dance executed before the altar at ,seville in ,holy ,week4 ,i am afraid that the one that used to take place in the choir of ,saint ,leonard's at ,limoges1 where1 at the end of each psalm1 the people sang instead of the ,gloria ,patri1 ,san ,marceau1 pray for us and we will dance for you1 is now extinct4 ,the ,russian ,revival ,,all who regard dancing seriously1 and there is nothing which should be regarded more seriously than an art that is to give pleasure1 must be glad that they have lived in a century which has witnessed a very fine and sincere endeavor to restore the dance to some of its primal nobility4 ,there is much in the results of this endeavor to criticize1 there are a few things to deplore1 but in any refusal to recognize the magnitude of what has been accomplished1 there is probably some pique that it has been the nation which ,europe still views as barbarously ingenuous in matters of art which has reformed the ballet on such refined and spiritual lines4 ,i dislike the word reformed1 however4 ,reformations are generally tiresome4 ,transformations are far better6 ,saint ,francis transformed1 ,luther reformed2 and the ,russians are with ,saint ,francis rather than with ,luther6 ,to appreciate the change which has come over the ,russian ,ballet we ought to know a little about its constitution4 ,it is and has always been subsidized by the state4 ,the ,russian government supports schools of ballet1 where from the age of eight children are given a long and arduous training in the science of dancing1 and from which they are drafted into the imperial ballets at ,st4 ,petersburg1 ,moscow and ,warsaw4 ,a dancer's first appearance is generally made at the age of sixteen1 and at thirty-six his or her career is over4 ,the dancers are then retired on a pension amounting to about one hundred and fifty pounds a year4 ,it is not my intention to give details of this training4 ,they are written in many books by experts4 ,but ,i should like to say at this point that one of the leading characteristics of the ,russian system is the attention given to male dancing4 ,male ,dancers ,,had the male dancers ever been excluded from the ,imperial ballet its fate would have been very different4 ,the men are trained on the ballon system1 not on that which is known as the parterre1 and it is ballon dancing which is one of the most beautiful features of the ,russian ballet4 ,after we have watched interminable exercises ingeniously performed sur les pointes1 with what relief have we seen ,nijinsky1 perhaps the greatest ballon dancer who has ever existed1 bound on to the stage1 rise high in the air1 descend slowly and with such art that when he touches the ground he can use it again for a still higher flight4 ,illustration3 #jjbh ,the presence of men in the ballet has an effect beyond the pleasure afforded by the virile agility of their steps4 ,illustration3 #hjbi ,it does away with the necessity for those feminine travesties of men1 known in our pantomimes as principal boys1 who introduce an element into ballet which at its best makes a disturbing demand on our capacity for illusion1 and at its worst is a little degrading4 ,what has made the ,male ,dancers word ballet a sort of synonym for vice if it is not the idea that it provides an opportunity for women to attract admirers--not so much on account of their dancing as for the sake of their physical charm8 ,i think that a mixed ballet has the effect of concentrating attention on the art of the dance rather than on the seductiveness of the dancers4 ,and the free and noble plastic of the male dancers in the ,russian ballet has influenced the plastic of the women1 making it far less sexual and far more beautiful4 ,sur les ,pointes ,i ,,frankly confess that ,i have a dislike to ordinary dancing on the toes4 ,it may be because in my youth it had degenerated into something so stilted1 distorted and unrhythmical that it conflicted with all my ideas of beauty4 ,and when the ,russians give some of their older ballets1 such as ,giselle1 which bears the mark of ,italian influence--it was1 ,i think1 arranged by an ,italian matre de ballet --,i feel that all the improvements that the ,russians have made in this so-called classical dancing cannot uproot my prejudice1 although they can1 and do1 modify it4 ,the ,russian ballerinas accomplish the feat of being fluent on their toes4 ,they do not hammer out steps--it is a false notion of rhythm that there is a hammer-stroke on every strong beat--but take a collection of steps1 as a singer takes a collection of notes1 and calmly and gracefully phrase them1 in the manner of a bird beating the air with its wings1 rather than that of a blacksmith hammering on his anvil4 ,still ,i doubt whether the ,russians would have conquered ,europe had they come to us merely as revivers of classical dancing before it became mechanical and ugly4 ,they owe this revival to a great extent to ,tschaikowsky4 ,how ,far a ,native ,ballet8 ,,tschaikowsky was patriotic2 he wrote music for the ,imperial ,theatre ballets1 and was the first man of any position in ,russia to protest against the importation of ,italian dancers and ,italian methods4 ,undoubtedly he gave good counsel in advising a return to the ,french style of classical dancing1 the style which was at its best under ,louis ,,xiv4 ,but if the ,russians had been content to stop at an imitation of ballet as it was under the ,grand ,monarque they would still be giving us only a dead perfection of steps4 ,there is a deadness about all ,renaissance things1 whether in architecture or dancing4 ,what always surprises us about the ,russian ballet is its life4 ,this vitality came sweeping on to the stage with ,russian matres de ballet such as ,fokine1 who used tradition1 used the technical perfection of classical dancing1 but would not be a slave to them2 with ,russian composers such as ,borodin1 ,rimsky-,korsakoff1 ,glazounof1 ,liadoff1 ,arensky1 ,stravinsky and ,tscherepnin1 the conductor of the ballet2 with ,russian artists such as ,alexandre ,benois and ,leon ,bakst2 with ,russian dancers such as ,nijinsky4 ,is this ballet1 then1 distinguished from all other ballets by being a native ballet8 ,when we see ,tamar or ,scheherazade or the dances from ,prince ,igor we may answer1 ,yes4 ,but what about ,les ,sylphides1 ,spectre de la ,rose' ' or ,le ,carnaval8 ,are they typically ,russian8 ,i think they rather transport us into a country which has no nationality and no barriers1 the kingdom of dreams4 ,the ,russian ballet has transformed itself in a little over a decade because its guiding minds have been more than national4 ,the musicians1 artists1 dancers and ballet masters have depended more on invention than on reality4 ,many stories of widely different character have been drawn on for the new ballets1 but all have been treated with an imagination which is neither the property of a nation nor the result of patriotism4 ,personality--and ,nijinsky ,,the ,russians pride themselves on not having a star system4 ,every dancer has a chance of distinction4 ,a good idea1 but personality will out1 and genius cannot be effaced4 ,i am only the centre-piece of a great mosaic1 said ,nijinsky once1 but in his case it is a very big only4 ,certainly the perfection of the ensemble1 the well-ordered movements and groups of ,fokine1 assist this wonderful young god of the dance4 ,when ,anna ,pavlova1 whom ,i still regard as the best of the women ,russian dancers1 was torn from her original setting1 many admirers of her exquisite art1 in which all the essentials of the dance1 noble gesture1 beautiful line1 lightness1 elevation1 that order of movement which we call rhythm1 and perfect time1 are to be found1 congratulated themselves1 ,now we shall get more of her4 ,we got more--and less4 ,nijinsky1 in the years when ,pavlova was still in the ballet1 was allowed to have talent4 ,lately we have all begun to use the word genius4 ,where does the difference between the things talent and genius lie if not in the huge personality of the genius8 ,illustration3 #hjcd ,they used to say of ,henry ,irving1 who expressed himself in a multiplicity of parts1 that he was always the same ,irving4 ,certainly he was always faithful to himself whatever he assumed4 ,this is a sign of the presence of genius1 not of its absence4 ,in one sense we always have the same ,nijinsky1 as ,miss ,pamela ,colman ,smith has very happily shown in her drawings of him4 ,yet in another sense we never have the same ,nijinsky4 ,nijinsky's ,distinction ,,we must not belittle him by merely admiring him for his miraculously agile leaps and jumps4 ,as ,i said at the start1 dancing is not only sauterie4 ,there was probably no sauterie at all in the dancing of the ancients4 ,i am told that ,nijinsky was much affected by the dancing of ,isadora ,duncan when1 some years ago1 she appeared in ,st4 ,petersburg1 and ,i can well believe it1 for there was manifested in her at her best what was probably the supreme object of religious dancing---and all ancient dancing was religious--the training of the body to the point of making it docile to the rhythm of the soul4 ,there are many young men in the ,russian ballet who dance excellently with their bodies1 even if they cannot leap as high as ,nijinsky1 but what really separates him from them is the fact that he dances not only with his body1 but with his soul4 ,unfortunately this expression is often used lightly to mean merely with enthusiasm4 ,but it can be used in a graver sense1 and it is in that sense that ,i use it4 ,illustration3 #jjcf ,nijinsky ,always a ,dancer ,,so free and yet so disciplined6 said someone of ,nijinsky's dancing4 ,it was a very good criticism4 ,but ,i like even better these words from a ,french appreciation by ,m4 ,charles ,mryel3 ,we should not begin by praising him for his prodigious physical ability for leaving the ground4 ,let us think first of his power of evoking1 through the means of a human body in movement1 a sort of beautiful dream1 of his power of subjugating his material appearance so that he becomes a visitation divine and almost immaterial4 ,i remember in this connection something that was said to me by ,christopher ,st4 ,john after ,les ,sylphides3 ,this gives us a conception of what our glorified bodies after the ,resurrection will be like1 the same bodies1 but spiritualized and agile6 ,i thought1 ,this is too much6 and laughed at an excess of enthusiasm6 ,but the ,french writer and the ,english one were both expressing the same idea4 ,illustration3 #hjcf ,whatever his role1 the young ,russian dancer projects an interior emotion which has in it all the force of spontaneity1 but is at the same time conscious and considered4 ,as an actress1 that has always been my ideal of expression4 ,but actors express emotions2 it is generally their duty to realise1 in fact1 to recall a man4 ,nijinsky never recalls human experience1 never suggests the passions of mankind4 ,he is always the dancer4 ,now the miming of ordinary ballet-dancers has often in the past seemed to be more than a little ridiculous4 ,love and joy and pleasure1 pain and hate and death--how could they be simulated by pirouettings1 posings and posturings8 ,did ,i reject them as absurdly unconvincing because ,i did not understand the language of choreography8 ,i think ,i was alienated because ,i had never heard the language spoken well4 ,i am sure now that it can be infinitely expressive1 but the better it is spoken by the dancer's body the less it will resemble the expression of mortals4 ,i could never call ,nijinsky a good actor4 ,i can1 and do1 call him a great dancer4 ,illustration3 #jjdj ,the ,dance ,poems ,,it has been said that the ,russian ballet makes a vivid and brutal appeal to the senses1 and certainly there is some truth in this as regards the ballets of which the artist ,bakst is the guiding spirit4 ,the old saying that you cannot see the wood for the trees may be borrowed to express a criticism4 ,you cannot see color for the colors in some ,bakst ballets4 ,yet even ,bakst sometimes helps to aid that impression of a visitation divine which ,nijinsky in his own person produces4 ,you will see that ,miss ,pamela ,colman ,smith has given what some may think a disproportionate amount of space to her studies of ,les ,sylphides1 ,le ,carnaval1 and ,le ,spectre de la ,rose4 ,i think she was1 perhaps unconsciously1 more strongly attracted by these three dance poems 7for dance poems they should be called rather than ballets7 because of their greater wealth in the immaterial4 ,illustration3 #jjdb ,les ,sylphides ,,some of the ,russian ballets take a material story and treat it in terms of the dance4 ,but what story is there in ,les ,sylphides8 ,even the programme1 seldom at a loss for a synopsis1 has never tried to tell us what it is all about4 ,we hear preludes and waltzes1 nocturnes and mazurkas by ,chopin1 and hear them orchestrated audaciously1 but for the most part successfully1 by distinguished ,russian composers4 ,we remember that when we heard these lovely ,chopin pieces on the piano1 interpreted by a ,paderewski or a ,pachmann1 we had our mental dreams2 we saw things1 but not with our eyes4 ,when the curtain rose on ,les ,sylphides we were asked to make our imagination abdicate its rights1 to put away the films of that little individual cinematograph which we had made with closed eyes4 ,the demand may have seemed impertinent to those who love the interior visions given by musical sounds better than the most beautiful spectacle that the theatre has ever presented4 ,but ,les ,sylphides had not progressed far before we ceased to be worried by the antagonism between dreams and stage pictures4 ,the grace of those immaterial white figures1 ,victorian just so far as ,chopin is ,victorian1 became one with the grace of the music4 ,illustration3 #jjdd ,perhaps the rhythm of the music has never been better perceived than through these well-ordered movements designed by ,fokine4 ,the appearance of ,nijinsky as a kind of dream ,alfred de ,musset in a romantic fair wig1 and dressed in black and white1 among the impalpable ,sylphides was both inexplicable and inevitable4 ,when he danced he seemed almost to play ,chopin with his feet1 so perfect was his time4 ,his steps seemed to be the symmetry of the music--in fact its rhythm1 for the rhythm of music is symmetry in motion4 ,and when he merely walked about with outstretched arm1 he recalled ,ruskin's allusion to man in erect and thoughtful motion1 to the great human noblesse of walking on feet4 ,illustration3 #jjdf ,but it is time we cried place aux dames6 ,miss ,pamela ,colman ,smith has well transfixed the bounding motion of ,nijinska 7sister to the centre piece of the mosaic7 in the ,mazurka2 and the names of ,karsavina1 ,schollar1 ,will and ,kovalewska excite happy memories of this romance of style4 ,le ,carnaval ,,le ,,carnaval1 the second of the dance poems which have inspired ,miss ,pamela ,colman ,smith1 is equally romantic1 but not in the pensive1 twilight manner of ,les ,sylphides1 with its vague suggestion of mysterious grief4 ,everything in ,carnaval is joyous and insouciant--except perhaps poor ,bolm as ,pierrot1 the unhappy dupe of ,nijinsky-,arlecchino's teasing pranks4 ,bakst's scene1 with its plain blue curtains and two absurd uncomfortable ,victorian sofas1 prepares us for the ,russian interpretation of ,schumann's music1 before the peg-top trousered and crinolined corps de ballet have made their appearance4 ,illustration3 #jjdh ,until ,i saw ,le ,carnaval1 although ,i had realized that the art of the ,russians was not narrow or local1 and that they could dance in several languages1 ,i fear ,i had not credited them with humor4 ,the true comic spirit 7which makes us smile1 not laugh in the manner so offensive to ,mr4 ,bernard ,shaw7 rules this delicious episode1 which is a setting of ,schumann's music in the way that music can be a setting of words1 completing their message and intensifying their significance4 ,for the first time ,i will use the word acting in connection with the ,russian ballet4 ,the comedy in ,le ,carnaval is of a very high order4 ,the story is interpreted more through genuine pantomime than through dancing1 which perhaps accounts for the popularity of this particular ballet with us ,english1 who still understand the nature of good acting better than the nature of good dancing1 although we are at the present time much attracted by dancing4 ,a real note of freakish farce is in this ,carnaval4 ,the dancing itself is freakish4 ,it is the simplest1 silliest thing6 ,a bit of fun--yet to give us this bit of fun what serious work was needed6 ,the grave young ,nijinsky is transformed into a mischievous child6 ,illustration3 #jjej ,the ,corps de ,ballet ,i ,,noticed in ,carnaval the individual work done by each individual of the corps de ballet1 yet always done in such a way as to contribute to the harmonious effect of the whole4 ,the ,pierrot 7,bolm71 the ,harlequin 7,nijinsky71 the ,columbine 7,karsavina71 played the leading parts incomparably1 but that was not surprising4 ,it was far more surprising to see in every member of the ballet the talent of a star4 ,illustration3 #ijea ,they were not there just to wear their #ahfj costumes well and to form themselves into mechanical groups4 ,the entire corps vibrated with life1 did their full share in the dancing and miming4 ,they never appeared to be waiting for an opportunity for distinction2 they were content to distinguish themselves4 ,illustration3 #jjeb ,le ,spectre de la ,rose ,,what would a dramatist make of ,gauthier's little idyl of the vision of the ,rose8 ,what would an actor and actress make of it if it could be dramatized8 ,i am afraid to answer these questions4 ,fortunately they need not be answered1 as no dramatist now will be fool enough to rush in where dancers have trodden on such light feet4 7,the beautiful is light4 ,all divine things run on light feet47 ,a young girl returns from a ball4 ,she sinks into a chair and1 kissing the rose in her hand1 which reminds her of the evening's innocent pleasure1 she falls asleep4 ,she dreams that the rose comes to life and invites her to dance with it4 ,she dances in her dream4 7,does she see the rose1 ,i wonder1 or is it invisible to her while visible to us87 ,she knows a joy in which there is no fatigue1 a love in which there is no threat to her virginity4 ,the phantom rose disappears4 ,she wakes4 ,the real rose is at her feet where the dream rose had lain for a moment4 ,she picks it up and kisses it again1 poor little faded and finite sign of a fresh infinite thing which has shown itself for a moment and passed out of earth's tiny room4 ,illustration3 #jjed ,a ,paradox ,,it is one of those paradoxes1 of which the ,russian ballet is rich in examples1 that the music of this fragile little poem should be ,weber's ,invitation la ,valse1 robustly orchestrated by ,berlioz4 ,i can imagine how sickly and pale specially written music might have been6 ,the healthy1 strong melody1 the sound1 marked rhythm help to create that sense of the impossible which is the abiding impression of the phantom of the rose4 ,illustration3 #jjef ,how this music pulsates6 ,its deep expectant breathing increases one's sensation that we are all dreaming--dancers and audience too4 ,tamar ,karsavina1 who in other roles shows a nervous force1 a tragic power1 a strange and luring grace which account even better than her dancing for her triumphant prominence1 is so gentle1 so modest1 so suppliant in the ,spectre de la ,rose1 that she becomes the incarnation of snow-white youth1 dreaming of a heavenly lover4 ,and ,nijinsky becomes the spirit of that dream4 ,i feel sorry for that young girl1 who perhaps will wake next day in that queer ,bakst bedroom1 and think of the partner who gave her the rose1 not of the ,rose itself1 who came to her as virginal as the thought which summoned him4 ,i don't like the idea of the remembrance of an ordinary flirtation at a ball walking in at the door of that room1 out of whose window the mystical figure of the ,rose flew forth into the night1 which was1 ,i am sure1 day to him6 ,,the ,russian dancers may reasonably pride themselves on their versatility4 ,in their seven-leagued ballet shoes they travel all over the world1 and beyond4 ,they bound easily from ancient ,greece to a ,caucasian camp1 from the ,east of a thousand-and-one nights to a legendary country invented for their playground4 ,it really requires astonishing mental activity to follow them with pleasure from ,le ,spectre de la ,rose to ,scheherazade4 ,a symphonic poem of ,richard ,strauss after a plain-song hymn1 or ,wagner after ,mozart1 could not be a greater shock to the system4 ,everything in ,scheherazade suggests violence and horror4 ,illustration3 #jjeh ,bakst's palace was built for dreadful deeds2 no one1 ,i am sure1 could ever feel safe in it4 ,its color makes it vibrate on its foundations1 if indeed it has any foundations4 ,there are bad dreams as well as good ones1 and the dream quality1 on which ,i have insisted1 so far1 as the special beauty of these ,russian ballets and mimed poems1 is present in ,scheherazade4 ,the strange thing is that this nightmare1 in which sensuality and cruelty are the only emotions evoked1 has a paradoxical vein of delicacy running through it4 ,there is something almost childlike in the wiles by which the ,sultan's wives1 when their lord's back is turned1 induce the ,master ,eunuch to liberate the slaves for their pleasure4 ,the infantile joyousness with which the dark-skinned youths rush from their silver and gold cages on their loves and on their impending doom has an element of pity4 ,the whirligig dance which follows expresses exactly the happiness1 which is short1 sharp and sudden1 but over which destiny hangs1 and for which there is no mercy4 ,and all the time in this riot of color1 this orgy of animation1 we never lose sight of the negro who is the chosen of the ,sultan's favorite1 the negro who half an hour ago in another world was the phantom ,rose6 ,his arms1 which but now were waving invisible garlands in the serene air1 are ready to coil round their prey in a serpentine embrace4 ,illustration3 #jjfj ,the lips which gave the innocent kiss of nave youth are now twisted in the spasms of desire4 ,nijinsky in ,scheherazade is not the incarnation of evil1 but its spirit4444 ,his ghastly pallor is terrible4 ,really he seems to turn white under his black skin4 ,illustration3 #jjfa ,illustration3 #jjfb ,tamar ,,tamar is another pleasant little ballet of barbarity1 in which ,karsavina1 as one of those avid1 fatal heroines1 in the interpretation of whose serpentine passions she is always fine1 lures lovers to her high tower1 and1 in the manner of the ,chinese ,empress1 makes death the penalty of an hour of her love4 ,the execution is summary1 the unfortunate lover being hurled out of the window by muscular members of ,tamar's suite4 ,in ,tamar ,adolph ,bolm1 who was ,i think the first ,russian male dancer to appear in ,england1 makes a magnificent entrance4 ,miss ,pamela ,colman ,smith's drawing gives a very vivid impression of the effect produced by the first appearance on the scene of the ,lover and his companions4 ,here is a very good example of the amazing influence that the color and shape of mere garments can have on the imagination4 ,those silent1 black-coated1 black-hatted men1 their faces muffled in concealing scarfs1 seem to have come from far1 from very far4 ,i feel that their horses below are in a sweat1 that they have been riding furiously at the summons of a force which their fresh and ardent youth could not resist6 ,illustration3 #jjfd ,poor frenzied man6 ,what is his secret8 ,why has he come here to see love through a veil of blood--blood which is his own8 ,prince ,igor ,,at the head of the ,polovtsien warriors in the dances from ,borodin's opera ,prince ,igor1 ,bolm has to dance as well as to mime1 and very splendidly and fiercely he dances with his bow4 ,this ,prince ,igor ballet lasts only a few minutes1 but in those minutes are crowded enough energy1 excitement1 lightning swift successions of different movements1 true healthy barbarity 7not the barbarity of decadence71 and splendid music to take away all words1 all thoughts1 but wonderful6 ,but those ,prince ,igor dances ought never to have been given without their accompanying songs4 ,it has been the custom lately to leave out the singing1 one of those omissions that matter4 ,illustration3 #jjff ,,note3 ,an omission of mine that matters is that ,i have recalled ,prince ,igor without mentioning the name of ,sophia ,fodorova1 who holds her own in astounding feats of agility1 as in fiery spirit with the adolescents in whose evolutions she participates4 ,the girl is a wonder at this man's work6 ,pavillon d' ,armide ,,in this ballet1 in the style of the ,french ballets of the reign of ,louis ,,xiv41 there is less distinction1 ,i think1 than in the others from which ,miss ,pamela ,colman ,smith has derived her pictures4 ,the costumes and scenery are designed by ,benois1 but any one with a knowledge of the theatre and a ,racinet at hand could have done the same sort of thing4 ,and yet as ,i write this ,i know ,i should make the reservation of that life which the ,russians know how to breathe into everything4 ,what ,i mean is that ,benois gives us no new creation4 ,karsavina's bird-like grace in her eighteenth-century guise is captivating 7oh1 that this talented little dancer had more music in her1 and did not dance always a fraction off the beat671 and ,nijinsky as a wholly unnecessary slave in white satin gives a wonderful exhibition of dancing in the style of the original ,ballon who danced at the opera in ,paris at the end of the seventeenth century1 and gave his name to the kind of classical dancing which consists in elevation4 ,illustration3 #jjfh ,,note3 ,bolm as the lover looks very like one of ,louis ,,xiv4's sons1 and mimes perfectly4 ,i like the pas de trois 7the music of this ballet by ,tscherepnin is fascinating71 but ,i liked it better when it was originally given at the ,coliseum as an extract1 and danced by ,kosloff1 ,karsavina and ,baldina4 ,our spirited1 bounding ,nijinska has not got the eighteenth- century style4 ,oh1 ,i must not forget those dear ,bouffons6 ,their little dance alone makes ,pavilion d',armide worth while4 ,narcisse ,,the last drawing in this book is of ,nijinsky as ,narcisse1 and if ,narcisse had been a pas seul by ,nijinsky ,i am sure that there would have been more to praise in it4 ,for once1 the mosaic was all wrong1 and so the centre piece could not be all right4 ,i have read enthusiastic accounts of ,l',apres-midi d'un ,faune1 which ,nijinsky himself arranged1 making ,debussy's music the vehicle for a display of ,greek poses1 and from ,nijinsky's personal performance in ,narcisse ,i believe it to be possible that he has succeeded in doing1 in ,l',aprs-midi de un ,faune1 what ,bakst failed to do in ,narcisse4 ' ' ,when1 at the end of the ballet1 that colossal stage narcissus was jerked up from the stage pool1 and the limelight was turned on it1 ,i regretfully saw in that light a limitation in the ,russian art4 ,they could not interpret the tranquil repose1 the immanent beauty of ,greek ideas4 ,illustration3 #jjgj ,the whole treatment of the exquisite story of the youth who fell in love with his own beauty1 and was drowned seeking to come near its reflection1 was heavy-handed1 even a little barbarous and ugly4 ,and all the grave movements imprisoned in stone and marble by the sculptors of ancient ,greece1 all the joyous silhouettes on ,greek vases1 seemed to remain remote1 and secure from the conquest of the devouring ,russian1 restlessly seeking material for his ballets in all nations and all times4 ,i had a sudden seizure of distrust2 it was as though the disdain of the ,greek had sapped the foundations of my belief in the justness of the praises lavished on the new dance2 but then memories of gestures1 colors1 bounding movements1 freedom of expression given by perfection of technique1 came crowding pell-mell into my mind4 ,the frown on a cold marble forehead could not extinguish my joy in the flame of life which burns so ardently in the work of the ,russian ballet4