International studio (59.1916)

Book Review


The publication in English of Em-
manuel’s work fills a distinct want.
For years, in its original French form, the book
has been recognized by students of the dance as
one of the few substantial contributions to the
subject. In its special field, indeed, it stands
alone. It has been much sought even by non-
readers of French, for its diagrams and illustra-
tions. The translation will greatly widen its
scope among students of the dance, whether with
view to enriched performance or intelligent en-
joyment.
The work has as its dominant motive the trac-
ing of the derivation
of modern steps to
their antique sources;
and the quest of these
origins leads into paths
as interesting to the
decorator, the art¬
lover and the archaeo¬
logist as they are to
the dancer, ballet-
master or connoisseur
of dancing. The rec¬
ords of the primitive
steps are found in Gre¬
cian statues and cera-

THE ANTIQUE GREEK DANCE
BY TROY KINNEY

early Greeks when they thought the occasion
fitting. Also that pure pirouettes, the arabesque,
the entrechat, and many other resources damned
by to-day’s restorers of antique choregraphy, were
as well known to dance-loving Athens as they are
to the ballet enthusiast of to-day.
Comparison is made between the use of the
hands in ancient and modern dancing; the one
employing them constantly in mimetic expression,
the other confining them (relatively) to the uses
of abstract decoration. Whether or not the latter
is a disparagement is, of course, a question of
point of view, and one which the author leaves
open. He also finds that the schooling of ancient
dancers, cultivating acting and dancing together,
failed to develop the precision that characterizes
the work of the mod-
ern. Modern dancing,
at the time the book
was written, meant the
French ballet, in which
consideration of form
undeniably restricted
expression. The eman-
cipation of the Russian
ballet from those re-
strictions was to come
a few years later. It
is notable that the
decorations reproduc-
ed in Emmanuel show

mic decorations. The
latter are classified
into periods, with sim-

ANCIENT GREEK PAINTED VASE
(MUSEUM OF THE louvre)

pie statements of the characteristics of each.
That many, perhaps most, of the steps of the
ballet to-day were practised at least a thousand
years before the Christian era is clearly demon-
strated. Steps have lasted where edifices and
civilizations have crumbled, languages passed
into disuse.
The author’s discoveries are even more inter-
esting now than when he recorded them, some
twenty years ago. Since that time there has
risen up a new school of choregraphy; a school
which, assuming the mantle of the ancient Greek,
purports to disdain as non-Hellenic artificialities
all steps and postures that are not commended
by ease of acquisition. The more thoughtful of
the barefoot sorority will observe with interest
the author’s proofs that the turn-out of the feet
and the position on the toes was used by the

more than one theme
that Russian dance ar-
rangements have made
familiar. Along its lines, the book leaves nothing
to be desired. To Emmanuel’s proofs of his very
interesting theories confirmation may be added by
the fruits of future excavations. The same sources
may add to the range of antique steps that he
records. But the future can produce nothing to
impair the value of his conclusions. They are
based upon drawings and statues which he de-
picts and analyzes. The diagrams and descrip-
tions by whose means he exemplifies a given step
are complete, explicit and correct. If a flaw may
be picked in a work of such merit, it is in an excess
of honesty which prompted the translator to ren
der the names of steps into English.
THE ANTIQUE GREEK DANCE: AFTER PAINTED AND
SCULPTURED FIGURES. By Maurice Emmanuel, Doctor of
Letters and Laureat du Conservatoire. With over 600 Drawings by
A. Collombar and the Author. Translated by Harriet Jean Beauley.
8vo. Cloth, $3.00 net. JOHN LANE COMPANY, NEW YORK.

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