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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

Sacred Dances— Cyiele and A flit— The Shield if Achilles— The Hyforchema—Tht
Gymmpaedia and the Endy matin — The Hirmis and the Pyrrhic Dance — The Bac-
chanalia— The Salii — Reman Mimes nnder the Empire — The Gaditanian Dancers

»-4S

CHAPTER II

Re/igiius Dances— St rilling Ballet j— Dances if Chivalry— The " Ballet dis Ar-
dents "—Berginxii di Bilta's Ballet

46-69

CHAPTER III

The Grand Ballet — Trench Dances if the Clise if the Middle Ages, and if the I

Renaissance — Bass* Dances — The V lite— The Gaillarde—The Tirdiin—Branlei —

The Pavane 70-107

CHAPTER IV

Dancing in th, --Great Century"— Grand Ballets nnder Ltnis XI T. —Masked Balls
— The Pavane— The Ciurnnte—The Gavitte—The Chacme—The Sarahand—The
Allemande—The Passepied—Tht Passacaille 1 08- 1 37

CHAPTER V

Dancing nnder L*nii XT.— Painters if Fetes GaUntei—Mademiiselle Salle— La ^

Camargi — The Minuet— The Patiepied — Ntverre and the Ballet— Gaetan and

Angnste lestrii .... I j8- 1 70

vi CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI .'

PAGE

Madeleine Guimard — Dancing under Louis XV I. — The Gavotte — The Ballet — Dances

and Fetes of the Revolution and the Republic— Balls and Ballets of the Directory, the t— — "

Empire, and the Restoration — Marie Taglioni ....... 171-206

CHAPTER VII

Rustic and Pastoral Dances — Rounds — Bourrees — Bretonne Dances — Catalan Bails

— The Farandole — Open-air Dances in Foreign Countries ..... 207-236

CHAPTER VIII

Spanish Dances — Danzas and Bayles — The Fandango — The Bolero — The Seguidillas
Manchegas — The Jota Aragonesa — The Jaleo de Jerez — The Cachuca . . . 237-261

CHAPTER IX

Modern Greek Dances — The Italian Tarantella — Some European Dances — Bayaderes

and Alm'ees — Savage Dances ...... .... 262-288

CHAPTER X

Contemporary Dances — The Waltz — The Galop — The Polka — Cellarius, Markowski,

and Labor de — The Jardin Mabille — Prit chard, Chicard, and Brididi — £>ueen Pomar'e 289-314

CHAPTER XI

Public Balls — Ranelagh — The Chaumierc — The Sceaux Ball — The Prado — The
Delta — The Chateau-Rouge — The lie d' 'Amour — L'Ortie and Les Acacias — The
Mars — The Victoire — The Bourdon — The Bal des Chiens — The Montesquieu — The
Valentino — The Jardin d'Hiver — The Lac Saint- Fargeau — The Grand Saint-
Martin and the Descent e de la Courtille — The Closerie des Lilas — Butlier . . 315-338

CHAPTER XII

Modern Dancing— From the Second Empire to the present Time — Society Balls — The

Revival of Old Dances in France and in Foreign Countries 339-3°o

CHAPTER XIII

A Brief Survey of the Ballets of this Century — Modern Theatrical Dancing — The

Operatic Corps de Ballet — The Serpentine Dance — The Public Balls of To-day . 361-380

CONTENTS vii

CHAPTER XIV

PACK

Early His fry of Dancing in Great Britain — Anglo- Saxon Dancing — Ntrman Dancts
— Middle Ages — Dances of Knights-Templars and Templars — Dancing under Tudor
Sovereigns — James I. and Court Masques — Charles I. and Court Masques — The
Commonwealth — Dancing under Charles II. — Old May-day Dances— Dancing in
the Days of Queen Anne — Bath — Beau Nash as Master of the Ceremonies — His
Successors — Masquerades at Madame Cornell's, Carlisle House — The Pantheon —
Ranelagh and I'auxhall Gardens — Almack's Cluh and Subscription Balls — Famous
Dancing-masters and Coryphees of the Eighteenth Century — The t'estris Family —
Stage-dancing — Opera Dancers at the King's Theatre — Her Majesty's, from Vestris
le Grand to Kate Yaughan . . 381-415

CHAPTER XV

The Jig — Irish Jigs — The Hornpipe — Dancing in Scotland — Under Mary, Queen of
Scots — The Reformation — Scotch Reels — Highland Flings — The Ghillie Callum —
The Strathspey — English Country Dances — The Cotillion of the Eighteenth Century —
The Modern Cotillion — Quadrilles — The First Set, or Parisian Quadrille — The
Lancers— The Caledonians— The Polka— The Waltz.— The Minuet— Court Balls-
State Balls 416-440

•*">«* 44'~446

Note. — The Publishers are much indebted to the ^Artists and
Owners of Copyright works, who have kindly allowed their reproduction
in this volume, especially to Mr. "J. McNeil Whistler, Mr. Hamo
Thornycrofl, Messrs. Boussod Valadon & Co., Mr. John Murray,
and Messrs. Nimmo. Their thanks are also due to Messrs. Durand,
of 'Paris, for leave to reprint the music of several old French Dances.

CHILDREN DANCING A ROUND

After A. Beve>ia

LIST OF PLATES

Dance, after Carpeaux ........... Frontispiece

Salome, after Gustave Moreau . . . . . . . To face page 40

The Due de Joyeuse's Ball, after Clouet ...... ,,74

Dance throughout the Aces, after Aime Morot ..... „ 100

The Saraband, after Roybet . . . . . . . .' ,,128

The Pleasures of the Ball, after Watteau ...... „ 140

Mademoiselle Camargo, after Lancret ....... ,,152

The Ball, after Augustin de Saint-Aubin ...... „ 168

The Arch-Duchess Marie Antoinette in a Ballet danced at Vienna

in 1765 ,,182

A Village Wedding, after Teniers . . . . . . . ,,212

A Village Dance in Brittany, after A. Leleux ..... „ 226

A Village Wedding, after Taunay . . . . . . . ,,232

Before the Bull Fight, after A. Zo . . . . . . . ,,238

La Carmencita, after John Sargent, R.A. ...... „ 256

Neapolitan Peasants returning from a Pilgrimage, after Leopold Robert „ 266

The Bride's Minuet, after Debucourt ....... „ 290

The Cotillion, after Stewart ........ ,,354

Rosita Mauri in "La Korrigane " ....... „ 364

Miss Connie Gilchrist, after J. McNeil Whistler . . . . ,,412

The Cyprians' Ball at the Argyle Rooms, after an Engraving by

Robert Cruikshank ......... „ 430

THE MCNl.IT

L. :

INTRODUCTION

the Origin tf Dinting — Dancing tkrtnghnt tit Jgti — General Snrvtj

IROM the first formation of societies," says Jean Jacques
Rousseau, "Song and Dance, true children of Love and
Leisure, became the amusement, or rather the occupation,
of idle assemblies of men and women."
Like Poetry and Music, to which it is closely allied, Dancing,
properly so-called — the choregraphic art, that is to say — was probably
unknown to the earliest ages of humanity. Savage man, wandering
in forests, devouring the quivering flesh of his spoils, can have known
nothing of those rhythmic postures which reflect sweet and caressing
sensations entirely alien to his moods. The nearest approach to such
must have been the leaps and bounds, the incoherent gestures, by which
he expressed the joys and furies of his brutal life.

x INTRODUCTION

But when men began to form themselves into groups, this artless impulse
became more flexible ; it accepted rules and submitted to laws.

Dancing, a flower of night, is said to have germinated under the skies
of the Pharaohs ; tradition speaks of rounds, symbolic of sidereal motion,
circling beneath the stars on the august soil of Egypt, mighty mother of the
world. It manifested itself at first in sacred sciences, severe and hieratic ;
yet even then it babbled brokenly of joy and grief in the processions of
Apis.

Later on, in the course of 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, the dignity and grace of polished society. It took
on the splendour of social festivities, the caressing and voluptuous languors
of love, and even dolefully followed the funeral train.

As early as the year 2545 b.c. we find traces of the chjjregraphicjaj-t.
Hieratic dances, bequeathed by the priests of ancient Egypt, were held in
high honour among the Hebrews.

But no antique race gave themselves up so eagerly to the art as the
Greeks. The word " dancing " gives us but a feeble idea of their conception
of the art. With them it was Nomas or Orchesis, the art of expressive
gesture, governing not only the movement of the feet, but the discipline of
the body generally, and its various attitudes. Gait, movement, even
immobility, were alike subject to its laws. To them it was, in fact, a %
language, governing all movements, and regulating them by rhythm.

In Greece, cradle of the arts and of legend, the Muses manifested
themselves to man as a radiant choir, led by Terpsichore.

On the slopes of Olympus and Pelion, the chaste Graces mingled
with forest Nymphs in Rounds danced under the silvery light of the moon.
Hesiod saw the Muses treading the violets of Hippocrene under their
alabaster feet at dawn in rhythmic measure. Fiction interlinked itself
with reality : mad with joy, Bacchantes whirled about the staggering
Silenus, and the daughters of Sparta eagerly imitated the martial exercises
of their warriors.

A whole world of dreams peopled the poetic Greece of long ago. In the

INTRODUCTION xi

hush of forests, before sacred altars, in sunshine, under star-light, bands
of maidens crowned with oak-leaves, garlanded with flowers, passed
dancing in honour of Pan, of Apollo, of Diana, of the Age of Innocence,
and of chaste wedlock.

The Romans imitated the Greeks in all the arts, borrowing their dances
just as they adored their gods. But primitive Rome was still barbaric
when the arts were shining in incomparable splendour in Greece.

Romulus had given a sort of savage choregraphy to Rome. Numa
instituted a solemn religious dance, practised only by the Salian priests.

The arts of Greece soon degenerated after their migration to Rome.
The virginal dances of early Greece, the feasts of sacred mysteries, the
Keast of Flora, so lovely in its first simplicity of joy in the opening
flowers and caressing sunshine of returning spring, became unrecognisable,
serving as pretexts for every kind of licence.

Theatrical dancing, however, attained extraordinary perfection among
the Romans, and pantomime, an art unknown to the Greeks, had its
birth among their rivals.

After centuries of folly, which brought about the downfall of the
great race, the art of dancing disappeared.

It is to be traced again during the persecutions of the early Church,
moving among the solitary retreats of the first Christians, who, no
doubt, bore in mind the sacred dances of the Hebrews. In the Church
of St. Pancras at Rome there still exists a sort of stage, separated
from the altar, on which, we are told, priests and worshippers joined in
measures led by their Bishop. These traditional rites, derived from the
Scriptures, and perpetuated by an artless faith, degenerated in their turn,
and served at last as pretexts for impure spectacles.

A papal decree of 744 abolished dancing round churches and in
cemeteries.

A reflection from these sacerdotal dances gleams out again long afterwards
in the Castle of St. Angelo itself, where a nephew of Sixtus IV. composed
ballets, and at the Council of Trent, which concluded with a ball of
Cardinals and Bishops.

Meanwhile the darkness of night had fallen on the history of secular
dancing, a darkness that endured for centuries. We know that Childe-

xii INTRODUCTION

bert proscribed it in his dominions. We know, too, that the Gauls and
the Franks, more especially the former, were much addicted to courtly and
pastoral dancing.

At the Court of France, the origin of dancing is dimly associated
with the rise of chivalry. The documents referring to it are rare and
dubious. Still, we divine that the Middle Ages formed one of the most
curious epochs in French dancing. Tales of chivalry speak constantly of
warriors who, without laying aside their harness, danced to measures
chanted by ladies and maidens.

Apres la f arise vient la danse (after good cheer comes dancing), says
an old Gallic proverb, which seems to show that it was customary to dance
after a feast. We know that each province had its characteristic dances,
which the lower orders practised with great vigour. Among these were
Rounds and Branles, the Bourrees of the peasants of Auvergne, Minuets,
the Farandoles of Languedoc, the Catalan Bails, &c. Two of these early
dances have survived to our own times under the names of the Carillon de
Dunkerque and the Boulangere.

During the interval when dancing found a refuge in the rural districts
of France, enlivening popular festivals and delighting domestic gatherings,
masquerades were the favourite amusement of the Court. They denatur-
alised the original dances of chivalry, but, on the other hand, they constituted
the first expression of the ballet.

In spite of the sinister catastrophe known as the 'Ballet des Ardents,
masquerades remained in favour for two centuries, and the character of
dancing was but very gradually modified.

Meanwhile Italy, under the impulse given by the Medici, awoke to a
knowledge of the literature and arts of ancient Greece and Rome. Thanks
to these, choregraphy revived once more, after a slumber of several
centuries. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw it flourishing at
every Court. Under the patronage of Louis XIII., of Richelieu, and of
Henry IV., it took on a peculiarly French character.

The dances in vogue at the French Court were the Pavane, a grave,
solemn, almost haughty measure, and the Courante.

Dancing had followed Catherine de' Medici to France, and formed a
feature of all the festivities she organised with so much splendour. But

INTRODUCTION xiii

the stateliness that had marked it among the cloaks and heavy swords of
knights, and the long gem-laden robes of ladies, gave way to a liveliness, an
animation, a certain voluptuous character under Italian influences. This
influence of Catherine's not only added splendour to Court functions, but
spread a taste for dancing throughout France. The Queen, moreover,
organised allegorical ballets, thus laying the foundations of opera, which
the Romans in some sort foreshadowed in their declamation of poems to
the rhythmic sound of instruments.

Raising the character of masquerades by associating them more closely
with the arts of music and dancing, Catherine de' Medici further brought
about the evolution of the masked ball.

This same period, too, gave birth to those Dances of Death imagined
by Albert Diirer, Orcagna, and Holbein, sinister allegories masking the
bitterest satires, terrible utterances of the oppressed, claiming ecpuality at
least in death. .

We come now to that great century when all the arts burst forth into
dazzling blossom, when everything seemed to flash and quiver under a
novel impulse. Hitherto, the theatre had ministered only to the amusement
of the Court ; it 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 new
prestige to the art, he himself took part in the Court ballets. But the fairy
pageants of his youthful reign disappeared during his dreary and devout
old age.

Spectacles and dances, less solemn in character, but infinitely more
refined and exquisite, came into vogue again under the Regency, and
during the reigns of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. This was the epoch
of the coquettish Gavotte and the graceful Minuet, the apogee of
elegance.

The dances of the eighteenth century had a charm all their own ; with
their supple and rhythmic grace they combined a dignity which surrounded
man, and, in a still greater degree, woman, with an atmosphere of beauty.
A constellation of dancers, male and female, gave a dainty grace hitherto
unknown to the dances of the eighteenth century.

But there was a fearful morrow to those days of supreme elegance and

xiv INTRODUCTION

careless gaiety which, as we look back upon them now through the trans-
parent gauze of a century, seem to shimmer with a thousand tantalising and
delicate tints — days like some sweet vision, in which coquettish marquises,
powdered and jasmine-scented, smiled unceasingly as in the rosy pastels
bequeathed to us by the masters of their times. The roar of Revolution
broke in upon the dream ; kings, women, and poets were dragged on
tumbrils to the scaffold, while cannon thundered along the frontiers.

And yet dancing went on, but now it was the sinister dancing of the
red-capped Carmagnole to the refrain of Ca ira. Men and women danced
round the scaffold, their feet stained with blood. A strange frenzy seemed
to have taken possession of the nation. Did they seek oblivion in move-
ment, a diversion from misery, horror, and alarms ? Twenty-three theatres
and eighteen hundred public balls /were open every evening immediately
after the Terror. Women attended them clad in the garments of ancient
Greece, with sandalled feet and bare breasts and arms.

The Empire was hardly favourable to the development of dancing.
But soldiers danced on the eve of battle, eager to forget the dangers of
the morrow, and a certain number of official balls took place during the
Consulate of Bonaparte and the reign of Napoleon.

After a feverish interval, while Napoleon's star faded on the horizon of
the world, two planets rose in the firmament of Opera — Taglioni and Fanny
Elssler. Other stars succeeded them, but never eclipsed their radiance.

The Tuileries were far from gay under Louis XVIII. and Charles X. ;
but after some preliminary dancing on M. de Salvandy's famous volcano,
choregraphy made its appearance again in the King's household in 1830.

And while the False a deux temps and the Galop (introduced from
Hungary) whirled and eddied in Parisian ball-rooms, the elite of society
often assembled at the magnificent balls given at the Tuileries and the
English and Austrian Embassies.

A veritable revolution took place in dancing at this period. The
middle classes developed a passion for balls, which had hitherto been
confined almost exclusively to the aristocracy, save for the rustic festivals
of country districts. Unable, however, to enjoy the amusement in their
own small rooms, dancers soon flocked -to public saloons, and waltzed at
Ranelagh, at Beaujon, at Sceaux and at Tivoli.

INTRODUCTION xv

These balls, which became famous for their splendour, and the distinc-
tion of the society frequenting them, were imitated on a humbler scale by
the students and grisetles who danced the Cancan and the Chahut at the
Chaumiere, the Prado, Mabille, and the Closerie des Lilas.

Waltzing and Galoping were practised with furious energy. Pritchard,
tall, lean, dark and taciturn ; Chicard of the ruddy countenance ; Brididi
the graceful ; Mogador, Clara Fontaine, Rigolboche, and above all, Pomare,
became the kings and queens of Paris.

Another overwhelming revolution took place in 1844 with the intro-.
duction of the Polka, which invaded saloons, drawing-rooms, shops, and
even the streets. The Waltz and the Galop were forsaken, and Polka-
mania set in. Cellarius and Laborde fostered the public enthusiasm. And
all Paris laughed gleefully when Levassor and Grassot danced the Polka at
the Palais-Royal

Presently Markowski arrived on the scene, glorified by a halo of
traditions. He brought the Mazurka. He created the Schottische, the
Sicilienne, the Quadrille of the Hundred Guards, in which Mogador
excelled, and the Folly of Dance shook her bells unceasingly from dark to
dawn.

Opera-balls took on a new splendour under the sway of Musard.
People braved suffocation in the crowded auditorium to see the King of
the Quadrille, as he was called, conducting a huge orchestra, among the
effects of which the noise of breaking chairs, and the detonation of fire-
arms, were introduced at regular intervals ! Musard is said to have
produced extraordinarily sonorous sounds by these means.

Dancing still flourished under the Second Empire. The Court balls
were magnificent functions, but the public balls were deserted one by one,
and gradually disappeared. The old Closerie des Lilas is transformed
into Bullier, Mabille no longer exists. We have the Moulin Rouge still,
but it has little of the frank gaiety of the original public ball.

The Waltz and the Cotillion still reign in our ball-rooms, but modern
Greece, more faithful than ourselves to its choregraphic traditions, retains
the Candiota graven on the shield of Achilles, and traces of those Pyrrhic
dances which led the Spartans to victory.

In this brief summary of the History of 'Dancing, we have concerned

xvi INTRODUCTION

ourselves primarily with classic and with French dancing. In the course
of the work we propose to deal more fully with the dances of the East,
of Spain, of Italy, and of the various other European countries in which
we have been able -to trace the records of the art. We shall also have
something to say about savage dances.

We shall pass in review dances impregnated with the voluptuous
traditions of the Moors, such as the Fandango and the Bolero, the lively
and impassioned Tarantella, the frenzied measures of the Bayaderes, the
amorous languors of the Almees, and the curious rites of various tribes.

In the brief sketch we have now made, the reader will have observed
that Dancing, born with the earliest human societies, identified with every
form of worship, has followed in the wake of progress, and developed
with it. More enduring than the stone of monuments, in spite of its
airy and diaphanous nature, Dancing has left its traces among all peoples,
all customs, all religions, and still survives among us to some extent.

Dancing, like all human institutions, has obeyed the law of eternal
reaction. It disappeared, and burst forth into life again. It seems now
to have entered on another phase of decline.

But the sun will shine out once more, and Dancing will revive.

KKAGMENT OP AN EGYPTIAN PHESCO

Fh the Ilriiish Museum

CHAPTER I

DANCING AMONG THE EGYPTIANS, THE HEBREWS,
AND THE GREEKS

Sacred Dances — Cjbelt and Aftlli — fit Shield of Achilla — fit Hyptrchema —

fit Gymntpaedia and the Endymatia — The Hormos and the Pyrrhic

Dtnce — The Bacchanalia — The Salii — Reman Mimes under

the Empire — The Gaditanian Dancers

IS we have already pointed out in our introduction, the art of
dancing had its dawn under an Egyptian sky.

In sacred pageants dating back to the very beginnings
of history, dancing makes a vague appearance as an expression
of the immutable order and harmony of the stars. Its earliest movements,
as in the cadenced swingings of the censer, rocked the shrines of the gods.
Its first steps were guided by priests before the great granite sphinxes, the
colossal hypogea, the monstrous columns, and high pediments of their
temples.*

The mysterious grandeur of these sacred dances, symbolising the

* In assigning the origin of dancing to Egypt, I speak only of such dances as have left
any trace behind. But it is certain that dancing was born with man, and that from the
beginning it has been allied to gesture. Lucian wrote long ago : " We arc not to believe
that saltation is of modern invention, born recently, or even that our ancestors saw its
beginning. Those who have spoken with truth of the origin of this art affirm that it takes
its birth from the time of the creation of all things, and that it is as old as Love, the most
ancient of the gods." A modern writer, Be nurd m dc St. l'icrrc, says : " Pantomime is

2 A HISTORY OF DANCING

harmony of the stars, charmed the spirit of Plato. Castil-BIaze, our
contemporary, tells us that when one of these astronomical dances took
place, the altar in the centre of the Egyptian temple stood for the orb
of day, while dancers representing the signs of the zodiac, the seven

EGYPTIAN FIGURE DAN'CES

planets, the constellations, performed the revolution of the celestial bodies
around the sun.

Apis, the black bull, strange and divine, with the snow-white forehead,
and the scarabasus on his tongue, fed by naked priestesses from vessels of
ivory, was honoured by special dances. Even the grief caused by his
death was expressed in funeral ballets.

Ritual dances, a legacy of the priests of ancient Egypt, were highly
esteemed by the Hebrews. Moses caused a solemn ballet to be danced after
the passage of the Red Sea. David danced before the ark of the covenant :

the first language of man ; it is known to all nations ; it is so natural and so expressive
that the children of white parents learn it rapidly when they see it used by negroes."

ATHENIAN DANCES

CLASSIC UANCt:

was even included among gymnastics, and was accounted a military
exercise.*

In the time of Aristophanes it was prescribed by physicians. It gave
charm to banquets and animation to every festivity. The Athenian festivals,
in which dancing
was a feature,
were innumer-
able. In addition
to the Pythian
games, we hear of
the Nemasan, and
the Isthmian ;
the Agraulia, held
in honour of the
daughter of Ce-
crops, the feasts
of Adonis and of

Ajax, the Aloa, rustic rejoicings in honour of Ceres, the Amarynthia, in
honour of Diana. We note further the Anakeia of Castor and Pollux,
the Androgeonia, or funeral feasts, the festivals of Bacchus or Anthesteria,
the Apaturia of Jupiter and Minerva, and others sacred to Pallas, jEsculapius,
Diana and Apollo, the Boreasmi, the object of which was to appease Boreas,
the Feast of Oxen, the Feast of the Earth, the Feast of Strange Gods, the

* " The Greeks applied the term 'dancing ' to ill measured movements, even to military
marching." — (Butteux.)

The wonderful legislator, Lycurgus, attached the highest importance to dancing. He
established many exercises for the physical training of warlike youth, and among these
dancing had a foremost place.

The education of the Spartans in particular consisted of an incessant bodily training ;
and " they danced " in advancing upon the enemy.

" Noverrc correctly says that what we call dancing, our French dancing, was wholly
unknown to the ancients, except in so far as their buffoons and rope-dancers made use of
our mtriihitt, firemtta, ind jtth forwards and backwards. I think with him, that when
the word 'dancing' occurs in an, old author it should nearly always be translated by
'gesticulation,' 'declamation,' or 'pantomime'; just as the word 'music' should be in
most cases rendered by ' philosophy,' * theology,' ' poetry.' When we read that an actress
'danced ' her part well in the tragedy of Medea, that a carver cut up food 'dancing,' that
Heliogabalus and Caligula 'danced ' a discourse or an audience of state, we arc to under-
stand that they — actress, carver, emperor — declaimed, gesticulated, made themselves
understood in a language without words." — (A. Baron : Ltttrei lur la Dante.)

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Feast of Citizens killed in Battle, the Feast of the Muses, the Celebration of
the victory at Marathon, the Feast of Naxos, the Triumph of Pallas over

Neptune, the Feast of
Craftsmen, the Feast of
the Morn.

All the Feasts of Bac-
chus began with dances
and rhythmic leaping.
According to Strabo, no
sacrifice was offered in
Delos without dancing
and music. The very
poets danced as they sang
or recited their verses :
whence they came to be
called "dancers." Lucian
consecrated a dialogue to
the art. Pindar gives
Apollo the title of the
Dancer. Simonides said,
"Dancing is silent poetry."
Homer thought so
highly of the art that in
the Iliad he gives it the
epithet " irreproachable."
It played an important part in the Pythian games, representations which
may be looked upon as the first utterances of the dramatic Muse, for they
were divided into five acts, and were composed of poetic narrative, of
imitative music performed by choruses, and finally, of dances. Such, at
least, is Scaliger's opinion. Lucian assures us that if dancing formed no
part of the programme in the Olympian games, it was because the Greeks
thought no prizes could be worthy of the art. At a later period, however,
the Colchians admitted it into their public games, and this custom was
generally adopted by the Greeks, the Romans, and nearly all other
nations.

A DANXE OF NYMPHS

From an Engraving by Massard after Ch. Eisen

GREEK LOVE OF DANCING

7
Plato

In his odes Anacreon reiterates that he is always ready to dance,
smiled to see Socrates stand up with Aspasia.
Aristides danced at a banquet given by Dio-
nysius of Syracuse.

Homer says that Vulcan, to please the
gods, who loved dancing, forged some golden
figures that danced of themselves.

In his picture of an ideal Republic, Plato
insists on the importance of music, for the
regulation of the voice, and of the importance
of dancing, for the acquisition of noble, har-
monious and graceful attitudes.

The Greeks danced everywhere and on
any pretext. They danced in the temples,
the woods, the fields. Every event of interest
to the family, every birth, every marriage,
every death, was the occasion of a dance.
The returning seasons were welcomed with dancing, and harvest, and the
vintage. Was it not while dancing at a festival of Diana that the beautiful
Helen was carried off" by Theseus and Pirithoiis? Dancers, treading an
intricate measure, imitated the endless windings of that devious labyrinth
whose liberating clue Ariadne gave to Theseus.*

Cybele, the mother of the Immortals, taught dancing to the Corybantes
in Greece upon Mount Ida, and to the Curetes in the island of Crete.f
And it was in Greece that Apollo, by the mouth of his priestesses, dictated
choregraphic laws, even as he revealed those of music and of poetry.

" Vulcan, the lame god," says Homer in the Iliad, " engraved on the
shield of Achilles such a dance as Daedalus had composed for Ariadne

TBI «I»C DANCE

After CWrflmc

* Homer describes ■ dance like that which Dxdalus invented for Ariadne. Mcursius,
who calli it ytparot, attributes in invention to Theseus, about 1300 years before the
Augustan era. In the midst of the dancers (says Homer) were two saltators who sang the
adventures of Dxdalus, supplementing their singing by gestures, and explaining in panto-
mime the subject of the whole performance ; for which reason, doubtless, the saltators were
set in the centre of the dancers. — (De Laulnaye : Dt U Salmtion ihiitrale.)

t Certain authors give the name of 'trau\un, or " armed," to the dance of the Curetes.
This dance was instituted by Rhea to prevent Saturn from hearing the cries of Jupiter in
his cradle. The priests of Cybele were called Ballatorcs.

A HISTORY OF DANCING

of the abundant tresses, and had revealed at Cnossus. Here were to be
seen young men and maidens holding each other's hands as they danced
with cunning and rhythmic steps. The girls wore nothing but a drapery

of the lightest tex-
ture ; the young
men, all ashine with
the oil rubbed in at
the gymnasium, had
tunics of a stouter
material. From
their silver baldricks
hung swords enrich-
ed with gold ; and
their companions had
wreathed their brows
with garlands of
flowers. First they
danced in a ring,
imitating the circular
motion of the pot-
ter's wheel, when,
seated on his stool,
he tries it, before making it turn rapidly. Then, breaking up the circle,
they formed various figures. Round them was a great concourse of people,
and in their midst were two saltators who, with skilful gestures, executed
a special dance, interspersed with songs."

Priapus, one of the Titans, educated the god of war ; before instructing
him in swordsmanship, he taught him how to dance.
The Heroes followed the example of the gods.

Theseus celebrated his victory over the Minotaur with dances.
Castor and Pollux created the Caryatis, a nude dance performed by
Spartan maids on the banks of the Eurotas. The Thessalians gave
their magistrates the title of " Proorchesteres " ; that is to say. "dance
leaders."

The nation raised a statue to Elation for having danced the war-dance

DANCING NYMFHS, ON A VASE IN THE LOUVRE

DANCERS HIGHLY HONOURED IN GREECE 9

well. Sophocles danced round the trophies taken at the battle of Salamis,
accompanying himself on the lyre.

Dancing lent its charm to the banquets of ancient Greece, as is shown
by Homer in the eighth book of the Odyssey and by corroborative authors.
Socrates and Plato eulogised the art. Athenasus tells us that Antiochus and
Ptolema?us practised it with ardour, and sometimes publicly. /Eschylus and

fnm a Kctur* by SchuUeoberjer in the Miuce du Luxembourg

Aristophanes danced in public in their own plays. According to Cornelius
Ncpos, Epaminondas was a proficient dancer. Philip of Macedon married
a dancer, by whom he had a son who succeeded Alexander. Nicomedes,
King of Bithynia, was the son of a dancing-girl. Aristodemus, a celebrated
dancer, was sent as an ambassador to Philip of Macedon.

This art was'so esteemed in Greece that chorus-masters or leaders were
cruited among the first citizens of the commonwealth ; they always pre-
sided over the festival? in which gods and heroes were honoured.*

* Homer describe* a warrior taunted a* follow*: " Mcriones, good dancer ai you arc,
this ipeir would have ilain you if. . . ." — (AW, xvi. 603.)

"Choru*c* of dancer* were very common in Athcnt. They engaged in frequent com-
petition*, at the clo»c of which the victor* were crowned with all imaginable pomp. The

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The Greeks called skilful dancers the sages of the foot and of the hand,
because their gestures expressed the mysteries of Nature.

Athenasus declared that the Arcadians were always a wise people, because
they practised the art of dancing up to the age of thirty. The best Greek

dancers were,
indeed, recruited
among the Arca-
dians.

Among the
Greeks, the limbs
and the body
spoke.

"Strategy
sprang from the
Pyrrhic and other
warlike dances,"
says Elie Reclus.

Paintings upon
vases, bas-reliefs

jfr

STATUETTE FOUND AT MYRINA

In the Louvre

of marble, of
stone, of brass,

STATUETTE FOUND AT MYRINA

In the Louvre

the Tanagra statuettes, in their grace and purity of form, have transmitted
to us (as have also ancient poets and authors) the different formulas of
the Greek dances,. These, very numerous indeed, were all derived from
three fundamental' types : the sacred, the military, and the profane.

The sacred dances must have been inspired by Orpheus on his return
from Egypt; their grave and mysterious style long preserved the impress
of their origin. According to Professor Desrat, they had much in common
with the Branles and Rondes of the Middle Ages. Their nomenclature is

chorus-master or leader, called 'choregus,' was a personage of the highest importance." —
(De Laulnaye : De la Saltation thedtrale.)

The art was even a safeguard for the honour of husbands. Agamemnon, departing for
Troy, established a dancer with Clytemnestra to amuse her. Now ^Egisthus fell madly in
love with the queen. But the dancer watched over her, turning the lover into ridicule,
caricaturing his attitudes. Before succeeding in his courtship, yEgisthus had to kill the
dancer.

GREEK SACRED DANCES

1 1

extensive. We shall mention only the most important, those around which
the secondary dances grouped themselves. They are :

The Emmeleia.

The Hyporchema (or Hyporcheme).

The Gymnopaedia.

The Endymatia.

RUSTIC DAHCB

After A. Kirch

The Emmeleia was the class-name of a group of dances essentially
sacred.*

According to Plato, this group had that character of gentleness,
gravity, and nobility suitable to the expression of the sentiments with
which a mortal should be penetrated when he invoked the gods. But

* Thctc dance* were of the highest antiquity. Common opinion attributed their origin
to the Satyr*, minister* of Bacchu*. Some writer* hold the Cordax (d «^Aif) to have been

A HISTORY OF DANCING

this dance, which was marked by extraordinary mobility, had also a heroic
and tragic cast. It set forth grace, majesty, and strength. It produced a
deep effect upon spectators,

Orpheus, from his recollections of the priestly ceremonies of Sai's and
of Colchis, transmitted the laws of choregraphy to Greece. But the strains

A PASTORAL

After Bouguereau
By permission of Messrs. Boussod, Valadon and Co.

of his enchanted lyre must have modified the primitive cadences, creating
new rhythms, and movements more in accord with the genius of the race
to whom he revealed them. Nor were the Greeks slow to surpass their
masters. The Emmeleia embraced (according to Butteux, Desrat, and others)
j several dances of a tragic cast, and was danced without the support of a
chorus or of the voice.

derived from the Hyporchema. It seems certain that it was jEschylus who first introduced
saltation into the tragic chorus. This saltation was called o-x'/fiaXioyioc, from irxijp,
the countenance, because it depicted the attitudes, characters, and affections of the persons
of the chorus. Sleep, fatigue, repose, thought, admiration, fear, also all "pauses or suspen-
sions," came within its province. ./Eschylus lived five hundred years before the Christian
era. — (De Laulnaye : De la Saltation thedtrale.)

THE GYMNOPAEDIA

The Hyporchema, on the contrary, while retaining, as did all the
Egyptian and Grecian dances, an eminently religious character, was accom-
panied by the chorus.*

The Gymnopaedia were dances specially favoured by the Lacedaemonians
in their festivals of Apollo.
The performers were naked
youths, singing, dancing, and
wearing chaplets of palm.
Their performance often
served as a preliminary to
the Pyrrhic dance.

According to Athenaeus,
the Gymnopaedia had
features in common with a
dance called the Anapale,
wherein the dancers simulated
(as in the Pyrrhic) the move-
ments of attack and defence.

In the Endymatia the
actors wore their most bril-
liant tunics. Performed at
public and private entertain-
ments, these dances some-
times lost their sacred cha-
racter.

All other dances were
derived from the funda-
mental types already mentioned, and were more or less connected with
sacred rites. They were sometimes peculiar to one province or city.

* The dances classed under (he term Hyporchema date from the remotest times, and
arc looked upon as the first essays of Greek saltation. In them, as the name indicates,
song and dance were intermingled, or rather the songs were explained by measured
gesture*. It is to be observed here that the earliest use made of saltation was in con-
nection with poetry. These art*, developing by their union, aided each other mutually
Athcruens says expressly that the early poets had recourse to the figures of saltation, only,
however, as symbols and representatives of the images and ideas depicted in their verse.
All dances of the Hyporchema class were dignified and elevated ; men and women alike

flk WAK-NAM.K

Front u Engraving in the Biblio(ho|oc Nationalc

•4

A HISTORY OF DANCING

They celebrated a god, a victory, some memorable deed. The Dionysia
were sacred to Bacchus. The Iambic Dance, according to Athenasus,
was dedicated to Mars by the Syracusans. The Caryatis was specially
appropriated to Diana. Lucian tells us that it was danced by Lacedasmonian

girls in a Laconian
wood consecrated to
that goddess. Taught
by Castor and Pollux,
it was used at mar-
riages. It came to be
in time the dance of
innocence ; the young
men and maidens of
Sparta danced it naked,
in circles or in graceful
lines, before the altar
of the goddess.

The Callinic, diver-
sified by hymns, cele-
brated one of Hercules'
victories.
The invention of the Cnossia, performed in honour of Theseus, was
ascribed to Dasdalus. In this Dasdalian dance the girls wore chaplets and
the young men golden swords and shields. It had a warlike character. The
intention of the Ionic Dance is uncertain. We know that it was dedicated
to Diana.

The Charitesia, a dance in honour of the daughters of Jupiter, the
Graces or Charites, was a favourite with the Boeotians. It was a slow and
measured dance, performed at night by priestesses dedicated to the services
of the Graces.

The women who celebrated Diana in the Purple Dance wore tunics
of that colour.

performed in them. Some attribute their origin to the Delians, who sang them round the
altars of Apollo. Others ascribe their invention to the Cretans, taught by Thales. Pindar
describes those of the Lacedaemonians. He himself composed several Hyporchemates. —
(De Laulnaye : De la Saltation theatrale.)

DANCE OF NYMPHS AND SATYRS

After an Engraving of the Eighteenth Century

THE HORMOS

DANCE OF SVMPIIS

From a Bas-relief in the British Museum found at Athens

In the Hormos, another dance in honour of Diana, all the youth of
Sparta met. Here, as in the Gymnopaedia, the two sexes danced unclothed,
but without offence to modesty,
their attitudes being chaste and
beautiful. This national dance
wound in a brisk and spirited
fashion through the public
streets, led by a young couple.
Gesture and voice animated
its movements. It had
points of resemblance to
our modern Branle.
Its rhythmic steps were
directed now in an
easterly, now in a

westerly, direction ; for which reason Butteux considers it to have been an
astronomical dance.

The astronomic dance of the Egyptians probably inspired the strophes
and antistrophes of the early Greek tragedies, in which the choruses executed
a circular measure to the sound of instruments from right to left, to express
the celestial motions from east to west, and then reversed the movement at
the antistrophe, to represent the motion of the planets. These rhythmic
advances and retrogressions were interrupted by pauses, the Epodes, during
which the chorus sang. The Epodes symbolised the immobility of the
Earth, the revolutions of which were unknown to the early astronomers.

For a long period the only form of worship among the Indians was
dancing, accompanied by singing. In this fashion they adored their gods,
the sun and moon, at their rising and setting. These songs and dances took
the form of lamentations during eclipses.

The Hormos, with its seemingly Egyptian character, was instituted by
Lycurgus. Plutarch relates that the nudity of the women who took part
in it having been made a reproach to the legislator, he answered : " I wish
them to perform the same exercises as men, that they may equal men in
strength, health, virtue, and generosity of soul, and that they may learn to
despise the opinion of the vulgar."

1 6 A HISTORY OF DANCING

The Orphic Dances celebrated the courage of Castor and Pollux, and
their distant expeditions.

With these sacred dances we may conveniently class others, infinitely
varied, which accompanied funerals and processions. In the former case,

the entire community, keeping step and sing-

J ing hymns, escorted the funeral victims to the

. , ^^M altar. Before the cortege went the chief

ASP **+S * jT~" priest, dancing. Sometimes the mourners

-^H^ were clothed in white. At the head of the

Bk party marched groups, who danced to the

A sound of the instruments reserved for these

H solemnities ; interrupting their dancing at

intervals, they sang hymns in honour of the

defunct. Then came the priests and the

keeners, old women dressed in mourning, and

hired to simulate grief and tears.

According to Plato, relatives and friends
of the deceased were allowed to take part in
funeral dances, although as a rule in religious
tanagka f.gurine of a dancer ceremonies dancing was confined to profes-

sionals.
Butteux relates that the young people of both sexes in a funeral
procession were crowned with cypress, and that at one time it was customary
for a person to precede the cortege, wearing the clothes of the defunct,
imitating him, and characterising him in terms sometimes eulogistic, some-
times satirical.*

Military dances, not so numerous as the sacred, but prescribed by law,
held a prominent place in the education of youth.

" To those aware of the importance attached by the Greeks to physical
education, their military dances need no explaining. To gain and to keep
as long as possible," says Professor Desrat, "agility, suppleness, strength,

* Funeral dances were especially brilliant when they celebrated a man famous by his
birth, his preferments, or his fortune. Then all who took part in the ceremony were
clothed in white and crowned with cypress. Fifteen girls danced before the funeral car,
which was surrounded by a band of youths. Priests sang the accompaniment of the
dances. Women keeners, draped in long black cloaks, closed the procession.

GREEK WAR-DANCES

•7

vigour — this, in a few words, was what the Greeks aimed at in their bodily
exercises.

"It was by dancing in their fighting gear," he goes on to say,
" that the Greeks, a nation of heroes, trained themselves in the art of
hand-to-hand combat. Does not the dancing
step with which they advanced in war suggest
our ■ balance ' step ? Is not the latter (with
its successive hopping first upon one foot and
then upon the other) itself a sort of dance ?
We may add that many movements of our
bayonet exercise recall those of Greek military
dances."

Plutarch testifies : " The military dance was
an indefinable stimulus, which inflamed courage
and gave strength to persevere in the paths of
honour and valour."

These martial dances fall into two principal
groups : the Pyrrhic and the Memphitic.

According to some authorities, the Pyrrhic
Dance, a sort of military pantomime, was in-
stituted by Pyrrhus at the funeral of his father

Achilles. Others ascribe the honour of it to a certain Pyrrhicus, a Cretan
or a Lacedaemonian. Others, again, derive the word from the Greek *vp,
fire, because of the fiery and devouring energy exhibited by its dancers.
Pindar derives it from *vpa, a funeral pile, and asserts that Achilles first
danced it on the occasion of the cremation of Patroclus. And there are
some who hold that Minerva was the first to dance it, in commemoration
of the defeat of the Titans, and that she afterwards taught it to the
Tyndarida:.

It is certain that this dance was especially used in the Panathcnaea,
a festival in honour of Minerva, and was performed there by young
men and maidens. Xenophon even describes it as having been danced
by one woman alone. Apuleius indicates its various steps and move-
ments.

The uncertain etymology of its name goes to prove the great antiquity

TASAi.KA riWIIKl OP A DANCI*

A HISTORY OF DANCING

of this dance. Highly esteemed by their forefathers, it lingers to this day
among the Greeks. It was by no means entirely a man's dance. The

Amazons excelled in
it ; the women of Ar-
gos, of Sparta, and of
Arcadia engaged in it
with ardour.

According to Plato,
the Pyrrhic Dance con-
sisted of those move-
ments of the body by
which we avoid blows
and missiles ; springing
to one side, for ex-
ample, leaping back,
stooping. It also simu-
lated offensive move-
ments ; the posture of
a warrior letting fly an
arrow, the hurling of a
spear, the manipulation
of various kinds of
weapons.*

The Pyrrhic Dance
retained its warlike
character for a long
time, but was merged
at last in the rites of
Bacchus, whose thyrsus and reeds displaced the shield and spear.

* The Greeks had several kinds of Pyrrhic Dances, the names of which varied with the
character of the performance.

The Hyplomachia imitated a fight with shields.

The Skiamachia was a battle with shadows.

The Monomachia was an imitation of single combat, given, according to Athensus, at
banquets.

Xenophon describes a martial dance performed for the Paphlagonian delegates by two
Thracians, their steps, attitudes, and blows keeping time to the music of flutes. After a

NYMPH DANCING

After Raphael Collin

MIMETIC DANCES

The Memphitic Dance was in many respects akin to the Pyrrhic.
Minerva was supposed to have founded it as a memorial of the defeat of
the Titans. Thus its
origin was eminently
sacred. As in the Pyr-
rhic, the performers car-
ried sword and shield
and spear, but, less war-
like, they danced to the
sound of the flute. Lu-
cretius assigned its
origin to the Curetes
and the Corybantes.

Among dances de-
rived from the Pyrrhic
and the Memphitic we
may mention the furious
Telesias, little known
outside of Macedonia ;
also the Berekyntiake
and the Epieredias of
the Cretans.

From time imme-
morial, scenes from life
have been represented by
pantomimic dances.*

In the Karpaia, for example, the dancer imitated a labourer sowing his

A BACCHANTS

After Waller Crane

desperate struggle one of the (wo fell, and wis carried away by his friends. The victor
sang a song of triumph, and confiscated the arras of his opponent. The lookers-on cried
oat, thinking the Thracian really dead. But it was merely a game.

* Cassiodorus attributes the institution of pantomime to Philistion ; Athcnxus assigns it
to Rhadamanthus or to Palamedes. Pantomimists were distinguished by names that varied
among the different peoples of Greece. The most respectable of them were called
Etbologues : this word, derived from 'i^ot and Xayot, signifies painters of manners. One
of law most celebrated of the Ethologues was Sophron, a native of Syracuse. The
moral philosophy of these mimes was so pure that Plate on his death-bed kept a copy
of the poem* of Sophron under his pillow. The Greek pantomimists depicted the

A HISTORY OF DANCING

field and attacked by enemies who, despite his courageous defence, seized
and carried him ofF with his plough.*

In the Komastike, two opposed lines of warriors met in a sham fight.
The attitudes of the Poiphygma inspired terror. The Lion Dance figured

the majesty and
strength of the
lion. The Podis-
mos showed a re-
treat and the pur-
suit of the van-
quished after a
battle. The Po-
lemic resounded
with the clang of
shields and spears,
to which suc-
ceeded a very
sweet music of
flutes.

In the Cheiro-
nomia, one of the
oldest of Greek
dances, the dancer
engaged in combat
with an imaginary enemy. According to Hippocrates, this dance was one
of the most highly esteemed of the physical exercises used by the disciples
of Pythagoras. In the Opoplaea, impassioned dancers, inspired by warlike
music, flung and twisted themselves about, celebrating a victory.

emotions and the conduct of man so faithfully, that their art served as a rigorous
censorship and taught useful lessons. The pieces that they acted were called viro0eo-es,
or moralities ; these differed essentially in character from the iratyvia, or farces,
designed only to provoke laughter. To those mimes who played on the stage the
Greeks gave the generic name of 0u/«XiKot. The Athenians in particular were
distinguished for the excellence of their stage. — (De Laulnaye : De la Saltation
theatrale.)

* This dance, half rustic, half warlike, was peculiar to the Magnesians. Kapjraia,
from Kapnos, fruit or seed.

ARMED DANCE OF CORYBANTES
From an Engraving by Grignion

THEATRICAL DANCING

DANCE OF NYMPHS AND SATYRS

From an Engraving by B. Picart, after Reroond La Fage

The Thermagistris simulated the fury of battle ; it rang with the clash
of axes and swords, brandished by bare-armed dancers with dishevelled hair,
who worked themselves up to such a pitch of frenzy, that they bit their
own flesh, and hacked it with swords, till it bled.

In the Xiphismos, or sword dance, the performers contented themselves
with brandishing this weapon.

N >verre says, in his studies on dancing, that his readers will have to
follow him into a labyrinth where reason continually loses its way. Indeed,
the ancient authorities on this subject are so constantly at variance that
it is hard to see any clear path.

On the Greek stage, the female characters were acted by men ; and
dancers wore masks adapted to their various parts. For a long time these
dancers sang their own accompaniments ; but at last the chorus came into
existence, forming what was known as the Hyporchematic Dance. Greek
theatrical choregraphy did not develop much elegance until after the
repression of the buffoons who parodied the verses of Homer, of Hesiod,
and of other bards. This effected, poets themselves appeared upon the
stage, declaiming their own works, which dancers at the same time illus-
trated numerically. This association of poetry, music, dancing, and statuesque
refinement of attitude endowed Greek choregraphy with a beauty and a
character all its own. Mnasion (who sang the verses of Simonidcs) and Pyladcs,
raised the art of theatrical dancing to a high pitch of perfection. Novcrrc,
-del, and Daubcrval, our great modern masters of choregraphy, have often
(say* Professor Dcsrat) turned for inspiration to the magnificent compositions

A HISTORY OF DANCING

DANCE OF NYMI'HS AND SATYRS

From an Engraving by B. Picart, after Remond La Fage

of Pylades, whose most celebrated ballet is that in which Bacchus ascends
to Olympus, accompanied by Bacchantes and Satyrs.

Greek dances were directed by certain functionaries, who beat time,
directing not only the musical cadence of the piece, but also the pace and

manner in which the action evolved itself. Now

^. they hastened, now they delayed movements, to

^^_^^^ bring out finer gradations of meaning. They

tM ) W wore sandals of wood or iron, differing in

^Jfc^ [if thickness of sole according to the effects to be

f~\ Jf produced. Lively music they accompanied by a

M clinking together of oyster or other shells, held in

the hand, and used more or less as the Spaniards
use their castanets — which last are probably a
survival of the Greek contrivance mentioned.

Among their gayer measures were the Diple,
which was a vocal dance ; and the Ephilema, a
sort of Ronde, chanted to an accompaniment, of
musical instruments. The Niobe was a veritable
grand ballet in five parts : prelude, challenge,
combat, breathing-time, victory.

The Krinon was a Branle d'ensemble danced
and sung by choruses. The Parabenai Tettara
was performed by four dancers only. The
Xulon Caralepsis was danced staff in hand. Pylades excelled in the

^^w?

TANAGRA FIGURINE OF A DANCER

In the Louvre

MIMETIC DANCES

DANCE Or NYMPHS AND SATYRS

From an Engraving by B. Picart, after Keroond La Fage

JM1U1

Pyladeios, named after him, and doubtless one of his creations. The
Schistas Elkheim was a majestic dance, accompanied by a grave chorus.

The Greeks also indulged in comic dances, gay and lively, but often
rred by buffoonery, sometimes even by indecency. To these dances,
says Burette, people had recourse only when
excited by wine. Theophrastus, in his Charac-
ters, recounting the actions of a man lost to all
shame, reproaches him with having danced the
Cordax in cold blood, when sober. Cordax
was a Satyr who gave his name to this kind of
dance.

All comic dances were founded more or less
upon the Cordax. It lent itself readily to im-
provisation.

In the Chreon Apokopc, the dancers acted
the carving of food. In the Hypogones, old
men came upon the stage hent upon their staves.
It is not permissible to describe the excesses
indulged in by the actor in the Iodis. An
extravagant gaiety marked the Sobas and the
Stoichcia. In the Nibadismos the dancers
capered like goats.

The Morphasmos imitated the attitudes, the gait, the leaps and bounds
of animals.

7ANAI.HA MI.VKINK Ot A DANCM

In Ihc inati Collection

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Among the mimetic dances, the majority of which were common to
Greeks and Romans, we may mention the following : The Loves of Adonis
and Venus, the Exploits of Ajax, the Adventures of Apollo, the Rape of
Ganymede, the Loves of Jupiter and Danae, the Birth of Jupiter, Hector,
the Rape of Europa, the Labours of Hercules, Hercules mad, the Graces,

CLASSIC DANCE
From an Engraving by Agostino Veneziano

Saturn devouring his Children, the Cybele, in honour of Cybele, the
Cyclops, the Sorrows of Niobe, the Tragic end of Semele, the Wars of the
Titans, the Judgment of Paris, Daphne pursued by Apollo.

We must include in this summary of the choregraphy of all nations,
provinces, and cities, the Bucolic Dance, and the Dance of Flowers, in
which the Athenians repeated at intervals : " Where are the roses ? Where
are the violets ? " . . . One dance even took the name of a vessel used
by gold-smelters. There was the Dance of Noble Bearing, the Round,
the Combat, the Mortar, the Equal, the Exhortation, the Whirlwind of
Dust, the Judgment, the Satyrs, the Splendour, &c. Some commemorated
the victories of Hercules, others represented a naval engagement, some

A HISTORY OF DANCING

were distinguished by the vases known as carnos, carried in their hands by
the performers.

In the Dance of Adonis the cadence was marked by gringrinae, Phoenician
flutes used in the worship of the god. The Hippogynes was an equestrian
dance performed by women, which shows the great antiquity of the musical
ride. The Kolia took its name from the movement of the belly in jumping,

and suggests the
Danse du Ventre
of the Almees,
which perhaps
owes its origin to
the Greeks.

Some of these
saltations or
dances were called
after the flutes
used by the priests
of Apollo. Others
imitated the move-
ments of the neck,
or were danced
with sticks in the hand. Then there were the Dances of Nymphs, the
furious rounds of the Sileni in Lacedaemonia, the Spear Dance, the World
on Fire, or Fable of Phaeton, the Dances of the Tresses, of the Knees, of
Flight, of the Glass Goblet ; the Stooping Dance, the Dance of the
Elements, and of the Young Slave-girls. Some were more in the nature
of gymnastics than of dances, such as the Skoliasmos, a rustic dance sacred
to Bacchus, in which the performers hopped on inflated wine-skins, rubbed
over with oil to make them slippery.

To Theseus was ascribed the invention of the Crane, ostensibly an
imitation of the wanderings of this bird. But it had a deeper meaning, for,
according to Callimachus, it figured the endless windings and turnings that
Theseus had to follow before he could free himself from the labyrinth.
Dances in which animals were mimicked were, however, fairly numerous.
Two kinds of owls, the vulture, the fox, and other creatures gave their

CLASSIC DANCE

After N. Poussin

THE SIKINNIS

names to performances of this class. The Greeks had a third kind of
choregraphic drama known as the Sikinnis, or Satyric Dance, in which they
sought relief from the poignant emotions of tragedy.

The Sikinnis was accompanied by light songs, daring witticisms, and
licentiously allusive poems. Occasionally it parodied a tragical dance, or its

THE BLINI> MAN

After Boy<

actors, wearing masks which counterfeited the victims of their satire,
caricatured their fellow-citizens. Socrates was ridiculed on the stage in
the Clouds of Aristophanes. The official and the private acts of the highest
personages were burlesqued in the Sikinnis. It was a dance supposed to
belong especially to the Attic races. But, despite the natural refinement of
the Athenian intellect, the primitive good humour and vivacity of the Satyric
Dance gradually disappeared ; drinking-songs, erotic verses, and indecent
gestures accomplished its degradation.

In connection with the Sikinnis, Herodotus tells a story of Clisthenes,
king of Sicyon, who, desiring to marry his daughter suitably to her rank,
decreed a sort of competition for her hand, inviting to it all the notabilities of
Greece. A number of rich and powerful suitors presented themselves, among
others two Athenians. Upon the last day of the festivities, Clisthenes, after a
hecatomb to the gods and a banquet, proposed a contest in music and poetry.

28 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Then Hippoclides, one of the two Athenians, whom the young princess
seemed to regard with special favour, had a table brought in ; upon this he
mounted, the better to perform an obscene dance. Supposing himself to be
encouraged by the silence of the spectators, he began in an Athenian fashion.
His head downwards, walking upon his hands, he traced the principal

figures of the Sikinnis in the air with his
outstretched legs. But Clisthenes, beside
himself with indignation, cried out : " Son
of Tisander, you have danced the breaking
off of your alliance with me." The reply
of the Athenian has become a by-word :
" Faith, my lord, Hippoclides cares little for
that ! "

According to Ulpian, the Sikinnis was
\- ■ I performed at banquets. Bacchus had brought

it from India with him. The Satyrs made it
particularly their own. Certain authors
describe it as light, lascivious, and varied ;
others as a martial dance. We know it was
performed in Roman triumphs and in the
Pompa Ludorum, when the dancers burlesqued

FIGURINE FOUND AT MYRINA

in the Louvre serious dances. Dionysius of Halicarnassus

saw it performed at funerals.

In the Satyros, a Laconian dance, derived from the Sikinnis, the
actors, wearing goat-skins, appeared as Satyrs. In the Seilenos the
dancers disguised themselves as Sileni or as Masnads. The Bacchike,
familiar to the people of Pontus and of Ionia, was a Satyric Dance in
honour of Bacchus. The Konisalos was a Satyric Dance of a degenerate
and lascivious type.

Dancing, while bound up with the religious ceremonies of Greece, and
honoured on the stage and in public festivals, was not likely to be neglected
in private life. As a matter of fact, every family feast, every happy event,
the arrival of a friend, the return of a traveller, the birth of a child or its
anniversary, the gathering in of crops, the harvest, the vintage, all were
made occasions for the enjoyment of dancing. Longus has described the

THE EPILENIOS

■■■■■

DANCE Or NYMPHS

From a Drawing by G. F. Romanelli
(In the pouession of Mr. Wm. Heincmann)

Epilenios, or dance of the winepress,* in his pastorals. This dance, practised

originally by members of the family itself, with much vigorous leaping

and dexterous

exercises, with or

without accesso-
ries, was i n the long

run given over

to professional

dancers and to the

hangers-on of the

household. In

this new form,

the Epilenios had

a marked affinity

with our modern

acrobatic feats and

circus perform-
ances.

The Alphiton Ekchuton was the Dance of the Spilt Meal. The Hymen

or Hymenaios, used at weddings, celebrated a hero who rescued some Spartan

girls from pirates. The Anthema
formed part of the Hymen.

Several other dances, reserved
more especially for women, such as
the Hygra, the Kallabis, and the
Oklasma, consisted of graceful
movements, measured by the sound
of flutes. The exquisitely artistic

* " Meanwhile Dryas danced a
vintage dance, making believe to gather
grapes, to carry them in baskets to tread
them down in the vat, to pour the juice
into tubs, and then to drink the new
wine : all of which he did so naturally
and so fcatly that they deemed they mw
before their eyes the vines, the vat*, the
tubs, and Dryas drinking in good sooth."
—{Dafkmi *nd Chin.)

■ TutM A«U »ATVm

"raai • Drawing by C. B. Cipriani
(la dM nwililhl of Mr. Wm. Heincaunn)

A HISTORY OF DANCING

DANCE OF APOLLO

After Giulio Romano

statuettes found at Tanagra, of which we reproduce several fine specimens,

give some idea of the beauty of
motion as practised by chosen bands
of young women, when, in the mar-
vellous setting of antique theatres,
under the blue skies of Greece, they
gave themselves up to those perform-
ances so highly esteemed among a
people with whom the love of beauty
was a passion.

The fidelity of these records is
unfailing, from the highest to the
lowest efforts of plastic art.

The Greeks, as M. Emmanuel
has well said, had not only their
Apelles and their Phidias, they had
also their Dantans and Daumiers, their
Cherets, Caran d'Aches, and Forains,
all artists in their own domain, and
true interpreters of the artistic in-
stinct. Herculaneum and Pompeii
have made us familiar with the domestic life of antiquity ; the painted vases

- - 1

f'J

' 1

KV\ V

\fjv\k

-■ "■ ii ■■-*—«

^V |

:■- -'",v

"'■'<..

_ .ir*s**.r;.f:~':"

A MUSE DANCING

THE EROS OF MYRINA

DANCE OF N VII IMS

From a Relief in the Louvre

The delicious flying

of Greece offer us a history of caricature and impressionism, in which gaiety
and fancy are fixed in swift, unerring touches.

Sculptors vied with painters in this demonstration.
Eros, found at Myrina by Messrs. Pottier and
Reinach, his body leaning to the right, his
arm bent back above his head, describes a curve
of absolute anatomical correctness. It is entirely
free from conventionality ; the dancer of our
own day executes just such a movement. And
in the same way, the fourth-century figurine of
a Bacchante in thin and supple draperies, whirl
ing round on one foot, reproduces the move-
ment and the appearance of a contemporary
ballet-dancer.

The swiftness and correctness of vision
necessary for realistic truth such as this soon
passed away and gave place to convention. It
is the glory of modern sculpture that it has been
able, aided by science, to recover truth in the
representation of movement.

While Greece was renowned for the splen-
dour of her feasts, celebrating by graceful dances and garlands of flowers

CUHIC DANCKK
After CM«

A HISTORY OF DANCING

A BACCHANALIAN CHORUS

In the Armand Collection, Bibliotheque Nationalc

the Muses, love, glory "and beauty, Rome, stern and primitive, possessed
but one dance, the wild and warlike Bellicrepa, invented by Romulus in
memory of the Rape of the Sabines.

Later on it appears that the nymph Egeria mysteriously revealed a new
measure to Numa Pompilius, a pacific sovereign who never opened the
temple of Janus, and who made an effort to polish the manners of the
Romans. Certain authors attribute its invention to Salinus of Mantinea ;
but, however that may be, Numa instituted the order of Salian priests, or
Salii, to the number of twelve, who were chosen from among those of noble
birth. Their mission was to celebrate the gods and heroes by dances.
Clothed for these ceremonies in purple tunics, with brazen baldricks slung
from their shoulders, their heads covered with glittering helmets, they
struck the measure with their short swords upon the Ancile or sacred
buckler of divine origin.

With the exception of these military and sacred dances, monotonous
processions rather than dances, which the Salii also performed during the
sacrifices and through the streets, the only spectacles of the austere city
were the games in the Circus.*

Livy tells us that in the year 390, during the Consulate of Sulpicius

* "Heroic and barbarous Rome religiously preserved the memory of the first Brutus,
applauded the despair of Virginius, and devoted the head of the decemvir to the infernal
gods. Entirely absorbed in these great events, the queenly city knew nothing as yet of
other distractions, luxurious indeed, but necessary to people long civilised." — (Elise
Voi'art.)

THE LUDIONES

Peticus, scenic games were invented to appease the gods and to
distract the people, terror-stricken by the plague that decimated the
city.

The Ludiones came from Etruria, accompanying their passionate
dances with the music
of their flutes. They
were called "histrions,"
from the Tuscan word
hister, signifying
" leaper," says Livy
again, and instead of
making use of impro-
vised verse, as they had
hitherto done, for at
first they had no writ-
ten poems, they soon
accustomed themselves
to follow a set plan,
and to measure their
gestures by rhythm
and cadence. The
Roman youth began to
take part in these exer-
cises, and learned to
recite poems to the ac-
companiment of musical
instruments.

Later on, the arts
of Greece penetrated
to Rome, and dancing

to the sound cf the lyre, the harp, the flute and the crotalum formed
a splendid portion of the sacrificial rites. These dances were frequently
solemn, but they also expressed joy and tenderness on secular oc-
casions.

Meanwhile the dance of Lycurgus, the Hormos, lost its graceful

TUB HOKCHCV. VAI«

Id the Loum

A HISTORY OF DANCING

character and became more warlike ; * the Crane Dance had degenerated
into an amusement for villagers, says Lucian.

The Roman dances gradually lost their pure and modest character, and
depicted nothing but pleasure and obscenity.

RUSTIC DANCEKS

From an Etching by R. Blyth, after J. Mortimer

" In the middle of autumn," says Victor Duruy, " Messalina represented
a vintage scene in her palace. The wine-presses crushed the grapes ; the
wine flowed into the vats ; half-naked women, clothed like Bacchantes, in

* " Minerva approaches. Beside her, with drawn swords, march Fear and Terror,
constant companions of the Goddess of War. Behind her a flute-player sounds the war-
like Hormos, and by mingling with the muffled tones of his instrument sharp sounds like
those of a trumpet, he imparts to the melodies that he performs a more masculine and more
animated character." — (Apuleius.)

ROMAN CHILDREN TRAINED TO DANCE

doeskins, danced around, while Messalina, her hair unbound, the thyrsus in
her hand, and Silius, crowned with ivy, accompanied the licentious chorus."
** The austerity of the ancient Romans arose much more from poverty
than from conviction," continues Duruy. " Two or three generations had
sufficed to change a city which had only known meagre festivities and
rustic delights into the home of revelry and pleasure."

A TUA-r AT THE HOUU Or LUCl'IXU*

After Boutugcr
i of Mcurv Bonaod-Valadon and Co.

" When I entered one of the schools to which the nobles send their
children," says Scipio /Emilius, " I found more than five hundred girls and
boys receiving lessons in harp-playing, in singing, and in striking attitudes
amid histrions and infamous people ; and I saw one child, a boy of twelve
years of age, the son of a senator, performing a dance worthy of the most
degraded slave."

Thus it is clear that the Romans were acquainted not only with sacred
dances, but with military, theatrical, and private dancing.

36 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Retaining the sacred dance of the Salii, which, being of Roman origin,
preserved a warlike character, the Romans borrowed from the Greeks the
Bacchanalia, whose origin, in Hellas, was religious. These were at first
reserved for the priests and priestesses of Bacchus, but later on they became
the accompaniment to nuptial feasts, every citizen took part in them, and,
from having lent a lustre to worship and a grace to love, they degenerated
into lascivious performances.

The Lupercalia were held on the 15th of the Kalends of March in
honour of the god Pan. The priests of the god, the Luperci, danced
naked through the streets of Rome, armed with whips, with which they
struck at the crowds of spectators.

Other dances accompanied funeral processions, with mourners and with
the Archimime, who wore a mask faithfully representing the deceased, whose
history he recited.

Until the time of Augustus, dancing was entirely given up to the
obscenities of celebrated mimes, who were principally Tuscan buffoons.

The Greeks used to represent actions by pantomime before they began
to recite their tragedies.* The Romans developed pantomime and made of
it a new art, which the Greeks, who had limited themselves to a series
of actions expressing only one sentiment, had never practised. The Ludiones
had outlined scenes at Rome which might be called the first pantomimes, but
the invention of the genuine mimetic drama appears to be due to Py lades
and Bathyllus, two celebrated actors who divided public enthusiasm during
the reign of Augustus. The former, born in Cilicia, created ballets of a
noble, tender, and pathetic order ; the latter, who came from Alexandria,
composed lively choruses and dances. Both were freed slaves. Mimes
and Archimimes enjoyed such favour that many were Parasites of the
gods. Some of them were admitted among the priests of Apollo, a dignity
coveted by the most illustrious citizens.

Juvenal tells us that Bathyllus depicted the transports of Jupiter in the
company of Leda with such realism that the Roman women were pro-
foundly moved, t

* Castil-Blaze.

t "The pantomimic actors aspired to the expression of intellectual ideas, such as
times past or future, arguments, &c. Although this was carried out by conventional

PANTOMIME AMONG THE ROMANS

We can form but a faint idea of the perfection to which the art of
pantomime attained among the Romans. It ranged over the whole domain
of fable, poetry and history. Roman actors translated the most subtle
sensations by gestures of extraordinary precision and mobility, and their
audience understood every turn of this language, which conveyed far more
to them than declamation.
This imitative principle,
the strength, the infinite
gradations of this mute
expression, made the
dancing of the ancients
a great art. Indeed,
dancing deprived of such
elements is nothing but
a succession of cadenced
steps, interesting merely
as a graceful exercise. It
is the imitative prin-
ciple, common to it
with all the other arts,
which refines and en-
nobles it.

We understand the
Roman admiration for
pantomime, just as we
understand their con-
tempt for dancing when,
losing its exalted character, it became the mere medium of ribaldry.

By the word saltan o the Romans meant not only the art of leaping
or jumping, as might be supposed, but the art of gesture in general.

IA4TORAL DANCK

gestures only, it was nevertheless an infringement of the limits or the art at first. One
single actor represented several characters ; two acton sometimes sufficed for a piece,
perhaps not a complicated one, and more properly to be described as a scene than an entire
play. Later the number of actors increased, and ended by equalling that of the
characters." — (Butteux.)

A HISTORY OF DANCING

According to Varro, the word was derived, not from the Latin salto, but
from the name of the Arcadian, Salius, who taught the art to the Romans.

Lucian relates that a Prince of Pontus, who had come to visit Nero,
was present at a performance in the course of which a famous mime
expressed the labours of Hercules as he danced. The dancer's gestures

A CLASSIC DANCE

From an Engraving by Gaucher, after Caspar Crayer

were so precise and expressive that the stranger followed the whole of the
action without the slightest hesitation.

He was so much struck by the incident, that on taking leave of the
Emperor he begged him to give him the actor. Noting the astonishment
of Nero at his request, he explained that there was a barbarous tribe
adjoining his dominions, whose language no one could learn, and that
pantomime would explain his intentions to them so faithfully by gestures,
that they would at once understand.

WOMEN ADMITTED TO THE STAGE j9

The episode is credible enough. When travelling in Sicily, I noticed
that the Sicilians are in the habit of holding long communications by means
of gestures which escape the uninitiated visitor. This custom dates back to
remote antiquity. It is said that the suspicious Hiero, King of Syracuse,
fearing conspiracies among his people, forbade all verbal intercourse. The
Sicilians therefore had recourse to signs. For centuries they have been
reputed the best pantomimists in Italy, a superiority they owe perhaps to
the traditional use among them of a silent language they learn in their
earliest years.

An historian of antiquity has wisely said that the " soul dances in the
eyes." It is true, indeed, that every movement of the soul is translated
with lightning swiftness in the glance.

It was by her dancing that Salome obtained the head of John the Baptist
from Herod.

She danced before his golden throne, scattering flowers as before an
idol. The great lamps suspended from the palace vault struck out a
thousand magic gleams from the pearls and chalcedony of her necklaces,
the gem-encrusted bracelets on her arms and wrists, the gold embroideries
on her black veils, the iridescent draperies that floated above her feet,
cased in little slippers made from the down of humming-birds.

She danced " like the Indian priestesses, like the Nubians of the cataracts,
like the Bacchantes of Lydia, like a flower swaying on the wind. The
diamonds in her ears trembled ; sparks flew from her arms, her feet, her
garments."

And for her reward she claimed " the head of John the Baptist on a
charger."

The Romans, as a rule, did not care for dancing themselves, but they
were passionately fond of it as a spectacle.

l»r a l*ng time no women appeared upon the stage ; their parts were
taken by young men, and that may have been one of the causes of the
degeneracy of the choregraphic art in Rome. Later on, women, who among
the Greeks were not even permitted to take part in tragedy or comedy, used
to appear in Rome in pantomime ; the best known of these actresses are
Arbuscula, Thymelc, Licilia, Dionysia, Cytheris, Valeria and Cloppia.

Theatrical dancing at that time had attained unprecedented popularity

A HISTORY OF DANCING

in Rome. The degenerate city gave itself up to a frenzy of admiration for the
rival dancers Pylades and Bathyllus, and the gravest questions of State were
neglected on their account. Not content with having turned the heads of
the Roman ladies, they were a cause of disturbance to knights and senators.
Rome was no longer Rome when Pylades and Bathyllus were absent.

CLASSIC DANCE

After Mantegna

Their Intrigues set the Republic in a ferment. Their theatrical supporters,
clad in different liveries, used to fight in the streets, and bloody brawls were
frequent throughout the city.

" The rivalries of Pylades and Bathyllus occupied the Romans as much
as the gravest affairs of State," says De Laulnaye. " Every citizen was a
Bathyllian or a Pyladian. Glancing over the history of the disturbances
created by these two mummers, we seem to be reading that of the volatile
nation whose quarrels about music were so prolonged, so obstinate, and
above all, so senseless, that no one knew what were the real points of
dispute, when the philosopher of Geneva wrote the famous letter to which

. ///.t/t/t'f . Ii'ri;/// < ' 'itinnif

PYLADES THE DANCER

4«

no serious reply was ever made. Augustus reproved Pylades on one

occasion for his perpetual quarrels with Bathyllus. " Caesar," replied the

dancer, " it is well for you that the people are engrossed by our disputes ;

their attention is thus diverted from your actions ! " A bold retort, but

one which shows the importance attached by the Romans to the doings of

the two famous mimes. We find that the banishment of Pylades almost

brought about an

insurrection, and

that the master

of the world was

forced to appease

his people by the

recall of the

histrion.

Classic writers
give various rea-
sons for the dis-
grace of Pylades.
Dion Cassius at-
tributes it to the
intrigues of
Bathyllus ; Mac-

robius to the disputes between Hylas and Pylades ; Suetonius to the effrontery
of the latter, who pointed at a spectator who had ventured to hiss him. The
boldness of Pylades, if Suetonius be right, was hardly surprising, when we
learn that one day, acting the madness of Hercules, he shot off arrows
among the spectators. Repeating the scene in the presence of Octavius, he
indulged in the same licence, and such was the Emperor's mastery of the
art of dissimulation, that he showed no sign of displeasure. On another
occasion, when Pylades was acting the part in public, some of the spectators,
partisans, no doubt, of Bathyllus, objected to his gestures as extravagant.
Annoyed by this injudicious criticism, he tore off his mask and shouted to
them : " Fools, I am acting a madman ! "

At another performance, Hylas was playing CEdipus. After he had
put out his own eyes, his rival Pylades, who was present, called out : " You

CLASSIC DANCE

After BatUu Franco

A HISTORY OF DANCING

can still see ! " Hylas had given an imperfect rendering of the hesitating
and timorous gait proper to the newly blind.

The said Hylas was beaten with rods, says Suetonius, at the complaint
of the Praetor. This rude chastisement of a public favourite is surprising
enough, and no writer has explained such a derogation from established
precedents. Among other privileges Augustus accorded to the mimes,
were exemption from magisterial control and immunity from scourging.*

*^v 4& j\

w®'

•

CLASSIC DANCE
After Batista Franco

Are we to attribute to this degeneracy the contempt of the Romans
for dancing ? Cicero says : " No sober man dances unless he is mad " ; and
he reproaches the Consul Gabinus for having danced. Horace also rebukes
the Romans for dancing as for an infamy. Sallust, bitterly apostrophising

* "Yet Octavius," says De Laulnaye, " inflicted this punishment on Stephanio, the
author or actor of those pieces the Romans called ' Togataria:,' because the actors in them
wore the toga. There is one very curious circumstance in the life of Stephanio. He
twice took part in the celebration of the Secular games. These games, as their name
indicates, only took place every hundred years, and the public crier, in announcing them,
described them as solemnities no living man had ever witnessed, or would ever witness
again. The Emperor, however, who ridiculed all the traditional laws and customs,
determined to celebrate the Secular games long before the expiration of a centuiy since
those presided over by Augustus, and Stephanio, who had figured in the latter, appeared
again in those inaugurated by Claudius."

ROMAN DANCERS

a lady, tells her that she dances with too much skill for a virtuous woman.
Dancing, therefore, was completely perverted ; Rome outdid our Bullier
and Moulin Rouge ; according to Valerius Maximus, the actors were so
corrupted that the Massaliots refused to grant them a theatre, lest their
own manners should
become perverted by
their indecency.

This was too much.
Domitian expelled
from the Senate some
Conscript fathers who
had dishonoured
themselves by danc-
ing. Tiberius, Nero,
and Caligula pro-
scribed dancers,
though they after-
wards recalled them.
Trajan displayed
more energy, and
tranquillity was re-
stored for a few
years. But the
mimes found ardent supporters among his successors. Constantine, who
had driven the philosophers from Rome, allowed three thousand dancers
to remain. Gesar had forced the poet Laberius to dance on the stage,
and he gave him a gold ring and five hundred thousand sesterces in
compensation of this indignity. But he could not restore to him his place
among the knights in the circus, as they refused to allow a dancer to sit
with them.* This was at the period of the decadence. Roman manners
were undermined, and the end of the Empire was at hand.

In addition to the licentious dances of theatres and festivals, the
Romans, still in imitation of the Greeks, used to call in bands of musicians

a ucouim

Alio I

A DANCBK

Alter Vcflel

• Fcniiult.

A HISTORY OF DANCING

and dancers to divert their guests. Some appeared disguised as Nymphs,
some as Nereids, some naked. Discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii
have brought to light mural decorations of atria, representing women
who waited at table, and whose rhythmical movements were regulated by the
sound of the flute.

The Gaditanians, famous female dancers from Cadiz, were long the

delight of Ancient Rome. The
dance of the Gaditanians was
so brilliant and impassioned,
that poets declared it impos-
sible to describe the strange
charm it exercised over the
spectators.

Many ancient writers allude
to these dancers. Martial, him-
self a Spaniard, immortalised
them in his epigrams. Pliny
the younger mentions them in a
letter to Sepficius Clarus ;
Petronius, Silias Italicus, Ap-
pianus, Strabo, and a number of
others all testify to the exciting
and seductive character of the Spanish dances of their times.

A German author, speaking of the dances of ancient Gades, says they
were " all poetry and voluptuous charm." An English writer asserts that
the famous Venus Cailipyge was modelled from a Gaditanian dancer in high
favour at Rome, probably the Telethusa of whom Martial sang. In his
Grandezas de Cadix, the Canon Salazar, who lived in the seventeenth
century, says that the Andalusian dances of his time were identical with
those so famous in antiquity.

" Father Marti, Canon of Alicante," says Baron Davillier, " was well
acquainted with all the dances in favour at Cadiz in his time, which he
called Gaditanian delights, delicias gaditanas. According to him, they were
identical with the ancient dances, though they had been brought to greater
perfection, to such perfection, indeed, that the former, and even the

AN IDYL

After a Picture by Mme. Demont-Breton

CROTALIA AND CASTANETS

4s?

famous Phrygian Cordax, must have been mere puerilities in comparison
with them."

The use of castanets, which has persisted for more than a thousand
years, shows the strong affinity between the antique Spanish dances and those
of the present day. At Rome, as in modern Spain, popular dances were
cadenced by the clink of castanets. The Spanish castanuelas differ but
slightly from the crotalia of the ancients. Both are composed of two
hollow portions, which, striking one against the other, give out a sharp,
resonant sound. The shape and size are much the same now as formerly.
The only essential difference is in their composition, for the crotalia of the
ancients were sometimes made of bronze.

A DAXCIK

Froa ■ MS. in the BiblxxUqM Natfeaak

DANCE OF THE REDEEMED

From Fra Angelico's "Last Judgment," Florence

CHAPTER II

DANCING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Religious Dances — Strolling Ballets — Dances of Chivalry — The " Ballet des Ar dents" —

Bergonzio di Botta's Ballet

IFTER the sack of Rome by Totila, dancing disappeared
almost completely. Most of the authors who have written
on the choregraphic art bear witness to an interval of some
centuries between ancient and modern dancing. Neverthe-
less, people still danced in Roman Gaul, although the wandering troupes
of dancers who travelled through Gaul as through the other provinces
of the Empire had brought dancing into marked disfavour. Dancing
was practised among the Franks and the Goths. Christianity had at first
encouraged primitive dances, and had even appropriated them to itself.
Christians celebrated Mysteries in churches by hymns and dances, as the

EARLY CHRISTIAN DANCES

DANCE OF DEATH

After an Engraving in the Bibtiotheque Nationals

Jews had done before them ; they danced in the cemeteries in honour of

the dead, and it may well be that these dances were a sacred remembrance

of the worship of

olden days.

" Divine service,"

says the Jesuit priest

Menestrier, who,

about 1682, wrote a

most interesting book

upon Dancing, " was

composed of psalms,

hymns, and canticles,

because men sang and

danced the praises of

God, as they read His

oracles in those extracts from the Old and New Testaments which we

still know under the name of Lessons. The place in which these acts of

worship were offered to God was called the
choir, just as those portions of comedies
and tragedies in which dancing and singing
combined to make up the interludes were
called choruses. Prelates were called in
the Latin tongue, Trtsules a Pr<rsiIiendo,
because in the choir they took that part
in the praises of God which he who
led the dances, and who was called by
the Greeks Cboregus, took in the public
games."

Scaliger corroborates this statement,
and says that the first bishops were called
Prssu/es because they led the dances on
solemn occasions. The chief priest

among the Salii, instituted by Numa Pompilius, had the title of

Prssut.

Dancing wat so far permitted by the Fathers of the Church that

Macs <>r w«im

.48

A HISTORY OF DANCING

St. Gregory of Nazianzum only reproached the Emperor Julian with the
bad use he made of it.

" If you are fond of dancing," he said, " if your inclination leads you to
these festivals which you appear to love so passionately, dance as much as
you will ; I consent. But why revive before our eyes the dissolute dances
of the barbarous Herodias and of the pagans ? Rather perform the dances

of King David before the Ark ;
dance to the honour of God.
Such exercises of peace and piety
are worthy of an Emperor and
of a Christian."

Father Menestrier reminds us
that Plato considered dancing a
very efficacious remedy in cases
such as those to which it is still
applied in the famous Tarantula.
" For," says he, " to such persons
are sung certain songs calculated
to heat their blood, and to open
the pores, so as to admit of the
expulsion of the poison. Danc-
ing," he continues, " serves to
moderate four dangerous passions,
fear, melancholy, anger and joy ; fear and melancholy are relieved by
rendering the body active, supple, light and tractable, while the frenzy of
the two other passions is calmed by regular movements. But if dancing
be a remedy as regards these passions, it is natural to joy, which is, in
itself, a dance, and a gentle and agreeable agitation caused by the effusion
of the spirits which, rising in the heart, spread themselves abundantly
through the whole body. Such is the argument of Plato."

Vestris also tells us that Christianity in its religious ceremonies had
followed ancient tradition, both biblical and pagan, and that in its early
days, according to all the evidence, religious dances were favourably
viewed by the Church. Such dances must have become confounded with
profane measures, for they were performed by layman as well as by clerics.

DANCE OF DEATH

In the Church of St. John at Basle

DANCING IN CHURCHES

They were performed on certain days and at certain moments in the
service ; for example, hands were joined and dances performed during the
singing of the hymn, O Filii.

M. Emmanuel, in his learned work upon Greek dancing, remarks that
"if Guido and Pomerancio have depicted ballets of angels, it is because
St. Basil, in his
Epistle to Gregory,
says that dancing is
their only occupation
in heaven, and calls
those happy who can
imitate them upon
earth." •

"It is with this
idea," he adds, "that
commentators speak of
the apostles and mar-
tyrs as victorious
soldiers, 'dancing'
after the battle."

Certain religious dances have disappeared, others have persisted to our
own days. One of the Acts of the latest Council of Narbonne proves
that the custom of dancing in churches and cemeteries on certain feast-
days obtained in Languedoc till the end of the sixteenth century.

In the seventeenth century, the people and clergy of Limoges danced
in the church of St. Leonard on the Feast of St. Martial, singing :

San Martiaou, pregas per nous et nous epingarcr per boui.

Mahomet, imitating the Christian practice, instituted a sect of dancers,
the Dervishes, who twirl round and round with astonishing swiftness, some-

* St. Basil exhorts us to perform sacred dance* upon earth in imitation of the angels.
"Quid itaquc bcatius case potcrit quam in terra tripudium Angclorum imitari?" —
{Efiit. i. 4J Grti*r.) m Philosophers have also existed who believed that these spirits had no
other means of communication among themselves but signs and movements arranged after
the manner of dance*. After this we need not be surprised that Virgil, in the Sixth Book
of the i£oeid, make* the spirits dance in the Elysian fields."— (Father Mcncstricr.)

DAKCING AKCILS

Pram a Relief by Donaiello, at Hottr.ce

£o A HISTORY OF DANCING

times even till they fall down in a swoon, in honour of their founder
Menelaus. The latter, it appears, danced unceasingly for forty days to the
sound of the flute, and was rewarded by a divine ecstasy.

The institution of this sect of dancers is not, indeed, unique. At the
beginning of the present century, in 1806, just such another was founded
in New England, under the name of the Jumpers. They looked upon
dancing as an act of worship ; they alternated it with psalmody, and practised
it with the utmost fervour in honour of the Deity. Like the Dervishes, they

DANCING ANGELS

From a Relief by Donatello, at Florence

twirled round for hours at a time, sinking to the earth at last breathless and
panting. Some among them, like Menelaus, claimed to have achieved a
divine ecstasy by these means.

It is in Catholic Spain that religious dances have most notably persisted.
In the time of St. Thomas of Villanueva, Bishop of Valencia, it was cus-
tomary to dance before the Sacred Elements in the churches of Seville,
Toledo, Jeres, and Valencia, and, in spite of the abolition of religious
dances by Pope Zacharias, the holy prelate approved and upheld them.

Nor did they confine themselves merely to these dances in Spain. In
the Middle Ages, pieces known as farsas santas y piadosas, holy and pious
farces, were performed in churches and monasteries. These were religious
compositions, relieved by ribald interludes and licentious dances.

It was the custom in Galicia to dance the Pela, a sort of sacred measure,

THE SEISES OF SEVILLE ^i

on the Feast of Corpus Christi. A very tall man, carrying a magnificently
dressed boy on his shoulders, danced at the head of the procession.

In Catalonia, Roussillon, and several other Spanish provinces, mysteries,
interspersed with religious dances, were played even in the seventeenth
century.

A traveller, who visited Spain at the beginning of the present century,
says Davillier, tells us how he saw Regnard's Legataire Universe/ performed
at Seville on the Feast of the Assumption, and transcribes the playbill,
which ran as follows : " To the Empress of Heaven, the Mother of the
Eternal Word, &c. . . . For her advantage, and for the increase of her
worship, the actors of this city will this night perform a very amusing
comedy, entitled Le Legataire Universe/ . . . The famous Romano will
dance the Fandango, and the theatre will be brilliantly lighted with
chandeliers."

Baron Davillier further tells us that the poems known as villancicos are
popular verses, originally intended to accompany religious dances, and that
they are very ancient in Spain. A poet of the later part of the fifteenth
century, Lucas Fernandez, published a collection of villancicos para se salir
cantando y vailando (to go singing and dancing), in which Christ, the Virgin,
and the angels play the principal parts.

Certain villancicos are still sung to the tunes of Seguillidas. Some of
them, the Villancicos de Natividad, are sung throughout Spain on Christmas
night. They are chanted to an accompaniment of somewhat unorthodox
dancing, and the Redeemer, the Holy Mother, and the angels figure in the
refrains, together with turron and Manzanilla wine.

The seises, the choir-boys of Seville Cathedral, have preserved the
tradition of the ancient representac tones and danzas which formed part of all
Corpus Christi processions in mediaeval Spain, and the Dance of the Seises
was authorised in 1 439 by a Bull of Pope Eugenius IV.

Don Jaymc de Palafox, Archbishop of Seville, attempted to suppress
them in his diocese. But the Chapter chartered a vessel, and the seises, led
by their maestro di capilla, embarked for Rome, where they convinced the
Pope that their costumes and dances could but add to the splendour of
religious ceremony.

"The seises" says Baron Davillier, "arc generally the children of

A HISTORY OF DANCING

artisans or workmen. They must be under ten years of age on admission.
They are easily to be recognised in the streets of Seville by their red caps
and their red cloaks adorned with red neck-bands, their black stockings,
and shoes with rosettes and metal buttons. The full dress of the seises is
exactly the same as that worn by their predecessors of the sixteenth century.
The hat, slightly conical in shape, is turned up on one side, and fastened with

a bow of white vel-
vet, from which
rises a tuft of blue
and white feathers.
The silk doublet is
held together at the
waist by a sash, and
surmounted by a
scarf knotted on
one side ; a little
cloak, fastened to
the shoulders, falls
gracefully about half-

PROCESSION OF El.S COSIERS

way down the leg.
But the most cha-
racteristic feature of the costume is the golilla, a sort of lace ruff, starched
and pleated, which encircles the neck. Lace cuffs, slashed trunk-hose or
calzoncillo, blue silk stockings and white shoes with rosettes, complete
the costume, of which Dore made a sketch when we saw it in Seville
Cathedral, on the octave of the Conception. The Dance of the Seises
attracts as many spectators to Seville as the ceremonies of Holy Week,
and the immense Cathedral is full to overflowing on the days when they are
to figure in a function."

At Alaro, a little town in the Balearic Islands, two religious festivals
still survive which are celebrated by dancing.

The following notes on the subject have been communicated to me by
H.H. the Archduke Salvator :

" One of these festivals is celebrated on the 1 5th of August, the day of the
Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the other on the following day, the feast

PROCESSION OF ELS COSIERS

of the patron of the village of Alaro. On these occasions a body of dancers
called Els Cosiers play the principal part. They consist of six boys
dressed in white, with ribbons of many colours, and wearing on their heads
caps trimmed with flowers. One of them, la Jama, disguised as a
woman, carries a fan in one hand and a handkerchief in the other. Two
others are dressed as
demons with horns and
cloven feet. The party
is followed by some
musicians playing on
the cheremias, the tam-
borino, and the fabiol.
After vespers the Cosiers
join the procession as
it leaves the church.
Three of them take up
positions on either side
of the Virgin, who is
preceded by a demon ;
every few yards they
perform steps. Each
demon is armed with a
flexible rod with which
he keeps off" the

crowd. The procession stops in all the squares and principal places, and
there the Cosiers perform one of their dances to the sound of the tamborino
and the fabiol. When the procession returns to the church they dance
together round the statue of the Virgin. The following day, on the
occasion of the second fete, the Cosiers perform dances to the accompani-
ment of their band, in front of the high altar after Benediction. They
then betake themselves to the public square of the village, where a ball
ensues."

These processions, veritable strolling ballets, were a survival of
paganism. Appianus has described them, and attributes their invention
to the Tyrrhcni. He relates that the young men who formed the

DAXCIXC »OY»

Froa a Relief by Uu <Mb RokbU, at Floraac*

^4 A HISTORY OF DANCING

procession in these Tyrrhenian celebrations, as he calls them, decked their
heads with golden garlands, and danced with precision and method.
Martial tells us that these strolling ballets, originating in Italy, passed into
Spain, where they have persisted to our time. The Portuguese, too, are
passionately fond of this kind of dance. For centuries their strolling
ballets have paraded the streets of their towns, and spread their long lines
through the country on the occasion of saints' days or other religious
solemnities.

In 1610, on the occasion of the canonisation of St. Carlo Borromeo,
the Portuguese organised a strolling ballet, which is still famous. A ship,
bearing a statue of St. Carlo, advanced towards Lisbon, as though to take
possession of the soil of Portugal, and all the ships then in the harbour
went out to meet it. St. Anthony of Padua and St. Vincent, patrons of
the town, received the newcomer, amid salvoes of artillery from forts and
vessels. On his disembarkation, St. Carlo Borromeo was received by the
clergy and carried in a procession in which figured four enormous chariots.
The first represented Fame, the second the city of Milan, the third
Portugal, and the fourth the Church. Each religious body and each
brotherhood in the procession carried its patron saint upon a' richly decorated
litter.

The statue of St. Carlo Borromeo was enriched with jewels of enormous
value, and each saint was decorated with rich ornaments. It is estimated
that the value of the jewellery that bedecked these images was not less
than four millions of francs (^160,000).

Between each chariot, bands of dancers enacted various scenes. In Por-
tugal, at that period, processions and religious ceremonies would have been
incomplete if they had not been accompanied by dancing in token of
joy.*

In order to add brilliancy to these celebrations, tall gilded masts,
decorated with crowns and many-coloured banners, were erected at the doors
of the churches and along the route of the choregraphic procession.

* "Ne dia fastidio, a nostri d'ltalia, massime ai Romani, il sentire chc nelle processioni
di santi e di tanta divotione come fi questa, si mescolasscro e balli e danze, perche in
Portogallo non parebbe loro, massime ai popolari, fossero processioni nobili e gravi senza
simiglianti attioni di giubilo e d'allegrezza." — (Monsignor Accoromboni.)

THE. LOU GUE

vSnliiK ta<nui (cattiuuiivVctpfatrfa
cVnt fir* (iqitruta i-|.utr.n( |ituM'.»l.mtc*

i>> fiil-iuuwt <t .<f/iuan<->v- vokci-

4Au tcl\ni.u\l\im lont l',tHU(,l||illl(iVU*

These masts also served to show the points at which the procession

should halt, for the dancers to perform the principal scenes of their ballet.

Such performances

were also common

in the South of

France.

In 1462, on
the eve of Corpus
Christi, the good
king, Rene of
Provence, organ-
ised a procession
called the Lou
Gue, a genuine
strolling ballet,
accompanied by
allegorical scenes,\
combats, and
dances. These
allegorical scenes
were at that time
called entremets,
and were invented
to occupy the
guests at banquets
between the

VIXTACE DAKCI

Fro* a MS. in the HMotWqM <k 1'Ancnal. Para

courses.*

The good king mingled the sacred with the profane in his strolling
ballet. Fame, mounted on a winged horse, and blowing a trumpet, headed
the march, knights bearing lances followed. Next came the Duke and
Duchess of Urbino, mounted on donkeys. For three centuries this

* Mithicu de Coucy speak* of • proceuion witnessed by the Burgundian Ambassadors
at Milan in 1459, which terminated by a performance of men and women, as warriors
doing feats of arms for love of the ladies. The procession at Aix, and the important
part played therein by the Prince of Love, arc an imitation of these warlike, gallant and
religious festivals. (Castil- Blaze.)

A HISTORY OF DANCING

satirical figure of the Duke of Urbino, mounted on a donkey, followed the
Corpus Christi processions.

Mythology had also her share in the festival. There might be seen
Mars and Minerva, Pan and Syrinx, Pluto and Proserpine, and many

A MEDIEVAL DAN'CE

From a MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationnle, Paris.

others, with a suite of Fauns, Dryads, and Tritons, dancing to the sound of
drums, fifes, and castanets, preceding the car of Olympus, whereon were
enthroned Jupiter, Juno, Venus, and Love. The cortege was closed by
three grimacing Fates.

Moreover, in this procession of pagan gods were interspersed horned
devils worrying King Herod, and demons pursuing a soul over which a
guardian angel watched. Then came the Jews, dancing round a Golden Calf,
the Queen of Sheba with a brilliant suite, and the Magi, following a star
hanging at the end of a long pole. These were succeeded by the Massacre
of the Innocents, by Christ bearing His cross and surrounded bv fht-

THE LOU GUE r;7

Apostles. St. Luke appeared bearing on his head the brow of an ox,
and ceaselessly scratching the scaly skin of a leper. Then came dancers,
mace-bearers, regular soldiers, and, finally, a hideous figure of Death, driving
before him with a gigantic scythe this crowd of divine and infernal beings,
kings, heroes, and saints.

" King Rene composed this religious ballet in all its details," says Castil-
Blaze; "decorations, dance-music, marches, all were of his invention, and
this music has always been faithfully preserved and performed. The air
Lou Gue has some curious modulations ; the minuet of the Queen of
Sheba, the march of the Prince of Love, upon which so many no'els have
been founded, and above all, the veie de Noue, are full of originality. But
the wrestler's melody (i'air des luttes) is good Rene's masterpiece, if it be
true that he is its author, as tradition affirms. This classic air has a pleasing
melody with gracefully-written harmonies ; the strolling minstrels of Pro-
vence play it on their flutes to a rhythmical drum accompaniment, walking
round the arena where the wrestlers are competing."

" The richest and most elegant jewels and costumes were reserved for
this solemn occasion," says Castil-Blaze again. " These adornments it was
possible to prepare beforehand. Not so the puffs, the chignons and the
curls which ladies piled upon their heads, before the Republican era.
Legions of powdery hairdressers betook themselves to Aix. Their skill and
talent would hardly have carried them through, had they not begun their
work long before the event. A number of ladies, whose heads were dressed
in the very pink of fashion, curled, greased, and powdered, brilliant with
flowers, feathers, and pompons, consented to spend several nights with their
elbows on a table, and their heads resting on their hands, to ensure the
safety of the stately edifices. No lady who failed to make a magnificent
appearance could hope for a bouquet from the Prince of Love. The
ridiculous fashions of the day were put to a test which drew down open
reprobation upon them. The devil's dam, represented by a man six feet
high, appeared in the dress of a modish lady, with hair dressed in the pre-
vailing fashion, the absurdities of the whole costume grossly exaggerated."

A special revival of the Aix festival, instituted by King Rene in 1462,
took place at the beginning of the present century, in the year 1 805, in
honour of the Princess Pauline Borghese.

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Religious dances, however, like all dances, whether among the Greeks
or among the Romans, degenerated. In 554 King Childebert proscribed
them all in his territories, and in 744 a rescript issued by Pope Zacharias

forbade any ribald dances
(danses baladoires).*

Odo, Bishop of Paris in
the twelfth century, also pro-
scribed dancing in churches
and processions, and especially
the funeral dances which
were wont to be held at
night in cemeteries. Much
later, September 3, 1667, we
find a decree of the Parlia-
ment of Paris forbidding
religious dances in general :
the public dances of Jan-
uary 1 , and May 1 , the torch
dances of the first Sunday in
Lent, and those which were
held round bonfires on the
Vigil of St. John.
The clergy, who sold dancing indulgences, and to whom dancing
was a considerable source of revenue, looked askance at these interdictions,
and resisted them accordingly.

It is said that a bishop who owned a property on the shores of the

* "The abuses that with time had crept into these sacred dances, which had become
licentious and dissolute, caused them to be abolished, as the Agape or 'love feasts,'
and the kisses of peace that the faithful used to give one another in the churches were
abolished. For the same reason many churches gave up music and instruments, and
several bishops, wisely forbade the chanting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah on the three
last days of Holy Week, in order to prevent the disorders that used to occur on such holy
days, owing to the great number of persons who were attracted by the orchestra and the
fine voices, rather than by piety.

"I myself have seen the canons take the choir-boys by the hand in some churches on
Easter Day, and dance in the church, singing hymns of thanksgiving, to say nothing of the
scandalous customs, introduced by the simplicity of past centuries, but so corrupted by
libertinage, that not only have severe laws been necessary for their suppression, but much

THE VIGIL OF ST. JOHN

THE ORIGIN OF DANTZIC

£9

permission to his flock to dance, on condition that they

Baltic Sea gave
should only
use the space
enclosed by
joining in a
large ring the
hands of all
the inhabitants
of the neigh-
bouring vil-
lages. On this
space was after-
wards built a
town, says the
legend, the
town of Dant-
zic, or City of
Dancing.

" Neverthe-
less," says Paul
Lacroix, " the
good humour
and natural
gaiety of the
Gauls, their
passion for
violent exer-
cises and for

sensual gratifications, disposed them to love dancing, and to give themselves
up to it with keenness. One can thus understand how it is that dancing,

TMB SHKrHRIM HANOI

a MS. in ihe IliWxHhc.iuc d« I'Ancnal, !'»">

care and zeal on the part of mott of our prelates to banith these dangerous abuses from
their dioceses.

"Our religious acts no longer consist of dances, like those of the Jew and the heathen.
We are content to make this etcrcisc an honest diversion, which prepares the body for noble
and dignified actions, and serves for public rejoicings." — (Father Mcncstricr.)

60 A HISTORY OF DANCING ; .

in spite of the repugnance shown to it by the' Roman aristocracy, in
spite of the anathemas and interdictions of councils and synods, has
always been the favourite pastime of the Gauls* and French."

In 1373, during the reign of Charles V., an unknown illness came upon
France and Flanders to punish the people, say the old historians, for the
sins and abuses that marked their religious dances. Numbers of people
were seized with a dancing mania, threw off their clothes, crowned them-
selves with flowers, and, hand-in-hand, went singing and dancing through
the streets and churches. Many, from turning round and round, fell
breathless and exhausted. " They were so inflated by this exercise,"
says Mezeray, " that they would have burst then and there, but for the
precaution of fastening bandages very tightly round their bodies."
Strange to say, people who beheld this turmoil of dancers were
seized with the same frenzy, and joined themselves to the bands of
madmen. This disease was known as the " Dance of St. John." Certain
sufferers were cured by exorcisms. Mezeray adds : " This punishment
put an end to the dances that were held in France before the churches
on Sundays and feast-days."

An analogy to this may be found in antiquity. Lucian relates that
the inhabitants of a Greek city were seized with a sort of frenzy after
witnessing a representation of the Andromeda of Euripides. They
might be seen, feverish, pale and exhausted, running through the streets
half naked, declaiming parts of the play, with hideous contortions. The
disease disappeared with the advent of colder weather, and after violent
bleeding at the nose had relieved the sufferers.

During the Middle Ages, pantomimes and theatrical ballets disappeared,
but dancing remained a popular diversion ; and we know, from the
frequent interdictions pronounced by councils and synods, that dances were
performed at the feasts of patron saints, and on the eve of great church
festivals. Dancing, at first despised by the men of this period as an
amusement unworthy of them, was practised exclusively by women for a
time, which explains the fact that most of the early mediasval dancing songs
were composed by women, and introduce female characters chiefly. Men
appeared only as spectators of such performances, which they watched with
an interest to which innumerable poems and romances bear witness,

THE CAROLE 61

" Under the walls of a castle named Beauclair," says a song of the twelfth
century, " a grand ball was soon arranged ; the damosels came thither to
carol, the knights to look* on." *

Soon, however, the upper classes borrowed this diversion from the
populace. But it was not until the beginning of the thirteenth century,
when the harshness of primitive manners was modified to some extent, that
the sexes joined in the amusement. Knights and ladies, taking hands,
danced rounds. In the absence of instrumental music, the dance was
regulated by clapping hands, or by songs, the verses of which were sung by
a soloist, while the refrain was taken up by the whole band. This was the
famous Carole, so often described in mediaeval poems and romances ; it
was long the favourite amusement at social gatherings and entertainments.
The author of Flamenco, a Provencal poem, relates that " Youth and Joy
opened the ball with their cousin, Prowess. Cowardice, ashamed, went and
hid herself." Paul Lacroix mentions a passage in the romance of Perce-Foret,
in which it is described how, after a banquet, while the tables were being
removed, all was prepared for a ball ; the knights laid aside none of their
accoutrements, but the ladies retired to don fresh toilettes. " Then,"
says the old romancer, " the young knights and maidens began to play
their instruments to lead the dance, whence comes," he adds, " the old
Gallic proverb : Apris la pause, vital la danse " (after good cheer comes
dancing).

In time a musical accompaniment, though of a somewhat meagre
kind, took the place of singing. Evidently, these singing dances
were the origin of the more modern ballets and masquerades. As
the songs introduced various personages (the May Queen, the jealous
lover, &c), it was natural that these characters, at first merely mentioned
in the text, should come to be represented by the dancers. There is,
in fact, no solution of continuity between the modest Caroles of the

* The preaching friar, Jacques dc Vitry, clearly explains these proceedings by means
of an original but homely metaphor. Speaking of the women who led these dances, or
regulated them by their singing, he says that they wore round their necks the bell of the
Devil, who kept his eye on them : " It is thus the cow who wears a bell round her neck
informs the shepherd where the herd is to be found." In another passage he compares the
persons who sing for dancing to the chaplain who chants the versicle*, and the clerks who
respond.

A HISTORY OF DANCING

thirteenth century, and the sumptuous masquerades of the fifteenth and
sixteenth.

" The Middle Ages were the palmy days of dancing, especially in
France. The feasting and dancing seem to have been incessant, and one
would think, from reading the old poems and romances, that the French had
nothing to do but to dance at all hours of the day and night. Tabourot

THE BALL OF THE MAGDALEN

After a Picture by Lucas van Leyden in the Brussels Museum

assigns this very prosaic reason : ' Dancing is practised in order that it may
be discovered whether lovers are sound and healthy ; to this end, they are
permitted to embrace their mistresses, so that respectively they may smell and
savour one another, and see whether each has sweet breath ; therefore from
this point of view, as well as from many other conveniences that arise
therefrom, dancing is necessary for the proper organisation of society.' " —
(P. Lacroix.)

MASQUES

In the thirteenth century there was a marked development in literature
and art ; the taste for assemblies and festivities was propagated in Italy and
in France, resuscitating dancing and theatrical performances.

"Maskers," says M. Desrats in his Dictionnaire de la Danse, "were
allowed such liberty of behaviour that we can neither explain nor comprehend
it. This unlimited liberty gave them admission to every private ball,

BALL IN Tlir. >"'. KlfcENTM CfcKTl'ftV

From a M.S. in the Biblioihfc|tM Natioulc

without invitation, and they might dance with whomsoever they pleased,
without incurring the smallest observation from the master of the house.
Neither married ladies nor girls ever refused their invitations. Various
balls might be mentioned in which Charles VI. had tragic fits of madness,
and the practical jokes of Henry IV. arc not yet forgotten."

Yet another diversion was a regular composition. A subject from

A HISTORY OF DANCING

fable or history was chosen, and two or three quadrilles were formed in
which the dancers wore appropriate costumes. An explanatory recitation
was sometimes added to the dance. A third diversion came nearer to our
ballet, and is to be found in full vigour in 1675. All have read of the
joyous masquerades of Charles IX., Henry III., Henry IV. and Louis XIII.

Louis XIV. figured in
person, on January 2,
1655, in a masquerade
given by Cardinal
Mazarin, and in many
other such spectacles.

Somewhat later, the
town of Lille gave a
fete to Philip the Good,
in which twelve ladies,
each representing a
virtue, and twelve
knights brilliantly
dressed,' performed a
dance.

The town of Amiens
offered a ball, or per-

THE BALLET DES ARDENTS

From the Froissart MS. in the Bihliotheque de l'Arsenal, Paris haps rather 3. ballet, tO

Charles VI.

Another, which was given in Paris, at the house of the Duchesse de
Berri, was, as is well known, the occasion of the king's madness. This
ball has remained celebrated under the name of the Ballet des Ardents.
The Duchess invited the whole Court. At that time people were already
passionately fond of masquerades.

The king, followed by some companions, came to the ball disguised as a
savage. The Duke of Orleans took a torch in order to examine the new-
comers closely, and set fire to the tow held together by pitch that formed
their attire. The king nearly perished. Less fortunate than Charles (who,
however, went out of his mind), the Comte de Jouy and the Bastard of
Foix were burned to death. Young de Nantouillet only escaped by

BERGONZIO DI BOTTA'S BALLET 6$

jumping into a tub of water. The Duke of Orleans built a chapel at the
Celestins in expiation of his folly.

In spite of this tragic adventure, which might have been expected to
put an end to masquerades, they were long continued. Towards the
close of the Middle Ages, both in France and elsewhere, they took the
form, at great entertainments, of gorgeous and fantastic allegories, accom-
panied by a species of ballet.

One of the most celebrated of festivities was the fete given in 1489 by
Bergonzio di Botta of Tortona, in honour of Galeazzo, Duke of Milan,
who had just married Isabella of Aragon.

" The Amphitryon," says Castil-Blaze, " chose for his theatre a
magnificent hall surrounded by a gallery, in which several bands of music
had been stationed ; an empty table occupied the middle. At the moment
when the Duke and Duchess appeared, Jason and the Argonauts advanced
proudly to the sound of martial music. They bore the Golden Fleece ;
this was the tablecloth, with which they covered the table, after having
executed a stately dance, expressive of their admiration of so beautiful a
princess, and of a Sovereign so worthy to possess her. Next came Mercury,
who related how he had been clever enough to trick Apollo, shepherd of
Admetus, and rob him of a fat calf, which he ventured to present to the
newly married pair, after having had it nobly trussed and prepared by the
best cook of Olympus. While he was placing it upon the table, three
quadrilles that followed him danced round the fatted calf, as the Hebrews
had formerly capered round that of gold.

" Diana and her nymphs followed Mercury. The goddess' followers
bore a stag upon a gilded stand. It is unnecessary to say that a fanfare of
hunting-horns heralded the entrance of Diana, and accompanied the dance of
her nymphs.

" The music changed its character ; lutes and flutes announced the
approach of Orpheus. I would recall to the memory of those who might
have forgotten it, that at that period they changed their instruments
according to the varying expression of the music played. Each singer, each
dancer, had his especial orchestra, which was arranged for him according to
the sentiments intended to be expressed by his song or his dance. It was
an excellent plan, and served to vary the symphonies ; it announced the

A HISTORY OF DANCING

MORRIS DANCERS
Beverley Minster

return of a character who had already appeared, and produced a varied
succession of trumpets, of violins with their sharp notes, of the arpeggios
of lutes, and of the soft melodies of flutes and reed pipes. The orchestra-
tions of Monteverde prove that composers at that time varied their
instrumentation thus, and this particular artifice was not one of the least
causes of the prodigious success of opera in the first years of its creation.

" But to return to the singer of Thrace, whom I left standing somewhat
too long at the door. He appeared chanting the praises of the duchess,
and accompanying himself on a lyre.

" ' I wept,' he went on, ' long did I weep on the Apennine mount
the death of the gentle Eurydice. I have heard of the union of two
lovers worthy to live one for the other, and for the first time since my
misfortune I have experienced a feeling of pleasure. My songs changed
with the feelings of my heart. A crowd of birds fluttered down to
listen to me ; I seized these imprudent listeners, and I spitted them all to
roast them for the most beautiful princess on earth, since Eurydice is no
more.'

" A sound of brass instruments interrupted the bird-snaring virtuoso :
Atalanta and Theseus, escorted by a brilliant and agile troop, repre-
sented a boar hunt by means of lively dances. It ended in the death of
the boar of Calydon, which they offered to the young duke, executing a

BERGONZIO DI BOTTA'S BALLET 67

triumphal ballet. Iris, in a chariot drawn by peacocks, followed by nymphs
clad in light transparent gauze, appeared on one side, and laid on the
table dishes of her own superb and delicate birds. Hebe, bearing nectar,
appeared on the other side, accompanied by shepherds from Arcady, and by
Vertumnus and Pomona, who presented iced creams and cheeses, peaches,
apples, oranges and grapes. At the same moment the shade of the
gastronomer Apicius rose from the earth. The illustrious professor came
to inspect this splendid banquet, and to communicate his discoveries to
the guests.

"This spectacle disappeared to give place to a great ballet of Tritons
and of Rivers laden with the most delicious fish. Crowned with
parsley and watercress, these aquatic deities despoiled themselves of their
headdresses to make a bed for the turbot, the trout, and the perch that
they placed upon the table.

" I know not whether the epicures invited by the host were much
amused by these ingenious ceremonies, and whether their tantalised
stomachs did not cry out against all the pleasures offered to their
eyes and ears ; history does not enter into these details. Moreover,
Bergonzio_di_Botta understood too well how to organise a feast not to
have put some ballast into his guests in the shape of a copious luncheon,
which might serve as a preface, an argument, an introduction if you will,
to the dinner prepared by the gods, demigods, Nymphs, Tritons, Fauns,
and Dryads.

" This memorable repast was followed by a singular spectacle. It was
inaugurated by Orpheus, who conducted Hymen and Cupids. The Graces
presented Conjugal Fidelity, who offered herself to wait upon the princess.
Semiramis, Helen, Phardra, Medea and Cleopatra interrupted the solo of
Conjugal Fidelity by singing of their own lapses, and the delights of
infidelity. Fidelity, indignant at such audacity, ordered these criminal queens
to retire. The Cupids attacked them, pursuing them with their torches,
and setting fire to the long veils that covered their heads. Some-
thing, clearly, was necessary to counterbalance this scene. Lucrctia,
Penelope, Thomyris, Judith, Portia, and Sulpicia advanced, and laid at the
feet of the duchess the palms of virtue that they had won during their lives.
As the graceful and modest dance of the matrons might have seemed a

BERGONZIO DI BOTTA'S BALLET

somewhat cold termination to so brilliant a fete, the author had recourse to
Bacchus, to Silenus and to the Satyrs, and their follies animated the end of
the ballet."

This dramatico-gastronomic entertainment made a great sensation. All
Italy was delighted with it, and descriptions of it travelled throughout
Europe ; but it was one of the last fetes of its kind. Modern dancing gave
rise to choregraphic tourneys, and ballets with mechanical contrivances,
more splendid, perhaps, but certainly less original.

♦T

**.*

«** h-::>

***♦

TOOtS DANCE

From a MS. in the Bodleian Library

THE FARANDOLE

After Jules Gamier

CHAPTER III

The grand Ballet — French T)ances of the Close of the Middle dges, and

of the Renaissance — 'Basse Dances — The Volte — The Gaillarde —

The Tordion — Branles — The Tavane

T is a singular fact that modern theatrical dancing makes its
first appearance under Sixtus IV., in the Castle of St. Angelo,
where, towards the end of the fifteenth century, Cardinal
Riario, nephew of the Holy Pontiff, composed ballets and had
them performed.

At about the same time, though sacred dances had been long forbidden
by the Church, Cardinal Ximenes reinstated the Mass of the Mozarabes,
the author of which was a bishop of Seville in the Cathedral of Toledo.
It was celebrated with dances in the nave itself.

Nevertheless, Cardinal Riario failed to inspire the Pope with a taste for
dancing and the ballet, so preoccupied was his Holiness with Venice and
the Medici.

It was under Leo X. that ballets came specially into favour. Cardinals
not infrequently had them produced. Even Protestants shared the
common passion for an amusement little in accordance with their austere

DANCING AT THE COURT OF FRANCIS I.

ideal. Brantome tells how Queen Elizabeth received the Grand Prior of

France and the Connetable de Montmorency at a supper, followed by a

ballet danced by the ladies of her Court. Its subject was the Gospel story

of the wise and the foolish Virgins. The former carried their lamps

burning,

while the

lights of the

others had

gone out ;

the lamps

of all alike

were of mas-

sive silver,

marvellously

chased.

The ho-
nour of the

THE BALLET PES RlDICl'LES

After a Drawing in the Bibliothc«|uc Nationale

restoration

of dancing properly belongs, however, to Bergonzio di Botta, whose fete

we have described.

In fact the success of this pageant, organised for Galeazzo, Duke of
Milan, was such as to make like diversions the fashion, and to stimulate
the production of grand pantomimic ballets, allegorical and historical.

These first appeared at royal courts, and celebrated illustrious births and
marriages, and important public events. They were all of five acts and
two entrees, which latter were performed- by quadrilles of dancers, usually
dressed alike, whose gestures, attitudes, and movements helped to explain
the meaning of the ballet.

The Court of Francis I. was much given to dancing, in which art the
graceful Marguerite de Valois achieved unheard-of success. We read how
Don John of Austria rode post from Brussels, and came secretly to Paris
expressly to sec her dance. He went away dazzled. Afterwards he used
perpetually to say, " How much there is in a minuet ! " This phrase has
also been attributed to Professor Marcel.

Catherine dc' Medici entertained the French Court with ballets, the

A HISTORY OF DANCING

poetical refinement of which contrasted curiously with the more than
doubtful morality of the gaieties accompanying them. Her maids of
honour, scantily draped and with loosened hair, offered food upon dishes of
silver, after the antique festal manner. Music and dancing formed part of
these festivities, at which Henry III. often appeared in female dress, while
the women donned masculine attire !

Henry III. was not the only king who had a taste for masquerading.

According to Menestrier,
" princes take pleasure in
donning some ridiculous
disguise at times, as is the
custom at the German
Wirthschafts. This cus-
tom is derived, no doubt,
from the ancient Saturnalia,
in which the slaves figured
as their masters and the
masters as slaves. Greatness
becomes a burden to the
great in their diversions,
and to make these freer and more amusing, they are glad to lay
aside their rank for a few hours, and to mix on terms of equality with
those they are accustomed to see at their feet in all the circumstances
of life.

"With good reason," he continues, "has Antiochus, king of Syria,
surnamed Epiphanes, and in derision Epimanes, been branded a fool and a
madman ; he mingled with the lowest of the people in all their amusements,
sullying the splendour and profusion of his festivals by base conduct and
actions unworthy of his birth and rank, dancing with buffoons and actors,
arranging his banquets himself, removing the dishes, and introducing the
various courses. Once, in the midst of one of the most magnificent
entertainments ever given, he had himself carried into the assembly rolled in
sheets, emerging from which, he danced an entree, figuring a sleepy man
with such extravagance, that all sensible persons present withdrew, unwilling
to witness such degradation. (Athenasus.) Plancus cut a figure no less

THE BALLET DES RIDICULES

After a Drawing in the Bibliotheque Nationale

THE BALLET OF CIRCE 7$

undignified, when, representing the sea-god, Glaucus, he donned a fish's
tail, and danced upon his knees."

These warnings of antiquity notwithstanding, Catherine diverted the
attention of her sons from affairs of state by a whirl of midnight gaieties,
cunningly designed to mask her own dark schemes.

In the midst of these festivities, the crime of St. Bartholomew was
hatching, murder was plotted to the sounds of music, the victims were
marked out among the dancers, the executioners were chosen and prepared.

Nevertheless, she did much for the improvement of theatrical music,
introducing Italian musicians, and supporting her ballets by the most effective
orchestras.

Among certain violinists sent to the Court by the Marechal de Brissac,
Governor of Piedmont, was an Italian called Baltasarini, who lost no time,
however, in adopting the more brilliant name of Beaujoyeux. This artist
introduced a regularity and method hitherto unknown into the management
of the Court ballets. He was made valet de chambre to the queen-mother,
and chief organiser of fetes and entertainments.

A poet of the day celebrated his talents as master of the royal revels in
the following couplets :

"Beaujoyeux, qui premier des cendres de la Grecc
Fait rccourncr au jour lc dessein ct l'adrcssc,
Du ballet compose, en son tour mesure
Qui d'un esprit divin toi-meme tc devance,
Gcomctrc inventif, unique en ta science
Si ricn d'honncur s'acquicrt, lc ticn'est assure."

In 1 58 1, on the occasion of the marriage of the Due de Joyeuse,
Beaujoyeux composed the celebrated Ballet Comique de la Reine, or Ballet of
Circe, said to have been a masterpiece of choregraphic composition. The
king's almoner, Lachesnaye, supplied the libretto ; his music-masters, Beaulieu
and Salomon, the music. In L'Estoile's Journal we read that the queen
and princesses figured as Nereids and Naiads.

44 Lortquc Circe" parut en ce ballet pompcux
Aux jreux dc Medici offcrt par Beaujoyeux
On choiiit let danscurs parmi ccttc noblesse
Qui joignait au courage ct la grace ct l'adrcssc."*

* Deiprciux. L Art ii U Dame.

74 A HISTORY OF DANCING

The princes and princesses donned costumes so costly on this occasion
that even the courtiers blamed their extravagance. " Never," it was said,
"can the king afford another/?/?/" -Some of the costumes cost eighty
thousand francs. The dresses -of the king and queen in especial shone with
precious stones and gold embroideries.. This wedding cost the king the
enormous sum of a hundred and twenty thousand crowns.

"On Monday, September 18, 1581," says L'Estoile, "the Due de
Joyeuse and Marguerite de Lorraine, daughter of Nicholas de Vaudemont,
the Queen's sister, were betrothed in the Queen's chamber, and on the
following Sunday, at three o'clock, they were married in the parish church
of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. The King conducted the bride to the abbey,
followed by the Queen, the princesses, and the Court ladies, all so richly
attired, that nothing so sumptuous was ever seen in France. The King and
the bridegroom were dressed alike, in costumes covered with embroideries,
pearls, and precious -stones, of inestimable value. Some of the accoutre-
ments had cost ten .thousand crowns to fashion ; and yet at every one of
the seventeen festivals given at the King's command after the marriage by-
the lords and princes related to the bride, and other great nobles of the
Court, all the lords and ladies wore fresh costumes, most of them fashioned
of cloth of gold or silver, enriched with embroideries and precious stones,
in great numbers and of great price.

" The expenditure had been so great, taking into account the tourna-
ments, masquerades, presents and devices, music and liveries, that it was
commonly reported the King was over twelve hundred thousand crowns out
of pocket.

"On Tuesday, October 10, the Cardinal de Bourbon gave his entertain-
ment at his residence at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, at vast
expense. He caused a magnificent structure to be made on the Seine, a
huge boat, in the form of a triumphal car, in which the King, the princes,
the princesses, and the newly wedded pair were to pass from the Louvre to
the Pre-aux-Clercs in solemn state. This splendid car was to be drawn
along by other boats in the shape of sea-horses, Tritons, dolphins, whales,
and other marine monsters, to the number of twenty-four. Those in front
were to bear, concealed in their bellies, trumpets, clarions, cornets, violins,
hautbois, and various excellent musicians, together with certain persons to

->» ;

EQUESTRIAN BALLETS

cavalry, who Were flung to the ground and discomfited by the dancing of
their horses when the flutes began.

Things still more extraordinary are told of the Sybarites in this
connection. They were, it is said, in the habit of following up their
banquets with performances by horses so well trained, that they rose

m-stic ruiAnnw*
After * Picture by Toudouie

on their hind legs at the sound of the flute, and executed a sort of
dance in this attitude, following the rhythm of the music with great
precision. Arrianus tells us that the art of dancing was taught to elephants
in India. We know how extremely intelligent the animal is. It is said
that in the reign of Domitian, an elephant, who had been corrected by his
dancing-master for his unskilfulness, was found practising his steps by
moonlight.

* Reference it made in Pliny to ballets danced by elephants, and Martial writes :

" Et mollcs dare jtma quod choreas
Nigro bcllua nil negat magistro,
Quis spectacula non putct dcorurn ? "

78 A HISTORY OF DANCING

However this may be, equestrian ballets were seen in Florence in 1608
and in 1615, and at the magnificent tournaments of Louis XIII. and of
Louis XIV.

And in Baucher's Dictionnaire raisonne d 'Equitation ; published in 1833,
I find :

" Contredanse : Horsemanship, carried to a certain perfection,
permits of the performance of all imaginable movements by horses, the
formation of quadrilles, the complete execution of the figures of the
contredanse. Thanks to this exercise, as useful as it is charming, our
amazons can practice in the riding-house in the morning what they dance
at night. Here, as in the ball-room, they may gain an easy and supple
carriage, and display the grace and tact which they bring to everything
they undertake. Nor will there henceforward be anything to hinder our
young gallants from talking horsemanship to ladies. The latter will, on
the contrary, be perfectly at home in such conversation ; they will, further,
after a few lessons in the mounted contredanse, be able to manage a horse
with every kind of skill and elegance.

" In teaching it, I ask my pupils to wear a tiny spur. This, with the
ordinary riding-whip, suffices to accurately direct the movements of the
horse. Thus equipped, ladies execute without serious difficulty most of the
manoeuvres hitherto believed to be within the powers of the best horsemen
only. Therefore I invite my fellow riding-masters to enliven their lessons
by this powerful means of emulation and attraction.

" The combined use of spur and whip once mastered, pupils may at
once turn from the paces of the haute ecole to those of the contredanse.
The fear of leaving quadrilles incomplete will conduce to regularity of
attendance ; so that within a limited time debutantes will fit themselves for
the brilliant and public display of their skill." *

A month after the De Joyeuse fete another great ballet was produced
under the patronage of the Cardinal de Bourbon at his residence in the
Abbaye de St.-Germain-des-Pres. It represented the triumph of Jupiter and
Minerva. The queen figured in it as premiere danseuse. The Princess of
Lorraine, the Duchesses de Mercosur, de Guise, de Nevers, and d'Aumale,
were secondes danseuses, and appeared as Naiads.

* Baucher goes on to describe his figures and their execution in elaborate technical detail,

THE CARDINAL DE BOURBON'S BALLET

A novel feature in this ballet was a vast fountain, the twelve sides of
which supported twelve Nereids and the musicians. Above this fountain,
so transparent as to show a number of fish swimming in the water, rose
another, surrounded by balustrades, between which were niches for twelve
Nymphs. On the principal facade, dolphins, bearing up a crown, formed
a throne for the Queen. Surmounting this prodigious edifice was a ball of

AN OKX-AM UU

Froc» * prist bjr Abraham Bom in tbc Bibliolhcquc Nationalc

gold, five feet in diameter, beneath which other dolphins spouted water in
glittering jets. The whole structure seemed to be drawn along by sea-
horses, accompanied by Tritons and Sirens. The Queen and her suite of the
corps dt ballet wore robes of crape embroidered with silver, and carried gold
aigrettes in their hands.

This display of dancing began at ten o'clock in the evening and went on
till four next morning. It was on this occasion that small presents were
first distributed among the dancers. The King began by giving the Queen
a medal bearing on one side a dolphin, and on the other the punning
inscription :

A HISTORY OF DANCING

" rDelphinum ut delphinum rependas " : "I give a dolphin {dauphin),
expecting a dauphin in return."

The Duke of Guise received from the Duchesse de Nevers a medal, on
which was engraved a sea-horse with these words :

" Adversus semper in hostem " : " Always ready for the enemy."

A BALL IN THE TIME OF LOUIS XIII.

After Abraham Bosse

M. de Senevois presented to the Duchesse de Guise a medal, bearing this
legend :

" Populi superat, prudentia fluctum " : " Discretion appeases the disquiet
of the populace."

The Marquis de Pons received from the Duchesse de Nevers a sort of
whale, bearing her motto :

" Sic famam jungere fame" which a poet freely translated :

" Si vous voulez pour vous fixer la Renommc, •

Occupez toujours ses cent voix."

The Due d'Aumale received from the queen a Triton armed with a
trident, riding on stormy waves, with the inscription :

" Commovet et sedat" : "He troubles and he soothes them."

BALLETS OF THE PAPACY

The branch of coral offered by Madame de Larchant to the Due de
Joyeuse had for device an epigram :

" Eadem natura remansit" : " In vain he changes, he remains the same."

Professor Desrat thinks that this distribution of tokens may have
been the origin of our
modern custom of
giving presents in the
cotillion.*

Pope Alexander VI.
and the Borgias
patronised ballets
which recalled those of
Messalina.

In 1500, the sove-
reign pontiffs already
possessed a theatre with
scenery and mechanical
appliances ; and when
Cardinal Bernardo Bib-
biena had the comedy of
La Calandra played
before Leo X., certain
decorations painted by
Pcruzzi (the Sanquirico
of the day) were much
admired, t

The Council of Trent was distinguished by a ballet given in honour
of the son of Charles V. Cardinals and bishops took part in it, and it
was opened by Cardinal Ercole of Mantua.

* We know little of the chorcgraphic details of the Circe. One author tells us,
anlcwljr enough, that the performers "danced face to face, back to back, in circle, in
square, across, in line, fleeing, stopping, and falling into poses, interlacing themselves
together." Which suggests to Professor Desrat the comment: "These steps must have
been mainly glided through, since the Basse Danse still reigned supreme. And, as the
caprcssion of the plot was always imperative in these ballets, the steps must have been a
good deal eked out by gestures."

t Caitil-Blazc.

UMRKALDA DANCING WITH HKK GOAT

From a Print in the DibliotW-que N&Uonalc

A HISTORY OF DANCING

One of the greatest itinerant ballets ever seen was that organised by
the Church itself in Portugal, in 1609, on the occasion of the beatification
of Saint Ignatius Loyola. This ballet represented the capture of Troy ! It
was also danced in Paris, where its first act, performed before the Church of
Notre Dame de Lorette, introduced the famous horse, an enormous mass of
wood, set in motion by a secret mechanism. Around this animal, dancers

acted various epi-
sodes of the siege.
Then the troupe,
followed by the
gigantic horse,
moved on to the
ancient Place St.
Roch, where was
the church of the
Jesuits.

Scenery, set up
round the Place,
represented the
city of Troy with
its towers and high walls ; all of which fell down upon the approach of
the horse. Then the Trojans advanced among the ruins, performing a
martial dance like the Pyrrhic of Greece, surrounded by fireworks ;
while the flanks of the horse poured forth rockets upon the smoking
city. " A most beautiful spectacle," says Father Menestrier, " was the
simultaneous discharge from eighteen trees, all loaded with similar
fireworks."

Next day, the ballet was continued in the second act by a nautical fete,
wherein appeared four brigantines decorated richly with gold and with flags,
on which were stationed choirs of singers. It was terminated by a grand
procession, in which three hundred horsemen, dressed in the antique fashion,
escorted ambassadors from the four quarters of the world to the College of
the Jesuits. And the four quarters of the world themselves were represented
in a final scene.

" Having arrived," says Father Menestrier, " at the Place de la Marine

BALLET OF THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE. ENTREE OF THE GRAND KHAN

After a Drawing in the Bibliotheque Nationale

a M

< ■

i ,s

B §

h tJ

s ■

" 5

A HISTORY OF DANCING

(at Lisbon, I suppose), the ambassadors descended from the brigantines and
mounted certain superbly ornamented cars. Upon these they advanced to
the college, preceded by several trumpeters, and accompanied by the three
hundred cavaliers. After which, various persons, clothed in the manner of
different countries, performed a very agreeable ballet, forming four troupes
or quadrilles to represent the four quarters of the world. The kingdoms
and provinces, represented by as many genii, marched with these various

nations and peoples be-
fore the cars of the
ambassadors of Europe,
of Asia, of Africa, and
of America, each of
whom was escorted by
seventy cavaliers. The
troupe of America was
the foremost, displaying,
among other dances, a
very whimsical one of
young children disguised
as apes, monkeys, and
parrots. Before this car
rode twelve dwarfs upon ambling nags. The car of Africa was drawn by
a dragon. Variety and richness of apparel was not the least among the
attractions of this fete ; some persons wearing precious stones to the value
of over two hundred thousand crowns."

Under the Good King Henry, dancing inclined chiefly to jollity. The
Bearnese have always been famous dancers. Henry IV. excelled in the
Tricotet, to which he even added a variation that was called after him.
The Tricotet was a very ancient and merry dance ; it demanded a motion of
the feet quick as that of needles in knitting — whence the name, says La
Monnoye, in his glossary of Christmas songs.

Henry danced it, we are told, to a favourite tune of his, the words of

which were :

"J'aimons lcs filles,
Et j'aimons lc bon vin.
De nos bons drilles

BALLET AT THE CHATEAU DE BIcfcTRE. ENTREE OF DRUNKEN
PEASANTS

After a Drawing in the Bibliotheque Nationale

TRICOTETS

Voila tout le refrain :

J'aimons Ics filles,

Et j'aimons le bon vin.

These Tricotets were performed in many ballets to airs divided into

ySJUAXTS DASCK

After a sixteenth-century Print in the Bibliothcque N

four couplets and entrees. The last of them was danced to the tune Vive
Henri £>uatre, which has remained so popular in France. Gardel intro-
duced it in 1780, in his ballet of Alinette a la Cour, where it had an immense
success. So well did the step suit the words, that at its performance the
whole audience burst out all but simultaneously into the chorus : " Vive
Henri £>uatre, vive ce roi vail/ant ! " *

The grave Sully himself supervised the royal fetes. Touching this we
find the following passage in his CMemoires:

* Profcijor Dcsrat.

A HISTORY OF DANCING

" While we had Henry of Beam with us, little thought was given to
anything save to merrymaking and gallantry ; inexhaustible opportunities
for which were afforded him by the relish Madame, the king's sister, had
for these things. It was this princess who taught me my trade of courtier,
to which I was then very new. She was good enough to have me invited
to all entertainments ; and I remember that she was pleased to teach

THE EGG-DANCE

After a Picture by Aertzen in the Amsterdam Museum

me herself the steps of a ballet afterwards performed with much
magnificence. . . . These sports and shows, which needed a certain amount
of preparation, always took place in the Arsenal. ... I had a spacious hall
erected for the purpose."

In the twenty years of Henry IV.'s reign (1589 to 16 10), over eighty
ballets were performed at Court, besides balls and masquerades. One, the
so-called Sorcerers' Masquerade, was given on February 23, 1597, the first
Sunday in Lent ; the king had a passion for masquerades, and frequented all
the assemblies and balls in Paris. " He patronised," says L'Estoile, " the
salons of Madame de Saint-Andre, of Zamet, and of many another.
Wherever he went he always had with him the Marquise de Verneuil, who
used frequently to take off his mask and kiss him, wherever he might be." *

* Castil-Blaze,

THE MOUNTAIN BALLET

/P&&:

■tJ^^L

"^^J

' IB

franca Iritya.

Iritcllitio

It was while at one of these fetes that news reached him of the taking of
Amiens by the Spaniards. " This is God's chastisement ! " he exclaimed.
" Long enough have I followed the fashion of the kings of France ; 'tis
time I play the King of Navarre ! " Then, turning to his beautiful
Gabrielle, he added : " Fair mistress, I must betake me to other arms, and
mount and ride upon another warfare."

The Court of Louis XIII. was somewhat gloomy. The Due de
Nemours composed ballets
to enliven it, one of these
being the Ballet of the
Gouty. To assist at this
fantastic performance, given
in 1630, the duke had him-
self carried in on a litter,
from which he beat time with
his baton.

The Mountain Ballet,
performed in August, 1631,
was also characteristically
whimsical.

The scenery consisted of five great mountains — the Windy, the
Resounding, the Luminous, the Shadowy, and the Alps. In the midst was
a certain Field of Glory, of which the inhabitants of these five mountains
wished to take possession. Fame opened the ballet and explained its
subject. Disguised as an old woman, she rode an ass and carried a wooden
trumpet.

Then the mountains opened their sides, and quadrilles of dancers came
out, in flesh-coloured attire, having bellows in their hands, and windmills on
their heads. These represented the Winds. Others rushed out, headed
by the nymph Echo, wearing bells for head-dresses, and on their bodies
lesser bells, and carrying drums. Falsehood hobbled forward on a
wooden leg, with masks hung over his coat, and a dark lantern in his
hand.

After these came the inhabitants of the Luminous Mountain — Sleep, and
Dreams, and True Fame (as opposed to the farcical Fame of the wooden

GBOTESQUI DAXCEU

After an Engraving by Callot in the l>ibliothi'.|ue Nalioiialc

A HISTORY OF DANCING

trumpet) — and certain horsemen in brilliant costumes, who put to flight
the Winds, the Echoes, &c.

The king himself danced in certain ballets of the period, which were
somewhat coarse in their buffoonery. Such were the " Ballet of Sir
Balderdash " and the " Grand Ball of the Dowager of Confusion and her
Darling of Sillytown " (Ballet de Maitre Galimathias et le Grand Bal de
la douairiere de Billebahaut et de son fanfan de Sotteville).

Cardinal Richelieu, anxious to introduce spectacles of a somewhat

higher order, had the Grand
Ballet of the Prosperity of the
Arms of France put on the
stage. In the first act, which
passed in hell, there were to
be seen Pride, Guile, Mur-
der, Tyranny, Disorder,
Ambition, and Pluto, sur-
rounded by Fates and
Furies. The second act
returned to earth, where
Italian, Spanish, and French
Rivers engaged in mortal
combat. Then came the
capture of Arras. In the third act appeared Sirens, Nereids, Tritons,
America, and a procession of the gods of Olympus. This was all, as we
see, very tedious and incoherent.

We have already alluded to those personalities which abounded in the
plays of Aristophanes and contemporary Greek poets. Ballets, somewhat
akin in this respect to the Greek comedies, were not unknown in France,
and rapidly degenerated into mere vulgar buffooneries. A ballet, given in
1616 at Court, recalled the first thymelic ballets by its pointed allusions to
the arrest of the Prince of Conde. The passage is in a dialogue between
Damon and Sylvia :

'Damon. Who could see the lilies of your face without longing to serve you ?

Sylvia. Yet you would dare to steal them from me !
Damon. Oh, sweet it is to see the myrtle that crowns you !

Sylvia. It is a crown to be admired, not clutched at !

Am \f

iKfBflL

•^^^ J^ 'V*

Va't

1iii14tB *il

Slpp^s y J^^^l

Sracuchirfsrf

Qian Wrtt* irtn'

GROTESQUE DANCERS

After an Engraving by Callot in the Bibliotheque Nationale

rcaro»*» at thb covkt or tn* <.«axd uiici or tvkanv dikinc tii« carnival or 1616
Afur la EagrariM by Calk* in lb. BiblioiMqa* NatKwak

90 A HISTORY OF DANCING

But the Court had seen ballets of a higher order than this.

" Rarely," says Menestrier, " has there been seen a ballet more superb
than that performed in the Salle de Bourbon, March 19, 16 15, for the
marriage of Madame with the King of Spain. Thirty genii (being the
chamber and chapel musicians of the King), suspended in the air, heralded
0 the coming of Minerva, the Queen of Spain. This goddess, surrounded by
fourteen nymphs, her companions, appeared in a mighty gilded car drawn
by two Cupids. A band of Amazons accompanied the car and made
a concord of lutes. Then Minerva danced to five separate tunes,
several figures to each tune. And in a sixth tune, all voices and lutes
and violins joined. Then Minerva and her nymphs danced together.
Forty persons were on the stage at once, thirty high in the sky, and
six suspended in mid-air ; all of these dancing and singing at the
same time."

The Duke of Savoy brought the carnival of 1697 to a close by the
ballet of Circe driven from her Dominions. He gave it as an entertain-
ment to the ladies of the Court. Circe and her attendants danced while
" they wrought their enchantments with wands, turnings, and intertwinings."
There came twelve rocks dancing various figures, and in the end heaping
themselves upon each other, so as to make but one mountain, from the
sides of which issued dogs, cats, tigers, lions, boars, deer, wolves, which
mingled their cries, their mewings, their roarings, and their howlings with
the sounds of the orchestra ; the whole forming " the most grotesque
concert ever heard," says Father Menestrier.

This hurly-burly over, a cloud descended from heaven and covered all
the mountain ; and the twelve blocks of rock, heaped upon each other,
transformed themselves miraculously into twelve brilliant cavaliers, who
executed a dance. It became customary to organise splendid entertain-
ments in honour of all important events.

This same year a ballet was danced at the Court of Savoy, on the
Duke's birthday, the subject of which was Prometheus stealing Fire from
Heaven.

In 1628, the students of the College of Rheims gave a ballet to celebrate
the taking of La Rochelle, which event brought about the political unity
of France. The subject was the capture of the Car of Glory by the great

COURT BALLETS

Theander. A certain Black Tower was infested by giants, who challenged
all knights-errant to fight for the famous car. This tower was environed
by sorceries, so that its gates could not be forced, save by the blast of an
enchanted horn. Subject and allusions were alike puerile : the Black Tower

THE INFERNAL DEITIE4. A KENE

After aa

THE BAU.Kt FEEFORMEI* AT the court of Tuscany IN |6i6
by Calkx in the Bil.liothc.]ue Nationals

was La Rochelle, and the sorceries that guarded it were Heresy and
Rebellion.

At Savoy again, in 1634, they danced a "moral ballet," for the
birthday of Cardinal Richelieu, the theme of which was Truth, the enemy of
Seeming, upheld by Time. •

It opened with " a chorus of those False Rumours and Suspicions which
usher in Seeming and Falsehood," writes Father Menestrier, who shall
speak for himself, that we may lose nothing of the raciness of his
description :

" These were represented by actors dressed as cocks and hens, who sang

92 A HISTORY OF DANCING

a dialogue, partly Italian, partly French, with a refrain of clucking and
crowing. The hens sang :

" Su gli albori matutini,

Cot, cot, cot, cot, cot cantando,
Col cucurros s'inchini,

E bisbigli mormorando
Fra i sospetti, e fra i rumori,

Cu, cu, cu, cu, cu, cu, cu,
Salutiam del novo sol gli almi splendori."

The cocks replied :

"Faisant la guerre au silence

Cot, cot, cot, avec nos chants,
Cette douce violence

Ravit les cieux et les champs ;
Et notre inconstant hospice,

Cot, cot, cot, cot, cot, cot, cot,
Couvre d'apparence. un subtil artifice."

" After this song of cocks and hens the background opened, and
Seeming appeared, seated upon a huge cloud and accompanied by the
Winds. She had the wings and the great tail of a peacock, and was covered
with mirrors. She hatched eggs from which issued Pernicious Lies,
Deceptions, Frauds, Agreeable Lies, Flatteries, Intrigues, Ridiculous Lies,
Jocosities, Little Fibs.

" The Deceptions were inconspicuously clad in dark colours, with
serpents hidden among flowers. The Frauds, clothed in fowlers' nets, had
bladders which they burst while dancing. The Flatteries were disguised
as apes ; the Intrigues, as crayfishers, carrying lanterns on their heads' and
in their hands ; the Ridiculous Lies, as crippled beggars on wooden legs.

" Then Time, having put to flight Seeming with her train of Lies, had
the nest opened from which these had issued ; and there was disclosed a
great hour-glass. And out of this hour-glass Time raised up Truth,
who summoned the Hours, and danced the grand ballet with them."

But let us now return to the dances, properly so called, from which
theatrical choregraphy has caused us to wander.

Tabourot, in his Orchesographie, describes two dominant types of

THE BASSE DANSE

dancing as existing towards the close of the Middle Ages. These were
the Basse Danse, or
Low Dance, and the
Danse Baladine, or
High Dance. The
Basse Danse was
grave and slow, ori-
ginally a monopoly
of the aristocracy ;
it had, however,
descended among the
common people in
his time, and he
notes its abandon-
ment by the upper
classes with regret.
" It has been out
of fashion this forty
or fifty years, but I
foresee that wise and
modest matrons will

THE TORCH DANCE

After u Enjrarimf by Crispia dc Pu ia the BibUothi^ua Nalioiulc

yet return to it."

The Branle, the Pavane, the Gaillarde, the Courante, and, above all,
the Volte, were extremely popular.

The measure of the Basse Danse was triple. It was accompanied by
the hautboy, or long flute, and the tabour.*

The Basse Danse was divided as follows :

i. The Reverence.

2. The Branle.

3. The Passes.

4. The Tordion.

* "The labour, accompanied by the long flute, was, in the days of our fathers,
employed because one player could manage both instruments together, and produce entire
symphony and accord, without need of further expense, or the hiring of other musicians,
such at violinists and the like." — (Thoinot Arbeau : Tabourot.)

A HISTORY OF DANCING

GENTLEFOLKS DANCING

After an Engraving by Theodore de Bry in the Bibliothcque Nationale

The Tordion was independent of the others. Rapid jumping move-
ments were naturally excluded from all of them.

Tabourot lays down the following precepts concerning the Basse Danse :

" When you have entered the place where is the company awaiting the
dance, you will choose an honest damosel according to your inclination.
Then, doffing your hat or cap with your left hand, you will offer her your
right hand to lead her out to dance. She, discreet and well-instructed, will
give her left hand, and rise to follow you. You will conduct her to the end
yj of the hall in view of everybody, and warn the musicians to play a Basse

Danse ;( otherwise they may inadvertently strike up another kind of dance.,
When they begin to play you begin to dance. And see, in demanding of
them a Basse Danse, that they understand it to be a regular and usual one.
But if the air of one Basse Danse suit you better than another, you may
give them the beginning of the song."

Thfexworthy Tabourot gives some humorous counsel touching
deportment

" Having mastered your steps and movements and a good cadence,
do not in company keep your eyes on your feet, bending your head to
see if you dance well. Carry yourself uprightly, and with an assured
look. Spit and blow your nose sparingly ; but if necessity constrain you
thereto, turn your face another way, and use a clean handkerchief.

" Let your speech be gracious, gentle, and well-bred. Let your hands
hang easily, neither as if dead, nor yet as if in travail to gesticulate. Be
neatly dressed, with your hose pulled tightly up, and clean shoes.

" You may, if you will, lead out two damosels ; but one is sufficient ; for,
as the proverb says, ' He who leads two leads one too manyf^Likewise
when you stand at the end of the hall with a damosel, another may set

THE TORDION

PEASANT* DANCING

After an Engraving by Theodore de Bry in the Bibliothcque Xalionalc

himself at the other end with his mistress, and when you approach each
other in dancing, you must either retreat or turn aside."

The Gaillarde, otherwise called the Romanesque, had its origin in the
Roman Campagna, where it is still popular, according to Kastner. It was
a Basse Danse, unknown to the common people, patronised by the gentry,
and danced like others of its class to the music of the tabour and hautboy.

Hear the good Tabourot again :

"Those in the towns who now (in 1588) dance the Gaillarde, dance it
tumultuously, nor do they attempt more than five steps. In the beginning it
was danced more discreetly ; the dancer and his damosel, after making their
bows, performed a turn or two simply. Then the dancer, loosing his
damosel, danced apart to the end of the room. . . . Young people arc
apter to dance it than old fellows like me."

The Gaillarde was long a favourite dance. The Gaillardes most in
use were : // traditore mi fa morire, L ' Antoinette, La Milanaise, and Baisont-
nous, ma belle.

This last should have been the most popular ; " for," says Tabourot,
"we may conjecture that it gave graceful occasion for a delectable
variation."

The Tordion. or Tourdion, generally danced after the Basse Danse, to
which its livelier rhythm made a diversion, differed little from the
Gaillarde. Its steps were smoother and more gliding ; the performers
walked and sidled more than they danced. Tabourot gives some hints as
to the manner of dancing it :

" So long as the musicians continue to play, you must change from foot
to foot, and keep time reciprocally. In dancing the Tordion you always
hold the hand of your partner, and he who dances it too vigorously will

THE VOLTE

much distress and jolt his damosel. When the music ceases, you will bow
to your partner, restore her to her place with gentleness, and, taking leave
of her, thank her for the honour she has conferred on you."

The Haute Danse, or Danse Baladine, had none of the stateliness and
gravity of the Basse Danse ; it was the free and easy dancing of the

■ L'RAL It LI". ii I

After Adncn Morcau

populace, and included Rondes, Bourrees, Farandoles, and all sorts of
fantastic pantomime.

As for the Volte, which gradually superseded the Basse Danse, it dates
from the time of Henry III., who, says Professor Desrat, was the first to
dance the waltz " a trots temps" under the name of the Volte.

A description of its earliest appearance, given in Tabourot's Orcbeso-
graphic (1589), clearly defines the character of this dance.

The Volte, known later as the Valse or Waltz, is of French origin : it
came from Provence to delight the Court of the Valois.

ioo A HISTORY OF DANCING

In writing of the Volte, the good-humoured Tabourot shows a spice of
malice :

" The damosel, her skirts fluttering in the air, has displayed her chemise,
and even her bare leg. And you shall return her to her seat, where, put
what face on it she may, she will find her shaken-up brain full of
swimmings and whirlings ; and you will not, perhaps, be much better. I
leave you to consider if it be decorous for a young girl thus to straddle
and stride, and whether, in this Volte, honour and health be not hazarded.
. . . you may pursue the Volte thus through many turnings, whirling now
to the right, now to the left."

The Branle, according to Jean Jacques Rousseau, was extremely popular
down to the seventeenth century. It was probably the oldest of our figure
dances. A ball would commonly begin with a Branle d'Entree and terminate
with a Branle de Sortie, like the modern Boulangere — a dance accompanied
by singing, as were all Branles. The refrain was repeated at the end of each
couplet, both in the Boulangere and in the Branle, and in both the dancer
embraced his partner.

" This is perhaps the dance which has left the most appreciable traces
on our popular amusements and our children's games," says M. Celler in
his Origines de TOfera. He instances in support of this opinion the
Boulangere, the Carillon de Dunkerque, the Chevalier du Guet, Vive Henri
Quatre, and so on. Rameau, in his Maitre a Danser, describes the gravity
of the Branle at the Court of Louis XIV., while Tabourot shows it as full
of gaiety and animation under Henry III.

Tabourot's counsels and instructions are always amusing :

" The Branle," he says, " is performed to four bars of the song,
accompanied by the flute. In the first bar, the dancer turns to the left,
keeping the feet together and moving the body gently ; during the second,
he faces the spectators on the right ; during the third, he again looks to the
left ; and during the fourth, to the right once more, while stealing a sweet
and discreet glance at his damosel.

" And first of all in the Double Branle, you will walk a double to the
left side, and then a double to the right side. You know well that a double
consists of three steps and then feet together. To perform it you will,
after making your bow for the first bar, keep the right foot firm and steady,

102 A HISTORY OF DANCING

people dance Gay Branles ; and the youngest lightly trip the Branles of
Burgundy : all, however, doing their best."

Branles were at one time so widely popular that almost every province
had its own. Among the best known were those of Burgundy and of
Gascony (mentioned by Queen Margot in her twenty-eighth Nouvelle), and
the Branles of the Haut Barrois, of Poitou, of Scotland, of Brittany, of
Malta, and others. There were also the Pea Branle, the Mustard Branle,
the Rubbish Branle, and so on. In the Laundresses' Branle, every one
clapped hands at intervals to imitate the noise of the beetles. In the
Hermits' Branle, the couples saluted their neighbours to right and left,
crossing their hands on their breasts, after the manner of monks. A figure
in the children's Round, the Bridge of Avignon, recalls this Branle.

In the Wooden Shoe or Horses' Branle, the performers stamped noisily
on the ground, a peculiarity we meet with again in the Bourrees of
Auvergne and Limousin.

In the Branle of the Official, we already find an admixture of the Volte ;
it was slower than others, but in its last bars, the dancer took his partner by
the waist and jumped her into the air. I have seen the same thing in the
popular dances of Roussillon.

Queen Margaret of Valois excelled in the Torch Branle. This dance
had a most aristocratic vogue. " A dancer, holding a flambeau in one
hand, chose and danced with a partner. Then he handed her the flambeau.
She in turn selected a gentleman, with whom she danced. The latter took
the torch ; and so on with the rest."*

A survival of this is to be found, thinks Professor Desrat, in the
Cotillion figure called the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance. But
here the lady returns the candle to a cavalier whom she rejects.

We must not forget the Gavotte Branle, " in which the damosel is not
to be lifted, nevertheless she is to be kissed," says Tabourot; adding, in
token of its novelty : " Had this Branle existed in my young days, I had
not failed to have taken note of it."

The Bocane was fashionable at Court under Louis XIII. and during
the Regency of Anne of Austria. According to Piganiol de la Force, its

* Vcstris.

r-rr"l r-T n /

(Eil«it. dct Ecbol du Tempt Pk.ij _ A. DwW & Ff]>, i&taan)

THE PA VANE

IOJ

inventor was Jacques Cordier, surnamed Bocan, a dancing-master absolutely
illiterate, and even ignorant of music. He was crook-shanked and gouty,
his hands and feet being distorted by his malady. Yet this poor wretch
was the wonder of his age, playing the violin miraculously, and composing
charming airs. He taught all the great ladies ; among his pupils were the
queens of France, Spain, England, Poland, and Denmark. Charles I. of

THE roOL* DAKCK

After * Ikiotc by P. CoM* in lb* Hague Mutcum -

England held him in high esteem, heaped presents upon him, and invited
him often to his table.

" The Pavanc," writes Madame Laura Fonta, " was a noble and
beautiful dance, in high favour from about 1530 until the minority of
Louis XIV'., who preferred the Courante. Historians differ as to its
origin : some refer it to Spain, others to Padua.

" The Pavane, although dating, so far as its mimetic movements arc
concerned, from the thirteenth century, appears to have gradually assimilated
the character of the Basse Danse. It was, however, both in its step and
its time (which was duple) less grave than the latter ; and it was

io6

A HISTORY OF DANCING

undoubtedly an amiable kind of dance, since it permitted at its wind-up • the
stealing of a kiss ' from one's damosel, instead of the mere ' discreet ogling '
of the Basse Danse."

This majestic Pavane was a dance of courts ; all the princely caste of

ANDANTE

Europe adopted it ; it was a point of honour to dance the Pavane gracefully.
Admiring crowds gathered about the dancers. And it was truly beautiful
to see kings, princes, and great lords, draped in fine cloaks tilted up by
swords, and queens and princesses in robes of state, held up by maids of
honour, advancing to the sound of instruments, and pacing in cadence,
rather than dancing, with a pomp and a majesty as of gods and
goddesses.

" Splendeur doree et rose et bleue
D'un innombrable diamant,
Le paon miraculeusement

THE PAVANE

107

Developpcra son ample queue ;

En la largeur de ses deplis

Tout un ctal d'orfcvrc tremble,
Et la Pavane lui resserable,

Mais avec des pieds plus jolis ! "

One understands why certain authors derive the name from the Latin
pavo, peacock ; for these dancers recalled the slow strutting of that bird
of marvellous plumage as he spreads the glittering sheen of his tail.

Thoinot Arbeau tells how the earliest Pavanes were sung and danced
by their performers to the music of tabours, viols, hautbois, and sackbuts,
in duple time. Marguerite de Valois, whom Brantome calls " the sweetest
lady on earth," was as supreme in the Pavane as in the Volte. Henry III.,
too, distinguished himself in this dance, among his minions, at the
sumptuous fetes of his Court.

We have noted the various phases through which dancing passed in the
Middle Ages, the sixteenth century, and the early years of the seventeenth.
We shall see it becoming grave and pompous at
the Court of Le Rot Soleil, like that monarch
himself, who was, indeed, a proficient in the art, and
we shall have yet another opportunity of pointing
out how faithfully this graceful pastime reflects the
character of different epochs in our history.

dmci or mum
Fiwa * MS. in ib« BiWotUquc Nuiouk

THE MINUET

After a Picture by Toudouze

CHAPTER IV

'Dancing in the " G-reat Century" — grand 'Ballets under Louis XIV. — (Masked 'Balls

— The Tavane — The Courante — The Cjavotte — The Chacone — The Saraband —

The cillemande — The Passepied — The Passacaille

JATHERINE DE' MEDICI, Henry IV., and Cardinal
Richelieu, passionate admirers of choregraphic spectacles, had
encouraged all such displays, and made them fashionable.
Louis XIV. supported them even more actively than his
predecessors. The continuity of such pageants at his Court and in his
capital caused dancing to be finally accepted as one of the habits of

LOUIS XIV. IN BALLETS

109

French society. The influence he exercised
on the art was strongly felt throughout the
eighteenth century, and has persisted to our
own times.

There was a great deal of dancing
under Le Roi Sole: I.

" On n'a de plaisir que d'cxerccr des violons,
Danser un pcu dc chaque danse,
Et lcs tricotcts d'importancc,"

a covmn tx thi uuit or night

niWMs !■ WSJ

said a rhymer of the day.
I '4 ^h! ^F Choregraphic spec-

y tacles had hitherto

been confined exclu-
sively to Courts.
Louis XIV., who fre-
quently figured on
the stage himself
threw open the doors
of the theatre
to the public,
which soon ^g
developed a passion
for the new amusement ; and, under the
impulse given it from such exalted quarters,
dancing, no less than the other arts, shone
with unparalleled lustre. The ballet de-
veloped all sorts of novel combinations and
happy audacities, resulting in marvellous
effects. Poets and musicians could count
most surely on the King's favours by de-
voting themselves to inventions of this class,
as Bcnserade, Lulli, and even Molicre himself
discovered.

VIV. At t.l RM Xttrit IN 111! SALtST

or mi.nr
I'trfurmtd In 165)

I IO

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The grand ballet d'action, which gave rise to a considerable

development in theatrical
dancing, dominated the
choregraphy of the cen-
tury of Louis XIV. But
there was also much
dancing of a more in-
timate kind, Minuets,
Gavottes, Courantes,
Pavanes, Passacailles,
and Passepieds. The
middle-classes danced the
Pavane, Cotillions, Con-
tredanses, and Brandons ;
the people affected Branles,
Rondes, and the ancient
rustic measures.

In 1 66 1, the Royal
Academy of Dancing was
founded by royal decree.
But the appointed mem-
bers of this new Areopagus

took very little interest in it, and their. proceedings were chiefly confined

to revels in the tavern of l'Epee-de-Bois, which they had chosen as their

meeting-place.

Besides the ballets introduced in the operas of Lulli and other musicians

of the period, a great many ballets were danced at the Tuileries, and others

at the Louvre, at Versailles, and at Fontainebleau.

In 165 1, when the King was thirteen, he danced in public for the first

time in the Masque of Cassandra. It was not until 1670 that he ceased to

appear on the stage. It is said that the following couplets in Racine's

Britannicus caused him to discontinue the practice :

BALLET DANCER OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

After a Print in the Bibliotheque Nationale

" Pour toute ambition, pour vertu singulicre,
II excelle a conduire un char dans la carricre,

LOUIS XIV. IN BALLETS

A disputer des prii indigncs dc ses mains,

A se donner lui-mcme en spectacle am Romains,

A venir prodiguer sa voix sur un th6atrc,

A reciter des chants qu'il veut qu'on idolatre."

The King generally figured as one of the gods, but he occasionally
appeared in a less ex-
alted character. In the
Triumph of Bacchus,
for instance, he took
the part of a thief,
excited by copious
libations.

In the Ballet of
the Trosperity of the
Arms of France, the
King played the lead-
ing part, and appeared
surrounded by his
whole Court. This
spectacle caused some
surprise among the
Parisians, who came in
crowds to see him.

As was customary
in all the Court ballets,

the King wore a mask typical of the character represented, after the
fashion of the classic stage.*

Father Mcnestrier describes this ballet, an extraordinary jumble of the
siege of Casscl, the taking of Arras, Flemish topers, Spanish and French
soldiers fighting to music, and the gods of Olympus !

I- »l I I I DANCE* or I HI. -ntMI.ISIII CKKTIKV

After a Print in the Bibliothcquc Nationalc

• Girdcl the elder was the first dancer who appeared on the stage without a mask.
Strange to sajr, this innovation was not much to the taste of the spectators. It persisted
however, and two yean later, when Gactan Vcstris was urged to resume his mask, he could
not make up his mind to do so.

I 12

A HISTORY OF DANCING

It would be tedious to enumerate all the ballets given at the Court.
Suffice it to say that the King danced in twenty-seven grand ballets, not
to mention the intermezzi of lyrical tragedies and
comedy-ballets.

"Dans des ballets brillants que la France admirait
Entoure de sa cour, lui-meme il figurait."

We may instance, as a typical example

of such performances, the famous Ballet

du Carrousel, held on a large open space

in front of the Tuileries in 1662. On

this occasion, royalty was well represented

in the cast. The King danced at the

head of the Romans, his brother led the

Persians, the Prince de Conde commanded

the Turks, and the Due de Guise the

Americans.

In the Grand Ballet du Roi,
performed at the Louvre in
1664, Mercury, Venus, and
Pallas sang a prologue. Cupids,
disguised as blacksmiths' appren-
tices, issued from Vulcan's cave
to the clang of hammers. Venus
then appeared, showing Mark
Antony and Cleopatra in a galley drawn by Cupids, while a naval
engagement raged on the horizon. Then came Pluto, carrying off
Proserpine, Nymphs, and more Cupids. The gardens of Ceres, and of
Armida and Rinaldo appeared in turn. It was one of the most marvellous
ballets of the period.

The year following, the poetical ballet of the Birth and Power of Venus
was given at Versailles. In this, of course, the gods and goddesses
appeared in full force.

" Neptune and Thetis, followed by Tritons, who acted as chorus,

MLLE. SUBLIGNY

From an old Print in the Bibliotheque Nationale

A COVCT HALLUT

Eagranaf by ttkmtim U dot ia Um BibKotMqa

ii4

A HISTORY OF DANCING

expressed their pride and delight that a goddess of incomparable beauty,
destined to reign throughout the world, should be born in their realm.
Neptune began thus :

" Taisez-vous, flots impctueux,
Vents, devenez respcctueux.
La mere des Amours sort de ma vaste empire.

Voyez comme elle brille en s'elevant si haut,
Jeune, aimable, charmante, et faite comme il faut
Pour imposer des lois a tout ce qui respire.

Quelle gloire pour la Mer,
D'avoir ainsi produit la merveille du monde,
Cette divinite, sortant du sein de l'onde,
N'y laisse rien de froid, n'y laisse rien d'amcr.

Quelle gloire pour la Mer !

" Venus then rises from the sea on a throne of pearl, surrounded by

Nereids, and is presently car-
ried up to heaven by Phosphor
and the Hours. The marine
gods and goddesses press for-
ward to see her. The Winds
arrive with a rushing sound.
iEolus, apprehensive of the
destruction they generally
work, locks them up in their
cave. Castor and Pollux de-
clare that navigation shall
henceforth be prosperous, in
honour of this birth. Sea-
captains, merchants, and
sailors rejoice at their appear-
ance. The Zephyrs, who had
left the other winds to bring
the happy news to earth, an-
nounce it first to Spring,

From a Print lu ihc BiWiotl.eque Nationale i O'

THE BALLET OF HERCULES IN LOVE

Frolic, and Laughter, who hasten to devote themselves to the new
divinity. Flora and Pales, with a band of shepherds and shepherdesses,
swear to obey no laws but hers. The Ballet of the 'Birth of Venus ended
here, the second part illustrating her power. The Graces proclaim it,
declaring that the sway of
the goddess extends through-
out the whole world. The
rest of this allegory, composed
for the late Madame of France,
was made up of some dozen
entrees of Cupids, Jupiter,
Apollo, Bacchus, Sacrificing
Priests, Philosophers, Poets,
Heroes and Heroines subject
to Beauty, and the episode of
Orpheus seeking Eurydice in
hell."

The Ballet of Hercules
in Love was given on the
occasion of the King's
marriage in 1660; it is
memorable for its ingenious
mechanism.

The first tableau showed
a rocky region with a back-
ground of sea and mountains.

Fourteen rivers under the sway of France appeared reclining upon
the mountains. Clouds descended from the sky, and parted near the
ground, disclosing fifteen women, symbolical of the fifteen imperial houses
from which the royal family of France was derived. These, after perform-
ing a stately dance, were again enveloped by clouds, and carried up to
heaven. Then mountains, rocks, sky and sea, moon and stars, sang in
chorus, praising the King and Queen.

The Ballet of Cupid and Bacchus, the music of which was by Lulli, and
the dances by Beauchamp, was performed before the ladies of the Court in

AN ACTRESS DANCING

From * Kvcntecnth century Prim in the Bibliothcque Nation*!*

A HISTORY OF DANCING

1672, by the Master of the Horse, the Duke of Monmouth, the Due de

Villeroy, and the Marquis de Rossey.

On February 14, 1667, Benserade's ballet of The Muses was given at

Sai nt- Germain- en-
Laye. In this ballet,
Moliere's Melicerte
and Pastorale Comique
were performed as
interludes at first,
and were replaced
afterwards by his little
comedy, Le Sicilien.
A masque of Moors
followed after the
comedy, and brought
the ballet to a close.
Four noble Moors and
four Moorish ladies
were ' represented by
the King, M. Le
Grand, the Marquis
de Villeroy, the Mar-
quis de Rossan,
Madame Henrietre of
England, Mile, de la
V a 1 1 i e r e , M'm e . d e
Rochefort, and Mile.

de Brancas. A few months later Le Sicilien was played at Moliere's

theatre in the Palais-Royal by the author, La Grange, La Thorilliere,

Du Croisy, Mile, de Brie and Mile. Moliere.*

THE BALLET OF THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE

From an old Print in the Bibliothique Nationale

* On January 20, 1 86 J, this ballet-comedy was revived at the Comcdie Francaise.
Lulli's intermezzi were replaced by a Pas-de-trois, danced by Mile. Nathan, Morando, and
Genat, of the Opera. The dance called the Swallow, which forms part of the ballet, is
suggested by Isidore, one of the characters, who asks : "What gratitude do I owe you, if
you but change my present slavery to one still harsher, and do not allow me any taste of
liberty?" This dance is an imitation of a game played by Greek girls, the tradition of

THE BALLET OF IMPATIENCE

In the Triumph of Love, performed in 1 68 1, women first appeared
on the stage. Their parts
had hitherto been taken
by men. Quinaut and
Lulli broke down the tra-
dition, and persuaded some
of the greatest ladies of the
Court to play, among others,
the Dauphiness, the Prin-
cesse de Conti, and Mile, de
Nantes.

Impatience was a comic
ballet, composed of a series
of disconnected scenes, all
bearing upon the title of
the piece. It was very
curious. Famished persons
burnt their mouths in
their haste to swallow
their soup ; fowlers waited
in vain by their snares ;
impatient creditors appeared,
litigants, &c. Dupin, who played the part of an owl, recited these

verses:

" Mon petit bec est asscz beau,
Et le reste de ma figure
Montre que je suis un oiseau,

Qui n'est pas de mauvais augurc."

COMIC DANCER IN PEASANT s IIKESS

From a Print in Ihc RibliothoHic Xalionale

which survived till the eighteenth century. (Sec the letters of Andre" Chcnicr's mother.)
In this game a young girl held a swallow captive. It escaped, she and her companions
pursued, and finally recaptured it. At the last performance of the piece, which was given
at the Opera on March 19, 1892, during the Franco-Russian fttti, for the benefit of city
ambulances and the sufferers in the Russian famine, the Moorish masqueradcrs were
supplemented by four couples of Harlequins, four couples of Louis XIII. pages and waiting-
maids, and eight couples of gardeners, male and female. They danced a Rigaudon by
Rameau, a Chacone by Lulli, a Sicilicnnc by Bach, and a Forlanc from Campra's F.'tti
Viwiiitnnti.

1 1

A HISTORY OF DANCING

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The following couplet occurred in Louis XIV. 's part :

" De la terre et dc moi qui prcndra la mcsure,
Trouvera que la terre est moins grande que moi."

In this series of curious and remarkable ballets we must include

that of The Game of Piquet, an
intermezzo in Thomas Corneille's
Triomphe des Dames, played in
1676.

The four knaves appeared
first with their halberds, to pre-
pare the stage and place the
spectators. Then came the
kings, leading the queens, whose
trains were borne by slaves.
These slaves represented Tennis,
Billiards, Dice, and Backgammon,
and were dressed in appropriate
costumes ; the dresses of the
kings, queens, and knaves were
exactly copied from ordinary
playing-cards. They proceeded
to dance with their suites of
aces, eights, nines, &c, in com-
binations forming tierces,
quarts, and quints; eight
champions in the background represented the ecart, or reserve of cards.
Red and black cards then ranged themselves in opposite lines, and finished
the ballet by a general dance, in which the colours intermingled.

Sainte-Foix is of opinion that this intermezzo was not a novelty, and
that Thomas Corneille or his collaborators took the idea from a grand
ballet performed at the Court of Charles VII., which suggested the game of
piquet. This piece of information is offered to those persons who play
.piquet every day, unconscious of its origin (Castil-Blaze). There was
some idea of reviving this ballet at Angers, in 1892, for the quingentenary
of the invention of playing-cards.

MLLE. DUFANT

From a Print in the Bibliothcque Nalionale

FAMOUS DANCERS UNDER LOUIS XIV.

119

All the historical and allegorical ballets of the reign of Louis XIV.
were distinguished by the extraordinary complexity of the mechanical con-
trivances, and a theatrical pomp, a presentment of strange and imposing
effects, unprecedented in those
times.

As we have already shown,
the composers of the period
were ably seconded by the in-
terpreters of their grandiose
conceptions.

La Bruyere compared Pe-
cour and Le Basque, two famous
opera-dancers, to Bathyllus of
ancient Rome. "He turned
the heads of all the women
by his airy grace," he re-
marked of one of them.

Beauchamp, the inventor of
choregraphic writing, a con-
summate artist and learned
composer, was Director of the
Royal Academy of Dancing,
Master and Superintendent of
the King's ballets, and after-
wards Ballet - master of the

Royal Academy. He excelled in lofty and imposing compositions, and
often danced himself, side by side with the King.

At a somewhat later date, Dupre (the Great) outshone all his predeces-
sors by the graceful distinction of his steps and the nobility of his attitudes.
" It was the rare harmony of all his movements that won for Dupre the
glorious title of the God of Dancing," says Noverre in his letters. Indeed,
this famous dancer is said to have looked more like a god than a man upon
the stage.

At last Ballon appeared, justifying his name by the lightness of
his steps.

BALLON, AN OPERA DANCER OP THE KVESTEKM'H CENTCRY

From an old Prist in the Bibltoihcquc National*

120

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The balls given by Louis XIV. were very magnificent, but not very
enjoyable. Cold ceremonial is the natural enemy of pleasure. The grandest
of these balls was perhaps that given on the occasion of the Duke of
Burgundy's marriage. " The gallery at Versailles," says an eye-witness, " was

divided into three equal parts
by two gilded balustrades four
feet in height. The middle
portion formed the centre, as it
were, of the ball, having a dais
of two stages, covered with the
most beautiful Gobelins tapes-
try, at the back of which were
placed chairs of crimson velvet,
ornamented with deep gold
fringe. These were for the
King, the King and Queen of
England, the Duchess of Bur-
gundy, and the princes and
princesses of the blood royal.
The three other sides were
lined in the front row with
very handsome chairs for the am-
bassadors, the foreign princes
and princesses, the dukes
and duchesses and great officials
of the Crown ; other rows of
chairs behind these were filled by important personages of the Court and
town. To right and left were crowds of spectators, arranged as in an
amphitheatre. To avoid confusion, these spectators were admitted through
a turnstile, one after the other. There was another little amphitheatre
for the King's twenty-four violinists, six hautbois-players, and six flautists.

" The whole gallery was lighted by large crystal lustres, and a number
of branched candlesticks filled with thick wax candles. The King had sent
cards of invitation to every one of any distinction, with a request that they
should appear in their richest costumes ; in consequence of which command,

MLLE. MAUPIN

From an old Print in the Bibliotheque Nationale

H HAM. IM f »■»

of ih*l <Uu in lb*

122

A HISTORY OF DANCING

the simplest coats of the gentlemen cost as much as three or four hundred
pistoles. Some were of velvet embroidered with gold and silver, and lined
with brocade worth no less than fifty crowns a yard ; others were of cloth of
gold or silver ; the ladies were equally splendid, the brilliance of their jewels

making an admirable effect
in the light.

" As I leaned on the bal-
ustrade opposite the King's
dais, I reckoned the assem-
bly to be composed of eight
hundred persons, their dif-
ferent costumes forming a
charming spectacle. Mon-
seigneur and Madame of Bur-
gundy opened the ball with
a Courante, then Madame
of Burgundy danced with
the King of England, and
Monseigneur with the Queen
of England ; she in her turn
danced with the King, who
then took Madame of Bur-
gundy ; she then danced
with Monseigneur, and he
with Madame, who ended
with the Due de Berri.
Thus all the princesses of the blood danced in succession according to their
rank.

" The Due de Chartres, who is now Regent, danced a Minuet and a
Saraband so beautifully with Madame la Princesse de Conti, that they
attracted the admiration of the whole Court.

" As there were a great number of the princes and princesses, this
opening ceremony was a long one, making a pause in the general dancing,
during which the Swiss guards, preceded by the chief officers of the royal
^able, brought in six stands, covered with a superb cold collation, including

THE BALLET OF YOUTH, DANCED IN 1680. ONE OF THE LAST
PERFORMED IN THE GARDENS AT VERSAILLES

From a Piint in the Hennin Collection, Bibliotheque Na.ionale

A COURT BALL

all kinds of refreshments These were placed in the centre of the room,
and any one was at liberty to eat and drink what he would for half an hour.

" Besides these tables, there was a large room to one side of the gallery,
with two tiers of shelves, on
which were ranged bowls full
of everything one could
imagine to make up a su-
perb collation, enchantingly
served. Monsieur and sev-
eral ladies and gentlemen of
the Court came to see this,
and to take refreshment ; I
also followed them. They
only took a few pomegra-
nates, lemons, oranges, and
some sweets. As soon as
they had gone, the public
was admitted, and in a
moment everything had dis-
appeared.

" In (another room were
two large buffets, one with
all kinds of wine, and the
other with various liqueurs
and cordials. The buffets

were railed off by balustrades, and from behind these a great number of
officers of the buttery were ready to serve to any one whatever he: wanted
during the ball, which lasted till morning. The King went to supper
at eleven with the King and Queen of England the Queen, and the
princes of the blood ; while they were away, only grave and serious
dances were performed, in which the grace and nobility of the art were
shown in all their beauty."

Masked balls, which were very fashionable in the reign of I^ouis XIV'., did
not begin till after midnight. Most of them differed from Court balls by
the greater liberty of manners allowed, which by no means destroyed their

A LAIIV OP QUALITY DAMCIM

124

A HISTORY OF DANCING

beauty. If any one at this period wished to go to a ball, but not to dance,
he simply wrapped himself in a large cloak. The ladies put on a scarf.
This convention was nearly always respected, though sometimes the ladies
tried to pull off a refractory cloak, and force the wearer to change his mind .
It was a great triumph if their efforts were successful.

The Pavane, the noble dance of Henry III.'s Court, or the grand bal,

DANXE OF FLEMISH PEASANTS

From a contemporary Print after Jan Miel

as it was formerly called — which had taken the place of the Basse Danse
on great occasions — still survived at the Court of Louis XIV. It was not,
however, that spoken of by Tabourot : " The gentleman may dance it
wearing his hat and his sword, and you ladies wearing your long dresses,
walking quietly, with a measured gravity, and the young girls with a
humble expression, their eyes cast down, occasionally looking at the
audience with a maidenly modesty. . . ."

THE PAVANE

125

It is the Pavane, he says again, "which our musicians play at the wed-
ding ceremony of a girl of good family, . . . and the said Pavane is played
by hauthois and sackbuts, and called the grand bal, and it lasts until all
those who dance have been two or three times round the room, unless they
prefer to dance backwards and forwards."

For more than a century the principal dancers of the grand ballet had

FEASANT?* DAMCtm IS A FLEMISH TAVKKN

After a Picture bjr Tcnicn

made their entrance to the tune of the Pavane. And it was not only a
favourite in theatres and at the Court, but the delight of the French middle
classes. The gentleman, his hat in one hand, his sword at his side, a large
cloak thrown over his arm, gravely offered his right hand to his partner,
rigid in her long train, heavy and stiff" with gold and jewels. Like a couple
of idols, the lord and the lady advanced in solemn cadence. . . . Before
beginning the dance they walked gravely round the room, bowing to the
master and mistress of the house. To amuse the onlookers, a Gaillardc was
sometimes danced after the old-fashioned Pavane.

126

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The Pavane was above all things a ceremonial dance.*

After having gone through various modifications which gradually altered

its primitive character, this dance became altogether pretentious under

Louis XIV. and finally disappeared. f

The great monarch himself preferred the Courante, which had been very

FLEMISH KERMESS
After a Picture by Tenders in the Munich Pinacothek

fashionable in the sixteenth century. It was one of the oldest figure dances.
Tabourot has described a little ballet scene which, in his youth, served as an
introduction to this dance :

* " It serves as an opportunity for kings, princes, and lords to show themselves on
solemn occasions in their robes of state, when they arc accompanied by their queens,
princesses and ladies, their long trains often carried by young girls. The Pavane also
serves to usher in a masquerade of triumphal cars of gods, goddesses, emperors, &c.

"The Pavane may be played on spinets, flutes, hautbois, and like instruments, and may
even be danced to singing, but the rhythmic beating of a small drum helps wonderfully in
making the different movements."

t It is interesting to see the theory of the Pavane transcribed by Professor Desrat,
the music re-arranged by Signoret. (Borneman, publisher, 15 Rue dc Tournon.)

THE COURANTE

127

• When I was young, the Courante took the form of a game or ballet;
three young men chose three girls, and, placing themselves in a row, the
first dance:! with his partner, and then led her to the other end of the
room, returning alone to his companions ; the second did the same, then
the third ; and when the
third returned, the first
went to fetch back his
partner, making desperate
signs of love ; the damosel
refused him her hand, or
turned her back upon him ;
the young man then re-
turned to his place, pre-
tending to be in despair.
The two others did the
same. At last they all went
together to their damosels,
each one to his own, kneel-
ing down and begging, with
clasped hands, for mercy.
The three damosels then
yielded, and all danced the
Courante together."

The gravity and state-
liness of this dance had
caused it to be adopted in
the Court receptions and the

houses of the nobility. The Philidor collection contains many Courantcs
danced before Henry II., Charles IX., and Henry III. Cahuzac tells
us that I»uis XIV. danced it perfectly. The drama of the day is full
of allusions which testify to its popularity.

•• I'ecour gives him lessons in the Courante every morning," says
Rcgnard.

I ir dear Baptiste (Lulli) has not seen my Courante," says Moliere.

Lift re says that the Courante began by bows and curtseys, after which

FKKNt. M BAM IS«.

After a seventeenth Century Drafting in the Bibliotheque Nationalc

i28 A HISTORY OF DANCING

the dancer and his partner performed a step of the Courante, or rather a
set figure, which formed a sort of elongated ellipse. This step was in two
parts : the first consisted in making a plie releve, at the same time bringing
the foot from behind into the fourth position in front by a pas glisse (that
is, sliding the foot gently forward along the floor), the second consists of a
demi-jete with one foot, and a coupe with the other foot.

" This shows," he adds, " that the Courante was rather a march or walk,
full of stately poses, than a dance, for the feet never left the floor."

The Courante step was very like that of the Minuet. It is a purely
French dance, of backward and forward steps, which have been assimilated
to those of the Spanish Seguidilla.

1 he Gavotte of Louis XIV.'s reign reappears with Marie Antoinette,
and again after the Revolution.

The origin of the Chacone is obscure. Cervantes says that it was a
primitive negro dance, imported by mulattoes to the Court of Philip II.,
and modified by Castilian gravity. The Chacone, a complicated dance,
better suited to the theatre than to general society, was distinguished by its
grand style and its artistic character. It was in great favour as a cere-
monial dance at the Courts of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV.

Most of the grand operas concluded with the Chacone. Its varied and
charming music admitted of the arrangement of all kinds of tableaux vivants,
while the solo dancer executed its steps with precision and skill. As late as
the eighteenth century, Gaetano Vestris had a great success in the Chacone.
His master, the celebrated dancer Dupre, distinguished himself in Rameau's
Chacones. Jean-EtiennevDespreaux compared this dance to an ode :

"De l'odc la Chacone a l'eclat, Penergic ;
Elevant jusqu'au ciel son vol audacieux,
La Chatone sans doute est la danse des dieux. . . ."

The Saraband, which comes from Spain, was a noble and impassioned
dance.

A number of Spanish authors of the sixteenth century discussed the
origin of the Zarabanda. It appeared for the first time, they say, towards
1588, at Seville. The historian Mariana regrets the frenzy which seems to
possess every one when the Saraband is danced, calling it el pestifero bayle de
Zarabanda — that pestiferous dance, the Saraband.

:." llt'll'll'

THE SARABAND iji

According to Gonzales de Salas, who wrote in the seventeenth century,
a distinction was made in Spain between Danzas and Bayles. Danzas were
composed of grave, solemn, measured steps, the arms never sharing in the
action. Bayles, on the contrary, from which the majority of the Spanish
dances were derived, were dances in which the entire body took part.

The Saraband was the most popular of all the Bayles ; it was* generally
danced by women, to the guitar. Sometimes flutes and harps sustained the
notes of the guitar, and accompanied the song and dance. Dancers some-
times performed the Saraband, accompanying themselves with guitar and
voice.

The enormous success of the Saraband extended beyond the Pyrenees.
It was the triumph of Ninon de 1'Enclos ; the Due de Chartres and the
Princesse de Conti also excelled in it.

The Saraband was also in high favour at the Court of Charles II. of
England. This King, the grandson of Henry IV. and the son of one of
the most typically French of princesses, graduated in all the elegancies of
the French Court during his years of exile from his kingdom, to which he
returned almost more French than the French. A curious document in
this connection is the picture by Janssens der Tanzer at Windsor, in which
he appears at a ball given at the Hague on the eve of his restoration (p. 133).

An Italian named Francisco composed the air of one of the most
celebrated Sarabands. The Chevalier de Grammont wrote as follows on this
subject : " It either charmed or annoyed every one, for all the guitarists of
the Court began to learn it, and God only knows the universal twanging
that followed."

Such was the enthusiasm excited by these airs, that Vauquelin des
Yveteaux actually wished to die to the sounds of the Saraband, "so that his
soul might pass away sweetly." He was eighty years old !

But the popularity of the Saraband died out after the seventeenth
century. Jean-Jacques Rousseau says that in his time it was never danced,
except in a few old French operas.

The Minuet, on the other hand, was the special dance ot the Court of
Louis XV., though Louis XIV. had danced several Minuets, the music of
which Lulli had composed expressly for him.

The Allcmandc was a very old dance, rather heavy in style. It was

132

A HISTORY OF DANCING

danced in 1540 at the fetes given by Francis I. to Charles V. One of the
peculiarities of this dance was that the dancer held his partner's hands
through all the turns and evolutions.

Tabourot says : " It can be danced by a large company, for, as you are

/"Pa

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THE ALLEMANDE

From an Engraving by Caldwell after Brandoin

holding your partner's hand, many others can place themselves behind you,
each one holding his own partner, and walking forward and retreating in
duple time, three steps and one pause (the foot raised), without a hop. When
you have walked to the end of the room, you turn, without loosing your
partner's hands. The others follow in time, and when the musicians have
finished this first part, every dancer stops and faces his partner, beginning as
before for the second part. The third part or figure is also danced in
duple time, but faster and more lightly, with little hops, as in the
Courante."

"In dancing the Allemande," observes one author, "the young men

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I34 A HISTORY OF DANCING

often steal the ladies, carrying them off from the partners who hold them,
and he who is thus forsaken tries in his turn to seize another lady. But I
do not approve of this style of dancing, as it may cause quarrels and
disagreements."

The Allemande was in favour up to the end of the eighteenth century.

It has another special feature — it is executed by a great number of
persons, directed by a single couple. It may therefore be considered a sort
of Branle. The description given by Thoinot shows that it is somewhat
like the English Sir Roger de Coverley, a dance in which the partners
are placed opposite each other in parallel lines. A couple advances, followed
by the rest, and, after having walked to the end of the ball-room, all
come back and turn, still retaining their partners. The music of the first
Allemande is given in the Orchesographie, with a description of the steps.
The old and the modern Allemandes are not at all the same ; both dance
and music differ essentially. Pecour, the celebrated dancing-master of the
Opera under Louis XIV., has left us the music of the Allemande in Magny's
Choregraphie, a measure in § time — fairly lively for those days. The
principal steps are borrowed from the Courante and the Gaillarde. The
two dancers advance down the room, and separate in turning, one to the
right, the other to the left ; after a few steps they unite again in the centre,
separating once more, and walking alone down the sides. The gentleman in
one angle and the lady in the opposite angle execute a few steps that form a
square ; they then meet again and take their first places to finish (Desrat).

The Passepied, a figure dance originating in Brittany, as is supposed, was
a favourite for a long time at the Court, in spite of its quick, rhythmical
movement in triple time.

Madame de Savigne danced the Passepied at the festivities held at the
meeting of the Estates in Brittany. Her daughter, Madame de Grignan, one
of the best dancers of the day, was also fond of this dance.

The Passepied was a sort of lively Minuet. Noverre, in his letters,
speaking of Mademoiselle Prevost, of the Opera, mentions how gracefully
she danced the Passepied :

"Le leger Passepied doit voler terre a terre."
" The Passacaille," says Professor Desrat, " came from Italy." Its slow

GAVOTTE DU BALLET DU ROI

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THE PASSACAILLE

'37

grave movement, in triple time, was full of grace and harmony. The ladies
took much pleasure in this dance ; their long trains gave it a majestic
character."

These, if we exclude ballets, were the principal dances in favour in the
Circat Century.

• VI.IET OA.VCIKi "t THE ElOHTrrvrH CEVTIHV

Frrm Print in the Hennin Collection, Bibttotheqae Nationals

MADAME COCHOIS DANCING

After a Picture by Pesne in the Ilerlin Museum

CHAPTER V

Dancing under Louis XV. — Tainters of Fetes Galantes — (Maaemoisehe Salic — La
Camargo — 77c [Minuet — The TassepieJ — 3{ji'erre and the 'Ballet —
Gaetan and duguste Vestris

RT, at the close of the seventeenth century, was full of
vague aspirations towards new developments. The open-
ing of the eighteenth century was marked by a reaction
against the majestic solemnity, the monstrous etiquette, and
the official piety that had prevailed during the later years of the Grand
Monarque. The art of the new era inclined to artificiality ; but it had a
peculiar and distinctive charm. Painters sought inspiration in love and joy,
in sylvan delights, in dainty idylls. The influential classes were less
ostentatious and more refined than in the seventeenth century. The nobles

THE ART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY i i9

still ruled society, but great financiers began to patronise dawning talent,

and to encourage the growth of a luxurious

elegance.

It was a reign of daintiness and of taste,
of a very fine-spun taste, of a daintiness
perhaps a trifle mincing and affected. Pictorial
art lacked energy and deep feeling — lacked
greatness, in a word ; but it was pretty, it
was seductive. Decorative art was charming.
On the walls of the rooms, between the
windows, long mirrors were embayed in finely
voluted woodwork. Pearly tinted boudoirs
and drawing-rooms, scented with ambergris
and benjamin, and gay with garlands of painted
flowers, displayed frail serpentine caprices of
ornamental carving, furniture of the school of

A I'.WOK l\ It \V\Sr f-llMl.

After Aug. de St. Aubin

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tnm a PriM m Um BiMiotMqiM NiiMaal*

Boule, and Vernis-Martin
panels — vivid, glowing
like flower-beds, islanded
in gold. Workers in pre-
cious metals designed
graceful, multicurvi.il
ornaments. Miniatures
were enshrined in price-
less cases. Ladies affected
gauzy tissues, bedecked
with mauve ribbons and
bouquets; they put
patches on their cheeks
and carmine on their lips,
and cased their dainty
feet in high - heeled
shoes.

140

A HISTORY OF DANCING

There was a passion for painters who could fix the gala lire of this
elegant time on canvas. Such were Watteau (already famous at the end
of Louis XIV. 's reign), Lancret, and Boucher. Much of their work was

inspired by the theatre,
at that time the delight
of the whole nation.
Watteau, who was the
incarnation of his age,
dressed his characters in
the most elegant cos-
tumes, decking them out
in ruffles and jabots.
He was the creator of
The Embarkation for
Cythera. From the
palette of Boucher, the
king's painter, flowed
an unending stream of
Loves- and roses, ex-
quisitely in keeping
with the delicate panel-
ling, water green, pale
blue, ivory relieved by
gold, in which they
were set. Boucher and Watteau filled the boudoirs of the day with
pictures of curly sheep led in green pastures by be-ribboned shepherds
and shepherdesses. Lancret painted graceful courtiers dancing the
Minuet with dream-womeru. on flowery lawns, in a setting of rose and
azure hillsides. Latour/fne pastellist, the lover of a dancer, was inspired,
unwittingly perhaps, by the gauze of his mistress's skirts ; and modelled
his portraits in diaphanous tones, fresh and dewy as the dawn.

Dancing followed the new impulse of the other arts. The cold and
majestic Pavane gradually made way for the graceful and noble Minuet, the
rapid Passepied, the lively Gavotte. The ballet yielded to the same
inspiration — in its pursuit of elegance, in the variety of its steps, of its

A DANCING LESSuN

After Pietro L-onghi

ran

LA CAMARGO ,4^

fortune out of her — the most elegant ladies of Paris demanded to be shod ()
la Camargo. Introduced at the Tuileries by the Marquise de Villars, she
was received with an ovation. This splendid triumph awoke the jealousy

After a Picture by Watuau in the New Palace, Itetlin

of Mademoiselle Prevost, who discontinued her lessons, and even intrigued
against her brilliant pupil. La Camargo then put herself under the
instructions of the celebrated dancer, Rlondt.

In spite of her successes, she had to resign herself at first to Ik- a mere

144

A HISTORY OF DANCING

figurante in the corps de ballet. One night, however, Dumoulin, nicknamed
the Devil, was to have danced a pas seul. Something occurred to retard
his entrance, although the musicians had struck up his tune. A sudden
inspiration seized the Camargo (who was one of a troupe of attendant

demons), and quitting her place, she
executed Dumoulin's dance with diabolical
energy before an enthusiastic audience.

La Camargo brought about an abso-
lute revolution in opera by her fanciful
and ingenious improvisations. The con-
quest of difficulties of execution delighted
her. She offended the upholders of the
classic tradition, who sang of her as :

"Ccttc admirable gigotteusc,
Grande croqueuse d'entrcchats."

But they were wrong about these

entrechats (of which La Camargo " cut "

the first in 1730).* She crossed her

feet in the air four times only ; thirty

years later Mademoiselle Lamy of the Opera crossed hers six times ;

and, later still, eight crossings were achieved.

" I have even seen a dancer cross sixteen times," writes Baron, " but
don't suppose I admire such gymnastics, or your pirouettes either."

The Comte de Melun carried off the young dancer when she was
eighteen years old. La Camargo had made it a condition that she should
be accompanied by her little sister ! Their father, Ferdinand de Cupis de
Camargo, petitioned Cardinal de Fleury that the Count should be made to
marry the elder girl and portion the younger.

Mademoiselle Camargo had certainly no vocation for marriage. She
soon left the Count for his cousin, Lieutenant de Marteille. This
brilliant officer was eventually killed in Flanders, when his mistress was

DANCING ATTITUDES

Alter an Engraving by Gravelot in the

Ilibliothcque Nationale

" In the entrechat, the dancer springs up, crossing his lett several times in the air.:
(Professor Desrat.)

OPERA BALLS

145

so profoundly affected as to retire from the stage for six years. She
quitted it finally in i~4i, and lived in seclusion till her death.

" Her neighbours and friends regretted her as a model of charity, of
modesty, and of good conduct," says one writer. " She was granted the

A CARNIVAL DANCE

From a Print »ft«r Tiepolo in lh« BiblKXhoiut Nalionalc

honours of a ' white,' or maiden's, funeral. She had had, however, many
lovers, among whom were the Due de Richelieu and the Comte dc
Clermont, to whom she had borne two children. But she was remembered
only as the grave, sweet woman whose last years had been spent in lone
liness and meditation."

Opera-balls were inaugurated in the early days of the Regency, and with
such success that three took place every week throughout the carnival.
The theatre buildings then formed part of the Palais-Royal. On lull-
nights, the auditorium was converted into a saloon eighty-eight feet long ;
the boxes were adorned with balustrades draped with costly hangings of the

146

A HISTORY OF DANCING

richest colours. Two buffets, one on each side, separated the boxes trom
the space set apart for the dancers. These fetes were arranged on a scale of
the most luxurious magnificence ; " the room was lighted by over three
hundred large wax candles, to say nothing of the tapers and lamps, arranged
in the wings. The orchestra was composed of thirty musicians, fifteen at

BALL COSTUMES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
From a Print in the Bibliothcque Nationale

each end of the ball-room. Half an hour before the ball began, the
musicians assembled in the Octagon room, with kettledrums and
trumpets, and gave a concert, performing the great symphonies of the best
masters."

In connection with these balls, G. Lenotre describes an adventure of
which Louis XV. was the hero.

"On Shrove Tuesday of 1737," he says, "we find in Barbier's Journal
that Louis XV. came from Versailles incognito to the opera-ball. The
Due d'Ayen had supped with the King, who said nothing of the project.
After the Court had retired, the King, attended by a footman, went up to
the Duke's apartments. D'Ayen had gone to bed. The King knocked.

AN ESCAPADE OF LOUIS XV. ,47

The Duke inquired who was there. 'It is I.' 'I don't know who you

A I V f k

A'Ur * P>ctur* by W«ii«m ia the Edinburgh fMhrj

mean. I am in bed.* ' It is I, the King.' The Duke, recognising the
King's voice, hastened to open the door. 'Where are you going, Sire, at

148 A HISTORY OF DANCING

this hour ? ' ' Dress yourself at once.' ' Allow me to ring, I have no
shoes.' 'No,' replied the King, 'no one must come.' 'But where are we
going ? ' ' To the Opera Ball.' ' Oh, very well ! ' said the Duke ; ' let me
find the shoes I have just taken off.' When he was dressed, they descended
into the courtyard. The King, who .had not put on his blue ribbon, took
the Duke's arm to pass the sentries. The latter made himself known-
1 It is I, the Due d'Ayen.' ' I have the honour of knowing you perfectly
well, Monseigneur,' said the guard.

" They got through, and went to the carriages that were waiting for them
in the street. Relays had been posted at Sevres since six o'clock in the
evening.

" The King wore a blue costume, with a rose-coloured domino. He
got out of his carriage in the Rue Saint-Nicaise, and with his eight
companions, all, like himself, in dominoes, made his way to the Opera
House. By some mistake, only seven tickets had been taken, so they were
stopped at the door, where they paid two crowns of six francs to be allowed
to go in all together. The King remained for over an hour and a halt,
unrecognised by any one. He enjoyed himself greatly, and mixed freely
with the crowd. He did not take the road to Versailles again till six
o'clock in the morning.

" But he had to pass through the private apartments, which were shut up
and guarded. They knocked. A sentry of the bodyguard demanded who
they were. The reply was : 'Open at once. It is the King.' 'The King
is in bed, and I shall not open the door or allow you to pass, whoever you
may be.' They had to wait and get a light. The sentry then recognised
the King. ' Sire, I beg your pardon, but my orders are to let no one pass ;
therefore, have the goodness to cancel my instructions.' '

" The King," says Barbier, " was much pleased by the sentry's pre-
cision."

" The courtiers of Henry II., the cruel associates of Charles IX., the
favourites of Henry III., the warlike nobles of Henry IV., the flatterers of
the Cardinal Minister, the great men of Louis XIV.'s Court, the rakes of
the Regency — all alike danced the unbending Haute Danse," says Elise
Vo'i'art. Gayer measures were only permitted at the end of a ball.

The Minuet, a dance of little steps, as the name indicates, had come

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*°

A HISTORY OF DANCING

BALLET DANCERS

After a Print in the Hennin Collection, Bibliothcque Nationale

from Poitou, where it contrasted sharply with the clog-step of the Branle

Poitevin. At first a gay and
lively dance, simple, yet not
without distinction, it soon lost
its original vivacity and sport-
iveness, becoming grave and
slow, like other fashionable
Court dances.

It was in this denaturalised
Minuet that Louis XIV.
excelled. Pecour, the great
dancer, gave a new vogue to

the Minuet by restoring some of its original charm.*

But the golden age of the Minuet was the reign of Louis XV., when

this dance held the foremost

place. It was the fashion then

both at the Court and in the

city.

The Court Minuet was a

dance for two, a gentleman

and a lady. It was danced in

moderate triple time, and was

generally followed by the

Gavotte.f

The Minuets most memor-
able in the annals of dancing are

the Dauphin's Minuet, the Queen's Minuet, the Menuet d'Exaudet, and the

Court Minuet.

In his T)ictionnaire de la Danse Compan dilates at some length upon

HAI.I.ET OAHCBKS
After a Print in the Hennin Collection. Bibliothcque Nationale

* " The characteristic of this dance is a noble and elegant simplicity ; its movement is
rather moderate than rapid ; and one may say that it is the least gay of all such dances." —
[Grande Encyclopedic)

t "The Minuet consists of three movements and a step on the point of the foot.
The first is a demi coupe of the right foot and one of the left. The second is a step
taken on the point of the right foot, both legs straight at the knee. In the third, at the end
of the last step, you drop the right heel gently on the floor, so as to permit a bending of the

THE MINUET ,£,

the Minuet. He tells how in " set " balls, a king and queen were

thk ccMrrmMum
From a Print after Waiteau in the £cole des Beaux Art*

appointed, who opened the dance. The first Minuet over, a fresh cavalier
was chosen by the queen. This gentleman, when he in his turn had danced

knee, which movement causes (he left leg to rise ; it pastes to the front with a dtmi aupi
iefmpft —which it the third movement of the Minuet and its fourth step.

"The true step of the Minuet is composed of four steps, which nevertheless by their
connections (to use the technical word) arc but one step.

"There was another and easier method of executing the Minuet. Bringing the left foot
in front, let it support the weight of the body ; and bring the right foot close to the left in
the first position. This right foot is not, however, to touch the ground ; the right knee is
bent a little, so that the foot is clear of the floor. Next, with this right knee sufficiently
bent, the right foot is brought to the front, in the fourth position, and the body raised on
the toes, both legs being straightened one after the other. Thrn, in its turn, you allow the
right heel to support itself on the floor (without putting the left down), and you bear with
ike weight of your body upon the right foot, and pass the left foot forward (just l

I £2

A HISTORY OF DANCING

his Minuet, escorted the queen back to her place and, bowing, inquired her
pleasure as to her next partner. The queen having pointed out the partner

of her choice, her late cavalier went in
search of him, and, bowing low, requested
him to dance.

The Minuet was introduced into
opera -ballet. "Composers introduced
its airs in sonatas, duets, and other
musical pieces, as they had formerly
done with the Jig and the Gavotte,"
says Vestris. " But of all these," he
adds, " the Minuet alone was long-lived.
Indeed it is still introduced in sym-
phonies."

As we have seen, the Minuet was
the fashionable dance, the Passepied
and the Gavotte claiming a fair share of
popularity as well.

We have already spoken of the
Passepied.
As to the Gavotte, it was popular under Louis XV. ; but it was
supreme under Louis XVI., and we shall consider it later on in the height
of its glory.

In 1745, Rameau introduced the Contredanse in ballets. It was so
favourably received that it at once superseded the Bourree, the Minuet, and
the Cosaque, and even temporarily eclipsed the ambitious Gavotte.

BARBARA CAMl'ANIM, CALLED LA BARBAR1NA

After a Picture by Pesne in the Palace, Berlin

formerly did with the right) to the fourth position. Then you raise yourself upon this left
foot and walk the two remaining steps on the toes, the first step being on to the right point,
the second on to the left again — but at the last you must drop once more on the left heel,
so as to start again firmly." — (Vestris.)

Compan says :

"The number of bars in each of these repetitions should be four, or some multiple
of four, for this is needful to the due execution of the Minuet step. And care should be
taken by the musicians to emphasise each division by a noticeable drop in the music, so as
to aid the ear of the dancer, and keep him in time."

There are divers other Minuet steps, such as the Minuet Backwards, and the Sideways
or Open Minuet ; but these are mere variants upon the standard dance.

o
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5

>S*

A HISTORY OF DANCING

his ideas, notes his music, displays scenery coloured by appropriate costumes.

" A picture," he continued, " is
an imitation of nature ; but a
good ballet is nature itself, en-
nobled by all the charms of art."
We pass over Noverre's definition
of painting ; to discuss it would
be to wander from our subject.
He expands it thus : " The music
is to the dancing what the libretto
is to the music " — a parallel by
which he meant that the musical
score is, or ought to be, a poem,
fixing and determining the move-
ments and the action of the
dancer — a poem which the artist
is to recite and interpret by
means of energetic and vivid
gestures, and by the flexibility

and animation of his countenance. It follows that the action of the dancer

should be an instrument

for the rendering and

the exposition of the

written idea.

Noverre not only

carried his care for de-
tail to an extreme in

his regulation of the

ballet, but he persuaded

himself that dancing

could express every-
thing :

THE BALLET OF THE PRINCE OF SALER

After an eighteenth Century Print

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' mp m - m ^<m:m&

\ -Ti^jfe; Tffc fll 5%J t \, ""AtjA

f&r

t;c; magnificent ballet given at chantilly fok
the diversion of jus majesty louis xv.

" Noverre, sur un art qu'il crut universel,
Du ton le plus augustc cndoctrinant 1'Europc,
Eut fait danser Joad, Phcdrc, ct le Misanthrope."

THE BALLET IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

•57

Besides, was there not a ballet-master who claimed to have translated
Beaumarchais' epigrams into entrechats and jetes battus t

Noverre did his best to drive masks, paniers, and padded coat-skirts
from the stage ; he strove
to effect a reformation in
costume.* Actors were
often negligent in their
dress for lack of means.
At this time leading actors
had a salary of one hundred
louis a year ; while figurants,
singers, and dancers thought
themselves happy with four
hundred francs. Singers
appeared on the stage in
costumes that had some-
times done duty for eight
years, their tarnished
spangles showing the under-
lying tin or copper.

Noverre found it hard
to rouse the theatre from
its torpor. He had a long

struggle with the costumier, who used often to bid him mind his own
business, and stick to his dancing.

In the Ballet of the Horatii, by Noverre, Camilla appeared in a huge

THE IALLET Or rMMAUOM (1759)

After a Print in the BiUioihcquc Natiooalc

* But not with complete success, according to Castil-Blazc. We read in fact that "on
January 21, 1772, Cmttr and Pollux was performed — an opera by Ramcau, and an old
favourite with amateurs, from whom it had long been withheld. In the fifth act
Gactan Vcstris was to appear as the fair-haired Apollo ; he represented the Sun-God in an
enormous black full-bottomed wig, and a mask, and wore a big gilded copper sun on his
breast. For some reason M. Vcstris could not take his part that night, and M. Gardcl
consented to act as a substitute, but only on condition that he should be at liberty to
appear in his own long fair hair, and that he should be allowed to discard the mask and the
ridiculous copper sun. This happy innovation pleased the public, and from that moment
leading actors abandoned the mask. It continued, however, to be used for some years by
the chorus, by ' furies ' and ' winds,' and by ' shades ' — whose white masks were considered

1 58

A HISTORY OF DANCING

hooped petticoat, her hair piled up three feet high with flowers and
ribbons. Her brothers wore long-skirted coats, set out from their hips
by padding. The Horatii wore what had once been cloth of gold,

LITTLE ACTORS

After a Print by Gravelot

and the Curiatii cloth of silver. Their powdered hair was arranged on
each temple in five rolls, and on the top of the head in a sort of
pyramid, the so-called " Greek tuft," very much like the curl worn by
our circus clowns.

We can imagine the piteous face with which Noverre contemplated the

peculiarly appropriate. In 1785, in the prologue of Tarare, 'winds ' still appeared with
trumpet-cheeked masks; but they no longer, as formerly, carried bellows in their hands."

We need not go back to the traditions of antiquity in tracing this custom, for masks
were in common use among French women in the sixteenth century, and throughout the
reign of Louis XIII.

i6o

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The revolution Noverre had

-r'-Z^,t

m^y

personages of his ballet thus rigged out. He triumphed at last, but only
after many struggles.

inaugurated in theatrical dancing
gained ground steadily. There were
many clever dancers on the French
stage, the Vestris, Gardel, and Dau-
bervals but it was impossible for
them to execute, dances properlv
so-called. They came on in enor-
mous helmets, crowned by a mass
of plumes, their faces concealed by
;^\ *\ masks. They advanced from the

back to the front of the stage with
prodigious bounds, displaying the
suppleness of their figures with great
effect ; each one of them was careful
to bring out his particular strong
point, the beauty of his arm, the
perfection of his leg ; but this was
hardly dancing in the true sense of
the term.
" Would you know what theatrical dancing really is ? " cried an author of
the day. " Transport yourselves in fancy to the happy times of Pylades
and Bathyllus. See Pylades plunging the spectators into the deepest grief,
tee them turn pale when Orestes dances, listen to the passionate cries of the
Roman ladies. Or would you take your idea of dancing from another
quarter ? This century has produced three or four ballets in the true
style. Are you not deeply impressed by the transports of Medea, in
the illustrious Noverre's ballet? How the truth of Madame Allard's
acting holds us captive ! How we feel the woes of Creiisa, as
depicted by Mile. Guimard ! How Jason fascinates us ! This is true
dancing !...." The author then expatiates on the ballet, Sylvia :

" How delicious is that moment when the Faun (Dauberval) at last finds
himself again in the arms of his beloved Sylvia, who had avoided him,
and whom he himself had been forced to avoid !

MLLE. AI.LAIM) AS HEBE

REFORM OF THEATRICAL COSTUME 161

*Le feu de lcurs regards s'anime avee la danse ;
L'amour, sans se raontrcr, fait sentir sa presence :
Et plein d'un sentiment vif et dclicicux,
Chacun sent lc plaisir qu'il a vu dans lcurs ycux.'

44 This is dancing indeed ! What we lack is not talent, but emulation.
It almost seems, in fact, as if this were deliberately repressed. How I

BALUtr AT THE OPKRA H

ttom aa fnin't by Baun, after a Drawing by A. de Si. Aubin

should rejoice to see a great dancer performing some noble part without
plumes or wig or mask ! I should then be able to applaud his sublime
talent with satisfaction to myself; and I could then justly apply the term
•great ' to him, whereas now the most I can say is : lyfh ! la Mia gamba ! '
It is evident, therefore, that theatrical dancing demands many reforms.
They cannot, of course, all be carried out at once ; but we might at least

PASSE-PIED EN RONDEAU

All? vivace

PIANO

wi PlLCff ILtj Iff

i Irrnlrrj li

COCPLET

164

A HISTORY OF DANCING

begin. Let us do away with those cold, painted masks, which deprive us
of what would be one of the most interesting features of a pas-de-deux, the
expressions of the performers' faces. The disappearance of the periwig
would follow of itself, and a shepherd would no longer dance in a plumed

helmet. See with what satis-
faction the suppression of one
single mask was hailed by the
public ! Note the superiority of
Vestris dancing with uncovered
face in the Champs Elysees, and
Vestris as a shepherd in a wig
and mask ! How much we all
preferred Gardel as the Sun-
God without his wig and mask!
How we admire Dauberval be-
cause he has thrown off con-
vention, because he dances a
shepherd dressed as a shepherd,
and gives true expression to
his steps, his gestures, and his
face ! "

Noverre's ballets are usually
in the grave style, and are all
remarkable for their ingenuity.
Our ballet-masters and librettists still find it to their advantage to study
his Letters on the Imitative Arts. Among his principal choregraphic
works we may mention The Death of Ajax, The Judgment of Paris,
Orpheus' Descent into Hell, Rinaldo and Armida, The Caprices of
Galatea, The Toilette of Venus or the Roses of Love, The Jealousies of the
Seraglio, The Death of ^Agamemnon, Telemachus, The Clemency of Titus.
But Noverre sometimes turned from the serious ballet to works in
a lighter vein, such as Cupid the Pirate and The Embarkation for
Cythera.

Noverre made an attempt to perpetuate the most successful chore-
graphic steps by means of writing, though the Academy of Music took but

MLLE. VESTRIS AS A SHEPHERDESS

1 66

A HISTORY OF DANCING

a languid interest in the subject. The Egyptians, it is said, had already
made use of hieroglyphs to indicate dances. The Romans had a method of
notation for saltatory gesture. Under Louis XIV., the dancer Beauchamp
gave a new form to this notation, of which he was declared the inventor by

\%*

- Z — • ■ . *

If ■"!

#•••

i>»

i i

k j

• /

\ i

t I

>•

a parliamentary decree. In the treatise on choregraphy published in Paris
about 17 13 by Feuillet and Desaix, there are some fifty plates in which
dancing is represented by means of engraved characters. They look like
forms of incantation, the mysterious pages of a book of magic. Lines,
perpendicular, horizontal, oblique, complicated curves, odd combinations of
strokes, somewhat akin to Arabic characters, musical notes sprinkled
apparently haphazard over the page, represented the movements of the
dancer's feet with the most logical precision.

THE DANCING UMOM

After an Engraving by Lcbu in the Btbliotheque Nalioule

THE VESTRIS FAMILY 167

To Noverre we owe the constellation of ballet-composers who succeeded
him — Gardel, Dauberval, Duport, Blasis, Milon, and the Vestris family ;
just as we owe the brilliant dancers of the end of the eighteenth century to
the inspiration of Mademoiselle Salle and La Camargo.

After the retirement of La Camargo, the principal honours of the stage
fell to the lot of the fa-
mous Gaetan Vestris, pupil
and successor of Dupre.
Dupre had shone before
the footlights for thirty
years ; he was tall, of a
superb carriage, and he
danced Chacones and Pass-
acailles with incomparable
mastery.

The Vestris family, of
Florentine origin, swayed
the sceptre of dancing for
nearly a century. Gaetan,
who was called "the hand-
some Vestris" (to distin-
guish him from his four
brothers in the same
profession), appeared on
the stage in 1748, at the

Opera, from which he did not finally retire till 1800. "Few dancers
have been so highly favoured by nature," says Baron. " He was about
five feet six inches in height, with a well-turned leg, and a noble and
expressive face. He made his first appearance on the stage in 1747 and
retired in 1781. But having, like the actor Baron, the rare good fortune
to preserve his vigour and grace to extreme old age, he reappeared at
intervals — in 1795, 1799, and 1800 — always with great applause."

I Is dancing was full of grace and distinction. He carried himself
superbly, surpassing even the great Dupre. His fatuous conceit, however,
became proverbial. He used to say : " This century has produced but

1 68

A HISTORY OF DANCING

'ftgjl

" '«6\

a»

three great men — myself, Voltaire, and
Frederick the Great ! " Berchoux re-
cords his vanity in the following quat-
rain :

" Ses yeux ne daignaient voir de son temps sur

la terre,
Que trois grands hommes : lui, Frederic,

Voltaire.
Quand il fallait entre eux determiner son

choix,
II se mettait toujours a la tete des trois."

In the time of the Vestris, dancing
was strictly divided into three varieties

(U^JLjU^**

a^^n)^ '!<*«.* ^*-±.

Jem '

-J..

— the serious, the serio-comic,
and the comic. The most
celebrated of the comedy
dancers of the time was M.
Lany, who first appeared at
the Opera in 1750, and did
not retire till 1769. His
drollery never sank to tri-
viality. He was inimitable in
" shepherd " parts :

" Dans les patres Lany tut le
premier en France
Qui fit sentir jadis une juste
cadence,

LA CAMAKGO

From a Print in the liibliothcque Nationale

aha JL

B ■

■ /

|L^% /^

■^

Bw j»-'.»- -1

{■ t

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jgPjj

A WOODLAND DANCE

After a Picture by Lancrcl in ihc Berlin liallcry

CHAPTER VI

CSladeltme Gurnard— Dancing under Louis XVI.— 1 'he gavotte— Tie Ballet—

'Dances and Fetes if the Revolution and the Republic— Walls and "Ballets of the

Directory, the Empire, and the Restoration — CMarie Taglioni

>WARDS the end of the last century a brilliant dancer
appeared, who was the darling of the Court and city for
twenty-six years. She was not content to enchant all
beholders by the expressive grace of her dancing, the
voluptuous elegance of her movements, the rhythmic harmony of her
steps. " She is a shadow, flitting through the Klysian groves, a graceful
Muse who captivates mortals," said an author of the day. She dazzled

172

A HISTORY OF DANCING

society by her magnificence and the splendour of her entertainments, which
rivalled those of royalty.

She was born in Paris in 1743. She is said to have been marvellously
gifted, to have had an exquisite figure, marvellous grace, and extremely

distinguished manners ;
and, further, a disposition
at once impressionable,
tender-hearted, and
kindly.

During the construc-
tion of her house, she
noticed a young artist
engaged in painting the
panels, who seemed very
sad. On asking the cause
of his trouble, she learned
that he was greatly dis-
tressed at his poverty,
which prevented him from
continuing his studies.
She immediately obtained
a pension enabling him
to go to Rome. The
painter was David. She
was also the patroness of
Fragonard, who was a
constant visitor at the little theatres she had built in her country-house at
Pantin, and in her hotel in the Chaussee d'Antin ; these certainly inspired
some of his prettiest scenes, notably those in which his characters are
masked, for, in spite of Noverre's efforts, the mask was worn at the
theatre until 1772.

Year after year the Prince de Soubise made her a handsome present of
jewellery as a new year's gift. On one occasion, the winter having been
particularly severe, she wrote to the Prince and asked him if he would let
her have the value of his usual offering in money. M. de Soubise sent

MLLE. GUIMARD

From a Lithograph

MLLE. GUIMARD

17*

her six thousand livrts ; whereupon she explored the dreary tortuous alleys
round about her, and distributed the sum in alms to the poor in their
wretched houses and garrets.

"Along with these impulses of charity, and pity for the poor and
suffering," says M. Bauer,
"she had a diabolical
spirit of intrigue, and was
the soul of all the cabals
which were the despair
of the Opera. Backed up
by Saint - Huberty, she
made the theatre subject
to her will, and imposed
her authority on the
Court, her associates, and
even on the public, brook-
ing no rival about her."

Ardent, proud, gene-
rous and passionate, she
was equally reckless in the
expenditure of her wealth
and of her affections.

Both at her country-
house and in the Chaussee

d'Antin, her theatre was provided with private boxes, to which the ladies
of the Court resorted to see the comedies in vogue.

The brilliance of this fascinating assembly was incomparable. The
prettiest women of Paris vied with each other in beauty, grace, and
toilettes. Princes of the blood, dignitaries of the Court, and Presidents of
Parliament were noticeable among the men, and the darker boxes were often
visited by prelates, and occasionally by academicians. It was a gala day,
«ay» Fleury, for one of our actors, when he could escape from the desert
of the Corned ie Francaisc, and disport himself on the boards of a theatre so
perfectly arranged.*

* Henri Bauer, IllnitratitH.

jSsup

r^r^

- ~_^C*»*

MLLE. GL'lHARIi

From a Lithograph

174

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Ov? y»»~

In addition to the most distinguished persons of the day, Mile.
Guimard received the habitues of the Court, and delighted to vex the
authorities by making her entertainments clash
with those given by the King. She discussed
questions of dress and coiffure with the
Queen, who sought her advice on these
matters.

Her table was long the meeting-place of
courtiers, celebrated authors, and all that was
great and illustrious in Paris. She was pen-
sioned by a prince, a financier, and a bishop.

The revolution-
ary storm,which

destroyed so

many things,

was the ruin of

Guimard.
" Some years

before this,"

says M. Henri

Bauer, " Mile.

'7fi»t>

jf* *"**

V^'

Sk^^iM'M

MLLE. GUIMARD

From a contemporary Drawing (1770)

-I

Guimard's money difficulties obliged her to
get rid of her mansion in the Chaussee
d'Antin. Her mode of selling it was some-
what original : she had it put into a lottery,
issuing 2500 tickets at 120 livres a-piece.
The prize was won by the Comtesse du Lau,
who immediately resold the house for 500,000
livres to the banker Perregaux. Seventy-
five years later it was the scene of M. Arsene
Houssaye's marriage with his second wife,
Mile. Jane della Torre."
Mile. Guimard retired from the Opera in 1789, and married the dancer
Despreaux.

After having enjoyed every pleasure, and revelled in splendour, Guimard

ftExt

MARIE ANTOINETTE IN THE BALLE T
DE LA REINE

A I4LL IN A rAKK

« IV I. ir* by LaactcI ta ibc Bcrlio C*Ucr)

176

A HISTORY OF DANCING

had to struggle in her old age with difficulties verging on misery, and she

died neglected at the age of seventy-
three.*

The Gavotte was the favourite
dance under Louis XVI. and
throughout the time of the Direc-
tory. This dance was of very
ancient origin ; it dated from the
sixteenth century, and was, as we
have said, a sort of Branle.

Not only did the leading couple
choose and kiss the lady and
gentleman who 'were to lead after
them, but the leaders generally
embraced all the dancers one after
the other.

In Sandrin ou Vert galant there
is an account of a Gavotte, in

which instead of kisses, little presents were given :

" Michaud prcnd Marion, la tire de la dance,
Et apres avoir fait sa noble reverence,

VESTRIS AS COLAS

From a Print in the Bibliotheque Nationale

* " Monsieur de Goncourt," says M. Henri Bauer, "has given us quite a touching picture
of her old age. She lived in the Rue Mcnars, at the corner of the Rue de Richelieu, and
still received a number of her old friends and associates. The conversation naturally often
turned on the brilliant successes she had achieved on the boards of the Opera, which still
interested her.

" One day the company pressed her strongly to dance some of the steps that had made
her so celebrated, with her husband, Desprcaux. They refused for some time, but finally
yielded. Some boards were put up on trestles in an adjoining room, but with what seems
to us quite a fine touch of coquetry, the dancers arranged a curtain to conceal half the
stage, so that only their legs were visible. Those present at the performance were fired with
enthusiasm, and accorded a regular ovation to the two dancers, who were great artists still.

"But entreaties to repeat the experiment, even with the promise of a great financial
success, were in vain : they were wise enough not to do so, knowing that the brilliant days
of the winter of life have no to-morrows.

" Her feet on her foot-warmer, she liked to talk of the past, and when the conversation
turned to memories of the ballets in which she had danced, she took from beside her,
where it was hidden under her dress, a little toy theatre, put her hand into the aperture, and
with her thin bony fingers indicated with swift, unerring gestures the steps, movements, and
attitudes of herself and her comrades."

THE GAVOTTE

II la baise a la bouche et cliquetant lesdois,
Monstrc qu'a bien dancer il ne craint villageois ;
Or, il a lcs deux mains au cote, puis se tourne,
Et devanc Marion presence sa personnc ;
Puis resautant en l'air gambada lourdemenc ;
Haut troussant le talon d'un sot contournement.

•77

A DAKC*
Allir a itctuic by Lucnl in Uk llcrlin Gallery

La tillc s'cnhardil ct son hommc rcgardc,

Et a tout ce qu'il fait de prcs cllc prend garde.

S'il fait un taut en Pair, Marion saute aussi ;

S'il dance dc costc, cllc fait tout ainsi,

Tant qu'a let voir dancer, a tout lc mondc il scmblc

^u'llt aicnt rccordc leurs tricotci ensemble.

Or, Michaud ayant fait suant ct hallctanr.

Son devoir dc dancer, lc bouquet bicn content

i78 A HISTORY OF DANCING

II Iivre entre les mains de Marion, puis passe,

Et seulc la laissant se remet a sa place.

Marion tourne autour et si hien se conduit

Qu'au vueil des assistants prend Sandrin, qu'ellc suit.

Qui lui prete la main comme par moquerie,

Puis dan^ant de plus beau, saute comme une pie.

Sandrin, qui la dedaigne, avecques gravitc,

V'ous dance a la grandeur d'un pas non usite

Aux dances du village, et tant et tant s'oublic

Qu'il ne daigne baiscr la fillette jolie,

Laquelle souriant lui laisse le bouquet,

Puis reprend pour dancer la gauche de Jaquet."

Then farther on :

" Claudin premiercment
En tire lc miroir qu'il donnc gentiment
A cellc qu'il menait, qui, honteuse fillette,
L'ayant rccu montre sa couleur vcrmeillettc.
La fille dc Pierrot, que Thibaut conduisait
De luy le peloton, et la bourse recoit,

La fille dc Samson, gentille de nature, »

Gaycment prend du don la plus belle ccinture."
&c. &c. Sec.

" By the term Gavotte, properly speaking," writes Mme. Laure Fonta,
" we must understand the dances in short parts when good merry dancers
vary the movements in the most fantastic fashion, even intermingling with
the duple rhythm of these dances the triple rhythm of some Gaillarde.

But this bright, sparkling dance was modified like -so many others that
have undergone the influence of time. In the eighteenth century it had
points of resemblance with the Minuet ; it became languid and gliding,
rather solemn, and somewhat pretentious.

Vestris tells us that the Gavotte consisted of three steps and an
assemble.

Littre says that the step of the Gavotte differs from the natural step, in
that one springs upon the foot which is on the ground, and at the same
time points the toe of the other foot downwards. This movement is the
sole indication that one is dancing and not walking.

The air of the Gavotte was in duple time, moderate and graceful,
sometimes even tender and slow ; it was divided into two parts, each of

THE GAVOTTE

•79

which began with the second beat and ended with the first, the phrases

and rests recurring with every second bar. Famous Gavottes were written

for the stage by Gluck, Gretry, &c. The one in Panurge by Gretry was

a particular favourite, and was danced 2t every ball ; its success was due to

its strongly marked rhythm,

a valuable quality for ordinary

dancers. This Gavotte had

no second part, and, to supply

the want, the composer had

the first part repeated four

times, a convenient device

certainly, but a puerile one,

necessitating a good deal of

wearisome iteration.

The Gavotte had lost
favour, save at the theatre
and among professional
dancers, when Marie Antoi-
nette restored it to fashion.
We know that this graceful
queen danced the Minuet to
perfection ; she was delighted
with the one which Gretry
composed on the air of a
Gavotte in his opera Cephale
el Procris, though Gretry's air
is said to have been wanting
in spirit and in charm, and to
have made the steps difficult

of execution. Be this as it may, the Gavotte became the fashion hence-
forth at society balls, with a few other dances reserved for distinguished
amateurs.

Moreover, various Gavottes in light and tender rhythms were in vogue
at this period. Fertiault, in his Hisloire di la Danse, describes the Gavotte
as follows :

I us IHK THURACr. Al vi.

After A. tic St. Auhin

180 A HISTORY OF DANCING

" Skilful and charming offspring of the Minuet, sometimes gay, but
often tender and slow, in which kisses and bouquets are inter-
changed."

All evidence shows that the Gavotte was closely akin to the simple
Branle, to which it owed its origin. This dance, which was in great

AN Ol'EN-AIR DANCE

After Charles Eisen

favour for six centuries, still retained the first three steps of the Branle.
under the Directory, and at the beginning of the present century.

"In 1779," says G. Lenotre, " we catch a glimpse of Marie Antoinette
at the Opera Ball in the Comte de Mercy's letters. She had been once with
the King, who encouraged her to go again, in -strict incognita, accompanied
only by one of her ladies.

" The Queen accordingly left Versailles without any suite, and at
the barrier, got into a hired carriage to avoid recognition. Unfortunately,
the carriage was so old and ramshackle, that it broke down at a little

MARIE ANTOINETTE AT THE OPERA BALE i3i
distance from the theatre. The Queen, with the Comtesse de Henin, who

r»«l» OH THI OCCAM"* 0* III* HI 111 ii or mi Ml rain
Aftar an Engraving by Mom the younger

was in attendance, were obliged to go into the nearest house, which was a
silk-mcrcir's shop. She did not unmask, and as it was impossible to mend

182 A HISTORY OF DANCING

the carriage, the first hackney-coach that passed was hailed, and Marie
Antoinette arrived at the ball in this equipage. She there found several of
her household, who had come on separately, and who remained with her all
the evening. The details of this little adventure produced no effect at
Versailles, beyond causing the King to laugh, and to rally his consort on
her journey in the hackney-coach !

" M. de Mercy was mistaken," adds Lenotre. " The numerous enemies
the Queen had already made would not allow such a fine opportunity for
calumny to pass by.

" Opera Balls were then the common scene of all sorts of adventures.
Two days after Marie Antoinette's accident, another adventure took place
which eventually became a matter of some importance. On Shrove
Tuesday the Comte dArtois took advantage of his incognito to address
some rather cavalier speeches to the Duchesse de Bourbon, who, in a
moment of irritation, threw aside the muslin veil that concealed the features
of the future Charles X with her fan. The Prince, angry in his turn,
pulled her away from her partner, M. de Toncherolles, and crumpled up
her mask on her face.

" The next day, M. de Bourbon sent a challenge to his cousin, which
the King forbade his brother to notice. The Comte d'Artois was inclined
to obey ; but most of the princes and nobles of his circle agreed between
themselves, and notified to the prince, that if he refused M. de Bourbon satis-
faction, the nobles would refuse him all service and honour in the kingdom,
and that his regiment would no longer consider him worthy of his command.

" The two princes accordingly fought. M. de Crussol, Captain of the
Bodyguard, begged them, as they crossed swords, to be sparing of blood
that might be precious to the State. The duel took place in the Bois de
Boulogne, and during the engagement the Queen and her suite were
present, in a sadly preoccupied frame, at the first night of Irene at the
Comedie Francaise. All at once the persons in the pit got up and began
to clap their hands. The Comte dArtois, who had been slightly wounded
in the arm, came in arm-in-arm with the Due de Bourbon. The whole
audience rose and cried ' Bravo ! ' The popular joy knew no bounds when
the King's brother advanced to the front of his box, and gracefully saluted
the Duchesse de Bourbon with his wounded hand."

.'///-. Tran-mlUicAt trie., tnibiaede

if i Mf .' ' t.UilIrJ itrr/ormrj it/ Sir/i/m ■ tatuuuy ''■'!

GRAND BALLETS

18;

At the time when Dauberval succeeded Vestris at the Opera, and danced
the divertissement of Sylvie with Mme. Allard, the theatre of the Porte
Saint-Martin had become the rival of the Academie de Danse. Grand

HAL CHAMriTHK

After * Picture by Lencret in the New Palace, Bctlin

ballets had been given there, mounted with the utmost splendour.
Le Deserteur, La Fille mat Gar dee, Les Jeux d'Eg/ee, Jenny, and various
compositions of Dauberval 's had a great success.

2 A

1 86

A HISTORY OF DANCING

At about the same time the brothers Gardel composed some of their
most masterly ballets. The elder, Maximilian, was born in Munich ; he
died from the effects of an accident in 1787, having been premier danseur
and maitre de ballet, besides attaining distinction as a violinist, a harpist, and
violoncellist.

His brother Pierre succeeded him in his functions, and wrote a number

DAN'CE OF SHEPHEKDS

After a Picture by Lancret in the Berlin Museum

of ballets : Telemaque, Psyche, Le Jugement de Paris, La Dansomanie,
Alexandre chez Apelle, Paul et Virginie, La Suite de Venus, L 'Oracle,
Le Deserteur, Le Coq du Village, Le Retour de Zephyre, Austerlitz, &c,
which long retained a place in the repertory.

The ballet-pantomime in three acts, Psyche, was given for the first
time under the Constituent Assembly, on December 14, 1790, at the
Theatre des Arts, passing on a good deal later to the Academie de Danse.
It was performed nine hundred and twelve times.

LA DANSOMANIE ,87

La Dansomanie, a celebrated ballet-pantomime in two acts, was given x,
on the 20th Prairial, year VIII. of the Republic. It is said not to have
been one of Gardel's best works, and it is possible that the troubles of the
times somewhat affected his brilliant talents.

Indeed the author, in a sort of appeal to the public, wrote thus :
"Since March 5, 1793, I have been apparently sunk in idleness. I
have regretted it myself a thousand times. Many of my friends have

ALLtr.oirCAI. DANCIt, SYMhoUSINT. TM* MtVOLUTION

After Louret

complained of it, some have accused me of a total loss of power ; I brought
my reason to bear on my despair, answered the complaints of my friends by
showing them the causes of my apparent idleness, and let the others say
and write what they liked. But at last, now that the time has arrived for
submitting one of my new productions to the public, I owe that public
the whole truth. I therefore take this opportunity to tell it. Is
this a ballet I am about to submit to you ? I answer, * No, it is a joke, a
regular farce, a mere trifle, claiming only to show you, under the mask of

1 88

A HISTORY OF DANCING

gaiety, the graces and the divine talents, which have so often commanded
the admiration of the public," &c.

" For all those familiar with the Revolution," says Professor Desrat, " it
is easy to read between the lines, and to see that Gardel wrote his ballet of
La "Dansomanie in a depressed state of mind, and intentionally avoided
recalling his earlier ballets."
And the professor adds :

" But this did not prevent the great success of La Dansomanie,
which kept its place in the repertory for a considerable time. The subject

was playful and calculated
to please the more fastidious
tastes of the period. In the
divertissement of the first
act peasants, villagers and
Savoyard farmers filled the
stage ; peasants, dressed like
Turks, were the heroes in
the second act, and then
came Basques and Chinese.
The great dancers Milon,
Beaupre, Vestris, and Mme.
Gardel all figured in this
ballet, and Mile. Chameron took a minor part. It was in this ballet that
the Waltz was danced at the Opera for the first time.

The theatrical ballet lost its old splendour under the Revolution ; it
was only associated with the fetes of the Republic in its itinerant form,
which had been obsolete for centuries. We must admit, however, that
these revivals were marked by a certain solemnity. Actors from the Opera
figured in the forefront of these ballets, dressed in classic costumes, and
supported by choirs from the Conservatoire (then designated the Institute
of Music), singing patriotic hymns and cantatas.

Gardel composed the ballet of Guillaume Tell, which was enthusias-
tically received by the Committee of Public Safety.

The fifty thousand francs necessary to mount it were voted, but twice
they disappeared from the cash-box and no one dared to trace them. A

THE CARMAGNOLE

From a Print of 1793

LA MARSEILLAISE AT THE OPERA

189

prudent silence reigned, and the author took back his ballet without
protest.

Gardel conceived the idea of giving a spectacular representation of the
Marseillaise at the Opera, in some points recalling the Pyrrhic of the
Greeks.*

THE DANCIN'C MANIA

After Dibucourt

The performance opened with a blast of trumpets, which was the signal
for the appearance of a crowd of warriors, women, and children. The
combatants prepared for battle with dances, and a sort of tableau vivant
was arranged after each couplet. The last strophe :

" Amour sacrc de la patric,
Conduii, soutiens nos bras vengcurs :
Liberie", libcrtc chcrie."
tec. tec. tec.

• Subsequently, towards the end of the Second Empire, and during the war of 1870-
1871, Mmc. Bourdat, enveloped in the folds of the tricolour flag, declaimed the
MtneilUiif with a vigour that invariably brought down the house.

190

A HISTORY OF DANCING

was sung in muffled tones like a prayer. The actors on the stage and the
spectators in the hall fell on their knees before Liberty, represented by

Mile. Maillard. A religious silence
followed. Suddenly the trumpets
summoned the valiant defenders
of Liberty, the tocsin sounded, the
drummers beat the generate, the
cannon thundered, the actors sprang
up, brandishing their arms, crowds
rushed on, armed with hatchets
and pikes, and all, seized with
heroic frenzy, shouted the refrain :

" Aux armes, citoyens . . ."

LA SAUTEUSE

(Le bon genre)

The Festival of the Supreme
Being, decreed by the National
Convention, designed by David,
and conducted by Robespierre,
was the most important of the
itinerant ballets of that time. It
was a ceremony of a classic nature,
and not without grandeur, in spite
of a certain declamatory character.

On the morning of the 20th
Prairial, year II., all the doors and

windows in Paris were garlanded with flowers and boughs of oak. The
joyous inhabitants, summoned by the drum, repaired to their Sections. The

LA SAUTEUSE

(Le bon genre)

THE FESTIVAL OF THE SUPREME BEING i9I

women and young girls, clad in white and crowned with vine-leaves, carried
roses in their hands. The Sections arrived in good order at the Jardin
National, where from a fountain rose a colossal statue, representing
Wisdom, who pointed heavenward with one hand and held a crown of

tlCHOU OIOYABKA IACCBLU

After Thoaau Gauuborougk, K.A.

stars in the other. There was dancing and singing under the ancient trees ;
a ray of joy shot across the gloom. The members of the Convention presently
took their places on a platform, and choirs of singers chanted a hymn to the
Supreme Being. The President delivered a speech, and, quitting the plat-
form, he set fire with a torch to an image of Atheism.

192

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The members of the Convention, each bearing in his hand a bunch of

corn, flowers, or fruit, then proceeded to the mustering-place between two

parallel lines of the people who accompanied them, the men on one side, and

the women on the other. They surrounded a car, drawn by oxen with

gilded horns, on which was set up the statue of Liberty, seated under the

shadow of a tree, and surrounded with

sheaves of corn and agricultural tools.

Upon the steps were displayed the symbols

of trades : the printing-press, the hammer,

the anvil, &c.,* and a trophy of musical

instruments showed that a charming art

had not been forgotten.

Symbolic groups marched by the side of

the Representatives : Infancy, decked with

violets ; Adolescence, crowned with myrtle ;

Manhood, his brows bound with oak-leaves ;

and Old Age, whose white hair was decked

with vine and olive leaves. During the

march, the statue of Liberty was covered

with offerings and with flowers.

At the gathering ground a mountain, bearing the tree of Liberty on

its summit, represented the national altar.

" Pure souls and virtuous hearts," exclaims the author of the official

report, " a charming spectacle awaits you here ; it is here that liberty

accords you its sweetest delights."

" An immense mountain," says Castil-Blaze, " symbolised the national

altar ; upon its summit rises the tree of liberty, the Representatives range

themselves under its protecting branches, fathers with their sons assemble

on the part of the mountain set aside for them ; mothers with their

daughters place themselves on the other side ; their fecundity and the

virtues of their husbands are the sole titles to a place there. A profound

silence reigns all round ; the touching strains of harmonious melody are

* " You who live in luxury and indolence," said the official report of this///*, " you
whose existence is nothing but a weary sleep, perhaps you will dare cast a glance of scorn
upon these useful instruments. Away, away from us ! Your corrupt souls cannot delight
in the simple joys of nature."

THE DANCE

THE FESTIVAL OF THE SUPREME BEING

•9*

heard : the fathers and their sons sing the first strophe ; they swear with
one accord that they will not lay down their arms until they have
annihilated the enemies of the Republic, and all the people take up the
finale. The daughters and mothers, their eyes fixed on the heavens, sing a
second strophe ; the daughters promise only to marry men who have served

VIEW or THE TL'ILEKIE* (.AKUKNS IN 1808

fnm Norblin'i Caltrii Jn I'mtt it Parit

their country, the mothers rejoice in their fecundity. * Our children,' they
say, * after having purged the world of the tyrants who have coalesced against
us, will return to fulfil a cherished duty in closing the eyes of those who
brought them into the world.' The people echo these sublime sentiments,
inspired by the sacred love of virtue."

"A third and last strophe is sung by all present. General
emotion prevails upon the mountain : men, women, girls, old men, children,

2 B

194

A HISTORY OF DANCING

fill the air with their voices. Here, the mothers press the babes they are
nursing to their bosoms ; there, seizing the younger of their male children,

those who are not strong enough to
follow their fathers, and raising them
in their arms, they reverently present
them to the Author of Nature ; the
young girls cast heavenward the
flowers they have brought, their only
possessions at this tender age. At
the same instant the sons, fired with
military ardour, draw their swords,
place them in the hands of their old

FRENCH BALL DRESS OF THE YEAR XI

fathers, and swear to make them

victorious, to make Equality and

Liberty triumph over the oppression

of tyrants. Sharing the enthusiasm

of their sons, the delighted old men

embrace them, and give them their

paternal benediction. A formidable

discharge of artillery, the voice of

national vengeance, inflames the

courage of our republicans, for it

announces that the day of glory has arrived. A manly, warlike song,

premonitory of victory, responds to the roaring of the cannon. All

FRENCH BALL DRESS OF THE YEAR XII

THE VICTIM BALLS

»9?

Frenchmen express their feelings in a fraternal embrace, with one voice
they raise to the Divinity the universal cry, Vive la Republique. The
20th Prairial, year II., ought to be
noted in indelible letters among the
splendours of our history ; the name
of the Supreme Being echoed on the
same day, at the same hour, through-
out the length of France. Twenty-
five millions of people assembled at
the same time under the vault of
heaven, addressing to the Eternal
hymns and songs of joy."

FRENCH BALL DRESS OP THE DIRECTORY PERIOD

It might fairly be supposed that
the events of the Revolution dealt
the death-blow to dancing, strictly
so called. But, if we may credit
the author of Paris pendant la
Revolution, scarcely was the Terror
at an end when twenty-three theatres
and eighteen hundred dancing
saloons were open every evening in
Paris.
"Read," says M. Henry Fourment, "Mercier's description of the
Victim Balls. The women modelled their attire on that of Aspasia, with

rtaaca uu noat or the directory period

196

A HISTORY OF DANCING

bare arms, bare bosoms, sandalled feet, and hair bound in plaits round
their heads, for fashionable hairdressers dressed their customers' hair with

casts of classic busts before them.

" The chemise had been banished
for some time, and replaced by a
knitted silk vest which clung to the
figure. It was the mode to be
dressed a la sauvage.

"Will posterity believe," says
Mercier, " that people, whose rela-
tions had died on the scaffold,
inaugurated, not days of solemn

PARISIAN BALL DRESS OF THE YEAR XIII

general grief when, assembled in
mourning garb, they might bear wit-
ness to their sorrow at the cruel losses
so recently incurred, but days of
dancing, drinking, and feasting. For
admission to one of these banquets
and dances, it is necessary to show
a certificate of the loss of a father,
a mother, a husband, a wife, a
brother, or a sister under the knife

of the guillotine. The death of collaterals does not confer the right of
attending such a fete.

FRENCH BALL DRESS OF THE DIRECTORY PERIOD

BALLETS BY MILON

197

" Moreover, dancing is universal ; they dance at the Carmelites, between
the massacres ; they dance at the Jesuits' Seminary ; at the Convent of the
Carmelites du Marais ; at the seminary of Saint-Sulpice ; at the Filles de
Sainte-Marie ; they dance in three ruined churches of my Section, and
upon the stones of all the tombs which have not been destroyed.

" They dance in every tavern on the Boulevards, in the Champs
Elysees, and along the quays. They dance at Ruggieri's, Lucquet's,

LA T**Msr

(L* boa genre)

Mauduit's, Wenzel's, and Montausier's. There are balls for all classes.
Dancing, perhaps, is a means towards forgetfulness."

Under the Consulate we only hear of one ballet, in one act, Lucas el
Laurette, given at the Opera on June 3, 1803, and danced by Goyon,
Vcstris, and Mme. Gardel. It was by the composer Milon, who became ballet-
master from 1813 to 18 1 5, and to whom we owe, in addition to Lucas el
Laurelle, Le Relour d'Ulysse, Les Sauvages de la Mer du Sud, Pygmalion,
Hero el Liandre, Les Noces de Gamacbe, Clary, Les Fiances de Caserle,

198

A HISTORY OF DANCING

IJEchange des Roses, La Promesse de Manage, Nina, L'Epreuve
Villageoise and Le Carnaval de Venise.

Dancing under the Empire was certainly not very brilliant, as one can
easily understand. Nevertheless, M. Nuittier, the learned librarian of the
Opera, gives us some curious information concerning the dancers of that
period.

" In these days," he says, " when the functions of men-dancers are for

THE EVE OF THE BATTLE
After Raffct

the most part limited to supporting or lifting up the lady, it may perhaps
seem surprising that male dancers formerly enjoyed a popularity as great, ir
not greater, than that of women. Nevertheless it was so, not only under
the old regitne, in the time of Vestris, but a period of military glory, when
manners were certainly not effeminate, in the early days of the Empire.
The dancer Duport was at the height of his success ; his salary equalled
that of the first singers ; to keep up his position, he paid 6000 francs for
rent ; his table cost him as much, and his carriage 2900. When he danced,
the usual guard was increased by five cavalry soldiers. His bust was cast in
bronze, and, not content with interpreting the works of others, he ventured

1- £

i >

- V

200

A HISTORY OF DANCING

to compose ballets himself. It would seem that this was not an official

venture, but that he wished to see whether his ballets would equal those of

his contemporaries. The result was not encouraging."

On the 20th Germinal, year XII., Napoleon took the trouble to write to

Cambaceres from Lyons that it was inconceivable to him why Duport had

been allowed to
compose ballets.

" This young
man has not been
in vogue a year.
When one has made
such a marked suc-
cess in a particular
line, it is a little
precipitate to in-
vade the speciality
of other men, who
have grown grey at
their work."

THE FASHIONABLE MANIA

After Carle Vernet

en we see

the sovereign in the

midst of the cares

of government so well acquainted with the success of a dancer, and

occupying himself seriously with a question of choregraphy, we can only

bow once more before the all-powerful master of the world.

Bonaparte, indeed, seems to have always taken an interest in the art
of dancing. In a letter to the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian
expedition, after enumerating all kinds of- things necessary for the
expeditionary force, such as cannon, guns, provisions, &c, he mentions :
" A troupe of ballet-girls."*

On the occasion of the marriage of the Emperor Napoleon with the
Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, a ball took place in Vienna in the
saloons of the Imperial Redoubt. The guests, numbering six thousand,

* Illustration, December 1894.

BALLETS UNDER THE FIRST EMPIRE

20 1

entered in dominoes or in some seemly disguise, with or without a mask ;
they were allowed to appear in dress-coats, or in a Hungarian costume
without spurs. A magnificent temple was constructed in one room, in the
centre of which stood a genius, laying his left hand on the Arms of
France and Austria, and crowning them with laurels. On the pediment,
two other genii held escutcheons surmounted by imperial crowns, with the

A BALL l-NDF.M TIIK HKIT KMPIHK

After an Engraving by Botio in the Bi >liothcquc Narooale

monograms of Napoleon and Marie- Louise. The Emperor, the Empress,
the Archduchess Marie-Louise, the Imperial Family and the French
Ambassador made their appearance at the beginning of the ball.

Among the ballets of the Empire we may mention Les Filets de
Vulcain, by Blachc, given at the Opera on June 27, 1806. This ballet,
which had been alreadv performed at Lyons, where Blache was a professor
of dancing, was a great success.

La Laitiire Polonaise, by the same author, excited the greatest
enthusiasm. A dance of skaters introduced into this ballet added greatly

2 c

202 A HISTORY OF DANCING

to its success. La Porte Saint-Martin adopted this new idea, which
probably gave rise to the skaters' dance in Le Prophete.

Isidore Auguste Blache, one of his sons, composed the ballets of
Polichinelle and of Joco for the celebrated dancer Mazurier. They were
given at La Porte Saint-Martin. The part of the monkey in the ballet of
Joco was eventually taken with so much suppleness and agility by the dancer

HALL AT THE COURT OF NAPOLEON I

After an Engraving by II. Zix in the Bibliotheque Nalionale

Paul, that he was nicknamed Paul the Aerial, so lightly did he spring from
tree to tree.

A second son of Blache's was also a ballet-master at the Porte Saint-
Martin for three years. He then went to St. Petersburg, where he gave
Don Juan, Gustave Vasa, Les Grecs, Malakavel, and Jtmidis des Gaules
with great success.

Le Retour d'Ulysse was played for the first time on February 27, 1807.
Mile. Chevigny was a great success in the part of the Nurse, but this
performance was marred by a sad accident : Mile. Aubry fell from a

BALLETS BY BLASIS

20 $

cloud, on which she was seated, and injured her arm. She never recovered,
and never appeared on the stage again.

The ballet of Antolne et Cleopatre, with music by Kreutzer, performed
March 8, 1808, was a brilliant success for Mile. Chevigny, who took the part
of Octavia.

Desdetot, of the
Academie Roy ale,
ballet-master to the
Court of Russia,
composed the ana-
creontic ballet of
Zepbyre et Flore,
which was per-
formed at St. Peters-
burg and Paris in
1815. The two
acts entailed a grand
exhibition of ballet-
girls. Beaupre took
the part of Pan,
and Albert that
of Zephyr. The
libretto was lively,
the mounting taste-
ful, and the success
of the ballet was
considerable.

Blasis, whose
ballets seem to
close the cycle of

grands ballets a" actions, was premier danseur to the King of England, and a
ballet-master as celebrated as Dauberval and Gardel.

His six principal ballets arc fine compositions, and he further wrote an
excellent book on dancing. His Achille a Scyros, though it bears the same
name as a ballet by Gardel, has an entirely different plot. Mokanna, ar

THf VK*>C

After En

204

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Oriental subject, is a ballet in four acts taken from Thomas Moore's
Veiled Prophet. The scene is laid in Persia, in the year 163 of the Hegira.
Vivaldi, a grand ballet in two acts, takes us to Venice towards the
middle of the sixteenth century. In Les Aventures Nocturnes, Blasis,
usually a choregrapher of a serious bent, obtained a great success in the

comic style. In Zara, the
romantic element predomi-
nates, and, according to com-
petent critics, it is a first-rate
work. Finally, Alcide, or
L'Essai de la Jeunesse, was
written in the allegorical
style.

In year VII. of the Re-
public, a certain Mademoiselle
Taglioni appeared at the
Opera with some success.
Her name often figures in
the playbills from 1804 to
1 806 ; she took part in La
Caravane, Le Connetable de
Clisson, and Les Noces de
Gamache. She was the aunt
of the celebrated Marie Tag-
lioni, who had such an extra-
ordinary success on the same
stage some twenty years later. Marie Taglioni was born at Stockholm of an
Italian father and a Swedish mother ; she made her debut at Vienna in
1822, in a ballet composed by M. Taglioni expressly for his daughter, and
called, Reception d'une jeune Nymphe a la Cour de Terpsichore.

In 1827 she made her debut in Paris in Le Sicilien, and appeared in
La Vestale, Mars et Venus, Fernand Cortes, Les Bayaderes, and Le Carnaval
de Venise.

Her talent, so instinct with simple grace and modesty, her lightness, the
suppleness of her attitudes, at once voluptuous and refined, made a

MARIE TAGLION!

From a Lithograph in the Bibliotheque Nationale

MARIE TAGLIONI

205

sensation at once. She revealed a new form of dancing, a virginal and
diaphanous art, instinct with an originality all her own, in which the old
traditions and time-honoured rules of choregraphy were merged. After an
appearance of a few days only on our
boards, this charming mirage vanished
to shine in great triumph at Munich
and Stuttgart.

But she came back, and an enthu-
siastic reception awaited her.

In Les Bayaderes and, above all, in
La Sylphide, her art attained the utmost
limits of spirituality.

And in the midst of these brilliant
successes, taking the hearts of the
people by storm, admitted to the inti-
mate friendship of the £)ueen of Wiir-
temburg, she remained sweet, simple,
and reserved.

In 1 832, she married Comte Gilbert
des Voisins ; but this union was or

brief duration, for almost on the morrow of the wedding she was forgotten
by her husband.*

In 1837, Marie Taglioni gave her farewell performance before her
departure for Russia.

MLtX TAGLIONI AND M. MAZIMKN

* "Arsenc Houssayc," says Henri Bauer in V lllustrathtt, "has described their last
interview at a dinner given twenty years afterwards in 1852, by the Due dc Morny, at
which Rachel and Taglioni were present.

" Comtc Gilbert des Voisins arrived when they were already at table. His first words
were : * Who is that the-professor on Morny's right ? ' [She was very cultivated, and spoke
all the languages of Europe.] His interlocutor, by no means afraid of hurting his feelings,
replied, * It is your wife.' Des Voisins considered, and at last remarked : ' After all, it is
quite possible.'

* Mile. Taglioni, pointing out her husband, asked Morny why he had invited her to
dine in such bad company.

"After dinner Gilbert des Voisins who feand nothing, not even his wife, had the
impertinence to ask to be introduced to Marie Taglioni. She entered into the joke,
saying: ' I fancy, monsieur, that I had the honour of being presented to you in 183a.' That
was the year of their marriage."

206 A HISTORY OF DANCING

We hear of her later on in London in great distress, giving lessons in
dancing and deportment.

" It was a sad sight," says M. Henri Bauer, " to see her, a white-haired
woman, escorting a bevy of English schoolgirls in Hyde Park in the
winter, at Brighton in the summer, or, accompanied by a little old Italian,
who played the kit for her, teaching dances and court curtseys to the
proud daughters of the gentry."

She died at Marseilles, very old and very poor.

"incroyahle" dance
After a Print in the Bibliothique Nationale

RBTL'HNIKC FROM 1HK VINTAGE

After a Picture by Deleft
By permifeica of Mean. Bouwxi VaWon and Co.

CHAPTER VII

Runic enA Pastoral 'Damn — Rounds — Hourrics —"Bretonnc 'Dances — Catalan Kails —
The Farandole — Open-air Dances in Foreign Countries

IK have seen how, in the age of dreams, the nymphs of the
fountains, treading the grass and flowers under their dew-be-
spangled feet, danced virginal rounds by moonlight. The
Ciraces, holding each other by the hand, swayed and circled in
chaste undulations, and it was thus that Terpsichore appeared to mortals,
leading her joyous band. We have seen the maidens of Greece, inspired by
radiant fictions, dancing rhythmically under forest boughs, in honour of
sylvan divinities, and of returning spring. . . .

What remains to us of this divine dream, of the charming rites of a
vanished worship, save the Round ?

>o8

A HISTORY OK DANCING

The Round was the first expression of dancing, and now, as in the
remotest ages, children take each other by the hand and dance in circles,
to express delight, and even to celebrate the joys of days that are no
more.

" Nous n'irons plus au bois,
Les lauriers sont coupes."

A whole world divides the expression of joy which makes them clasp

hands, intertwine, and mingle

their movements by a common

^jj/BM impulse, from the dances of

advanced civilisations.

The Round is the primi-
tive dance, the true rustic
dance. It existed even before
Syrinx, plaintive under the
burning lips of Pan, poured a
new intoxication into the souls
of dancers.*

There is .something so
natural, so instinctive, in its
movements, that we shall find
it in all primitive and rustic
societies.

Thus, in early days, young
girls danced Rounds in tie meadows of our ancient Celtic Limousin,
to celebrate "the coming of fair weather." Here, in this region, the
original rudeness of whose inhabitants had been tempered by the Gallo-
Romans, delight in the renewal of the earth entwined their fingers, and
gave a rhythm to their movements and attitudes. These Rounds
of theirs were the Maiades, or May Dances, of antique origin ; the

CHILDREN DANCING A ROUND

After Mouilltjon (1850)

* Pan was accounted the inventor of rustic dances by the ancients. Syrinx was a
nymph of Arcadia, daughter of the river-god Ladon. Pursued by Pan, she fled to the banks
of the river and disappeared. In her place the god found only a cluster of reeds, from
which he fashioned the Pan pipes, or seven-tubed flute, which took the name of the
nymph.

THE ROUND

209

leafy beeches under which they took place were called the trees of the
Maiades. At Merlines, there is a piece of table-land which still bears the
name of the Coudert des Maiades, and a short time ago the aged tree of
the Maiades still outspread its hoary branches in the forest of Chavanon.
The word came in time to be applied to all places where dancing could be
enjoyed ; such, for in-
stance, as the lonely
country inns, where
couples meet to dance on
fine Sundays.

The dancing -song
proper to these May
festivals was called the
Calenda Ma'ia, and the
Queen of Spring, in
whose honour the dance
was performed, figures in
early Limousine poetry
under the pretty title of
Regina avrilloza.

The ancient Round
still lingered in those
late centuries, and the
Mai'ade of Limousin and
Poitou was, in fact, the
dance of Ariadne, the
dance engraved upon the
shield of Achilles by

Vulcan. The maidens of Greece still dance it, one of their number
leading, and holding in her hand a kerchief or a silken cord to denote
the windings of the labyrinth.

This dance, transmitted to us by the Romans, was performed by a long,
undulating chain of persons, whose movements were regulated sometimes by
songs, and sometimes by instrumental music.

Like the dance described by Homer, it was led by a singing choregus.

2 D

THE FIRST DANCING UUON

After a Lithograph by Grcnicr

210

A HISTORY OF DANCING

"The dance," says M. Bedier, in his study on the May festivals,

" moved from right to left ; it

consisted of an alternation of
»

three steps to the left, and of a

f&*0~ ~^^3fc- l swaying of the body without

▼V -JbjLalh _, *m& gaining ground. The three steps

were made to one or two coup-
lets sung by the soloist ; the
refrain, which was taken up by
the whole circle, marked the
time devoted to the balancing
motion."

The MaYade of Limousin has
been transformed into a wedding-
dance, and a popular dance called
the Promenade. Children dance
the Wedding Round in the
evening, after the marriage feast.

" The Wedding Round," says
Jean Dutrech in Lemouzi, " is
danced by an indefinite number of persons, who join hands, either in
a chain or a circle."

The first verse of the song runs thus :

"On dit, monsieur, que vous etcs
Amoureux d'une bcaute ;
Auriez-vous bien la bonte
De nous la faire connaitre,
En donnant un doux baiser
A celle que vous aimez."

VILLAGE DANCERS

After H. Teurt

The second is addressed to the girl :

"Et vous, charmante brunette,
Qui captivez tous les coeurs,
Cessez, cessez vos rigueurs ;
Ne faites pas la severe,
Embrassez le serviteur,
Qui a su charmer votre coeur."

1. I - T I C DANCING

Aflei Witleau

212 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Sometimes these verses are sung :

" Lcs lauriers sont au bois,
Qui les ira cueillir ?
J'entends le tambour qui bat,
Et l'amour qui m'appelle ;
Embrassez qui vous plaira,
Pour soulager vos peines,
Vos peines, vos peines."

" The person to whom these various objurgations are addressed," says
Jean Dutrech, "goes and kisses one of the other dancers, and returning,
takes his or her place in the middle of the circle with the partner chosen.
The dancing and singing are then resumed.

"C'est la fille a Guillaume,
Et le fils a Gendremont,
Qui airnent le pain tendre (bis) ;
Entrez dans cc petit rond,
Tout rond.

" Mettez-vous a genoux,
Et jurez devant tous
D'etre fideles epoux,
Et puis embrassez vous
Sur l'air de tra la la la,
Sur l'air de tra de ridera,
Et Ion Ion la."

" When this Round is danced on the actual day of the wedding, the
game always begins with the newly wedded bride or bridegroom, and
continues till each dancer has had a turn."

In the Permenada, or Promenade, an indefinite number of dancers
join hands in a line, and sing, forming figures, and skipping, as they
advance towards a solitary dancer who confronts them, as in the childish
Round : C'est le chevalier du roi.

In all its variations, the Round is essentially a joyous dance. I have,
nevertheless, lighted upon one singular anecdote in its history.

A painter, very famous in his day, died at Harlan in 1574, at the age
of seventy-six. As he was very rich, and had no heir, he set aside a part
of his fortune in his will for the purpose of starting two young couples in

THE BRETON RONDO

215

"The honest folks of the Landes, who are passionate lovers of dancing,
left the table to mingle joyously in their favourite Rondo. Towards
evening it became a formidable crescendo, a mad, headlong race, reckless,
and even terrible at last. Excited, not by drink, but by their much-loved

UAXCE AT A\ INN

1 ngravini by Buan after A. ik St. Aubin

pastime, all the young couples, turning, twisting, jumping over obstacles,
climbing, leaping, escalading, running, only paused when the sounds of the
fife died away for lack of breath on the part of the exhausted musicians.
The great points to observe in the dancing of the Rondo are never to
unclasp hands, and to follow every movement of the leader blindly."

M. Georges Perrot, in his travels among the Southern Slavs, saw a
Romaika, which seems to be a variety of the Round.

" There are very few Eastern dances," he says, " in which the two sexes

2l6

A HISTORY OF DANCING

mingle, and even when this occurs, as in certain varieties of the Romaika,
it is only in a kind of Round, in which all the men first join hands and
dance, and then all the women. They never dance in couples. Even in
the Romaika, only the leader of the Round dances ; the others form up and
march while the choregus leaps and bounds. Except in this exercise, which
recalls the Homeric choruses, and in which a whole village takes part,
dancing is merely a spectacle, as in our ballets."

DANCE OF PEASANTS

M. Charles Yriarte gives an elaborate description of the national dance
of Dalmatia, the Kollo, a rustic dance, with certain characteristic features
which distinguish it from the ordinary Round.

" The word Kollo means a circle. It is a Round, formed by alternate
male and female couples, its peculiarity being that the man does not take
the hand of the woman next to him, but passes his arm under hers to clasp
the hand of her neighbour. The whole ring, thus intermingled, stamps on
the ground, singing a monotonous air, somewhat mournful, but not
unpleasing. One Sunday, at Gradisca, the banks of the Save for a distance
of about a league were covered with groups of women strangely adorned
with glass beads, huge crowns, artificial flowers, false pearls, and jewels of
curious design, the brilliant hues of which stood out against their richly
embroidered bodices. It was in honour of some local fete ; the women

rlTK CMAMrtTHK

AfWr a Pklurt by Dcboconn

2l8

A HISTORY OF DANCING

danced together in groups, slowly, without change of place, giving a sort of
challenging expression to the undulations of their bodies."

According to M. Dora d'Istria, this Round is of a variable character,
agreeing with the age and temperament of the dancer. " Sometimes," he
says, " a young virgin performs it, exciting the spectator's admiration by

her modesty ; some-
times the wife of a
Bosnian troubles all
hearts by the signifi-
cance of her move-
ments."

M. Dora illustrates"
the intense fascination
of the Kollo by the
following legend :

The Haidouk Ra-
doi'tza, who had been
cast into a dungeon
of Lara, feigned death
so aptly, that Bekis
gave orders for his
funeral. But the
Aga's wife, doubting the reality of this sudden decease, advised that fire
should be kindled on the Haidouk's breast, to see if the " brigand " would
not move. Rado'itza's heroic soul was equal to this ordeal, and he never
stirred. The Turkish woman demanded a further test ; a serpent, warmed
in the sun, was laid in his bosom. The motionless Haidouk showed no
sign of fear. The Aga's wife then proposed that twenty nails should be
driven in under his finger and toe nails. Firm of purpose, he did not even
breathe a sigh. His tormentor then ordered a Kollo to be danced round
the prisoner, hoping that Ha'ikouna would force a smile from the Haidouk.
Haikouna, fairest and tallest of the daughters of Lara, led the Round. Her
silken trousers rustled, the necklace round hei throat tinkled with every
step. Radoitza, unmoved by tortures, could not resist her spells ; he
looked at her and smiled. But the young Servian, at once proud of her

SERGEANT BELLEPOINTE DANCES WITH CAT1N

After Charlet

THE ROUMANIAN HORA

219

triumph and touched by it, dropped her silken kerchief on Radoitza's
face, that her companions might not see him smile. This ordeal ended,
Radoitza was thrown into the sea, but he, a practised swimmer, reached the
<=hore, returned by night to the house of Bekis Aga, struck off his head,
killed the " Turkish vixen " by driving the nails he had pulled from his

■I

as mraoitrTU dance
After a Picture by Dcyrolk

own hands and feet into hers, carried off Ha'ikouna, " heart of his breast,"
took her away to Servia and married her in a white church.

In Roumania, an ancient Round known as the Hora is danced in
languishing cadence to the lingering notes of bagpipes. The youths
who dance it hold hands, advancing to the left in four or five steps, then
stamping on the ground, pausing, and repeating the measure.

" (iradualiy," says M. Lancelot, " the mandolin strikes in to enliven the
solemn strain, and seems desirous to hurry it, emitting two or three
sonorous notes, but nothing moves the player of the bagpipes ; he perseveres

220 A HISTORY OF DANCING

in his indolent rhythm. At last, a challenging phrase is thrice repeated; the
dancers accompany it by stamping thrice on the ground, and looking back
at the girls grouped behind them. The latter hesitate ; they look at each
other, as if consulting together ; then they too join hands, and form a
second circle round the first. Another call, more imperious still, is
sounded ; they break from each other, and mingle in the round of young
men.

"At this moment, the old gipsy opens his keen little eyes, showing his
sharp white teeth in a sudden smile, and shaking out a shower of joyous,
hurried notes over the band, he expresses, by means of an agitated
harmony, the tender thrill that must be passing through all the clasped
hands.

"The Hora proper now begins. It lasts a long time, but retains
throughout the character of languor that characterised its commencement.
Its monotony is varied, however, by a pretty bit of pantomime. After
dancing round with arms extended, the men and their partners turn and
face each other in the middle of the circle they have been describing.
This circle they reduce by making a few steps forward ; then, when their
shoulders are almost touching, they bend their heads under their uplifted
arms, and look into each other's eyes. This figure loses something of its
effect from the frequency with which it is repeated ; and the cold placidity
with which the dancers alternately gaze at their right-hand and left-hand
neighbours is disappointing, and robs the pantomime of all its classic
aroma.

" Attempts have been made to identify the Hora with the Roman dance
depicted on so many bas-reliefs, and they may possibly have a common
origin ; but the slow, dragging measure of the Roumanians, that excludes
all expression of emotion, even to a smile, is far removed, indeed, from
the passionate animation with which we may credit the daughters of ancient
Rome, to judge by the frank gaiety and unrestrained mirth that distinguish
the noisy rounds of their Trasteverine descendants."

... I was wandering one evening on the lande. The sun was setting,
and his dying rays still lingered on the distant mountains of Auvergne,
the rosy peaks of the Puy Mary and the Puy Violent. The sunlight
had faded from the plain, but twilight had not yet fallen ; the luminous

THE BOURRKE OF AUVERGNE

221

reflections from the sky touched the gorse and heather with pearly glints.
Here and there, in the distance through the oak-trees, the slumbering
pools shone with a motionless lustre. I strolled slowly back to the village.
Suddenly, the
sound of bag-
pipes, playing a
Bourree, rose
upon the soli-
t u d e . The
notes, nasal and
somewhat vul-
gar when I
listened to them
in the village
inn, took on a
strangely poig-
nant music here,
in the evening
peace of the

monotonous fields, encircled by the distant peaks of the Cantal. It was
neither joyful nor melancholy, but full of infinite sweetness. And the
music crept into the lande, into the horizon, and seemed to tremble in the
mists that rose from the valleys.

Shepherds were dancing a Bourree to the pipes, before folding their
flocks:

" Jeou i 'ay lant ccrcada,
Boimton per bouisson,
A la fin t'ay (rouvadc,
Amc 'un gcntil garynin."

I-"IHKIK OF Al'VKKGKAT I'KASANTs

From a Lithograph in the Biblioth^tjue Nilionak

I felt more strongi\ than ever that music and dancing, like everything
else, must be judged of in their native setting to Ik- appreciated.

The Bourree of Auvergne is looked upon as a heavy dance, somewhat
coarse in character. The stamping of sabots or hob nailed shoes is a
characteristic accompaniment, marking every third beat of the measure.

222

A HISTORY OF DANCING

But when you light upon the dancers on a lovely summer evening in the
fields, how charming is the vision you bear away with you !

The Bourree is a native of Auvergne. It is said to be derived from a
very ancient Branle. It is the popular dance throughout Cantal, Puy-de-

DAN'CERS IN THE BOIS DE VINXENNES

After an Engraving of the Time of the Consulate

Dome, Correze, Haute-Vienne, Creuse, a part of Dordogne, Lot, Aveyron,
Cher, Indre, Vienne, Charente, and Haute-Loire.

According to an old proverb, the Auvergnats are the folks to dance !

Yes, say the Limousins :

but

" Per ben la dansar.
Viva lous ouvergnatz,"

" Per ben la chantar,
Vivas les limouzinas. .

And, indeed, the women of the Limousin have a collection of Bourrees
no less varied than original. You will hear their songs on moors flushed

AU. t > IV

II IHAMrftTKK
■ Collection, by Thomti Stothanl, K A

224

A HISTORY OF DANCING

with the purple of heather, in savage gorges where mountain torrents
churn among the rocks, under the mysterious shade of forest oaks, and,
like me, you will listen entranced.

The Bourree was introduced at the Court of the Valois by Marguerite
daughter of Catherine de' Medici. The success it obtained continued till

the close of Louis XIII. 's reign. It is a mi-
metic dance. The woman hovers round the
man as if to approach him ; he, retreating and
returning to flee again, snaps his fingers,
stamps his foot, and utters a sonorous cry, to
express his strength and joy. Bach, Handel,
Rameau, and other masters composed Bourrees,
the rhythm of which differed slightly from that
of the traditional Bourrees. Some of our
modern musicians have also treated the theme,
among others M. Saint-Saens, in his Rhapsodie
d ' Auvergne, M. Raoul Pugno, in the entr'acte of
Petite Poucette, and M. Sylvio Lazzari, in his
charming orchestral suite.

The Catalan dances have no sort of affinity
with the Bourrees of Auvergne or Limousin.
They are, indeed, distinguished from all other
dances by special features. The Catalan Bails have a touch of the
sentiment that informed the antique Hormos, in which virginal grace
joined hands with masculine vigour. In my childhood I often witnessed
the Bails of Roussillon, and I still retain charming recollections of these
dances.

At the first notes of a short flageolet, and a little drum, slung on the
performer's arm, which constitute the orchestra, the dancers come forward.
They wear a red cap hanging at the back of their heads, a short jacket
with metal buttons, a broad sash, the faxa, rolled round the waist, tight
breeches, and the thin shoes known as the aspardenya : the male dancer
begins by a prodigious leap, passing his right foot over his partner's head.
This feat, which demands great agility, is called the Camada redona. The
female dancer at once retreats, but presently runs back to her cavalier, who

NEAPOLITAN DANCERS
After Victor Maurin

CATALAN BAILS

retires in his turn. Then the couples change partners many times, first the
cavalier and then the lady. Finally, all the couples join in a Round, and
the women, placing their hands on the shoulders of their neighbours, spring
into the air above their heads. The latter support them, holding them up
under the arms, and they, bending their heads, kiss their respective cavaliers.
The brilliant costumes, the faces, flushed with
pleasure, make up a radiant picture in the
sunshine.

Sometimes the woman rushes up to her
partner, places her left hand in his right, and
with a sudden spring, stiffening her left arm
the while, she rests her right haid on his
shoulder. He at once lifts her up, and holds
her above his head, seated on his hand. Some-
times, instead of seating her on his hand, he
catches her up, and holds her hanging across it.

The Neapolitan dance of Victor Maurin's
sketches seems to be identical with this Bail.

The Catalan dance struck Father Vaniere, a
Jesuit of Beziers, as so poetic, that he gave it a
place in his 'Protdium rustic um. He describes it
as a harvest pastime.

" The beauty of these dances," says M.
1 fearjr, who has made a study of the Catalan Bails, " consists in the
smoothness with which the female dancer retreats. There must be no
suspicion of jerkiness or jumping in her movements. She must slide on
tip-toe, without making any regular steps, her hands in her apron, her head
a little on one side, that she may see the retrograde course she has to
follow in the Round. She circles languidly, though rapidly, round the
central space of the enclosure, with a movement full of grace."

Santa Kulalia, in the Island of Ivic,a, I was present at a dance in
which the posturings of the female dancers, though quieter and more subdued,
rccallcj those of the Catalan women. The young giils revolved in a sort of
slow waltz. The young men whirled round energetically to the sound of
drum and flute, but the brilliantly dressed maidens, their eyes modestly

NKAPOUTAN DANCKKS

After Victor M uirin

2 V

226

A HISTORY OF DANCING

downcast, moved with a sort of undulation, their elbows against their hips,
their hands slightly raised, like idols.

The male dancer, a coloured scarf rolled round his neck, a handkerchief
or a pair of enormous castanets (cas/agnolas) in his hand, sometimes in gala
dress, sometimes in a simple short jacket, throws himself about, stamps,
leaps into the air, and at intervals kicks out furiously on either side.

PEASANT DANCE AT ANDORRE

After G. Vuillier

The intention of this mimetic dance is clear enough. The young girl
sways and trembles, chaste and gentle. Her partner follows her, protects
her, drives off other wooers, and bounds into the air at last, in joyous token
of victory.

The Farandole, the old popular dance of Southern France, still survives
in Provence and in Roussillon, where I well remember seeing it danced at
village festivals in honour of the patron saint. The dancers stand in a long
line, holding each other by the hand. Sometimes handkerchiefs, the ends
of which are held by the dancers, add to the length of the human chain.

- Ha

-^ -

THE RICE DANCE

229

dancers clap hands in time to the music, and then return to their places.
This performance is repeated until the air comes to an end, or fatigue forces
the dancers to desist."

In certain foreign countries, the ancient rustic festivals of special
significance have been preserved. An example of this may be found in

DAKCK OT GERMAN MCAftANTS

Japan, where the Rice Festival is still celebrated. This dance consists of
some thirty figures, danced by men alone, in a costume composed of a
girdle of rice straw, a round hat of the same material, pressed down over
their eyes, and a little cloak, the wide sleeves of which, floating out behind
them, simulate the wings of a huge moth.

Masquerades, accompanied by national dances, have always held a
prominent place among popular amusements. "We may turn again to Japan

230

A HISTORY OF DANCING

for an example. The dance of the Lion of Korea is of this class. It is
danced in the streets, and the approach of the performers is announced by
the discordant sounds of fifes, timbrels and drums. M. Aime Hubert
describes it thus :

" A troupe of four comedians enters from a side street. Three form
the orchestra, the third gives the performance. He is rolled in a very full

n,&

t:\

M&'Jr

HARVKSTBRS

After a Picture by Leopold Robert

cloak, striped or speckled, surmounted by an enormous lion's head of
fantastic design. This monster lengthens himself at his pleasure, and every
now and then suddenly towers a metre or two above the heads of his
companions. The children who follow utter shrieks, in which fear and
defiance mingle. One or two, more daring than the rest, venture to lift
the folds of the long cloak, and pinch the legs of the mysterious mounte-
bank. He, for his part, threatens them, turning his head towards them,
opening his jaws, and shaking the thick white paper mane that encircles his
scarlet face ; or begins to jump about to the music of his acolytes. He,
too, is armed with a drum ; but when he leaves off" dancing he lays it aside,

.s
E i

- «

£ «

2}2

A HISTORY OF DANCING

and falling to the ground, he transforms himself into a quadruped, executes
a few grotesque gambols, and finally pulls off" his disguise. The monster
has vanished, but the juggler remains."

The same writer describes the rustic festivities held in the suburbs of the
capital by the citizens. Strolling dancing-girls are invited to these fetes,

A FAMILY GATHERING IN DENMARK

After a Picture by Monies

whose specialities are pantomime, posturing, and character-figures. The
most graceful of their performances is the Fan Dance, a sort of panto-
mime.

" There are further," says M. Humbert, " certain national dances,
which are cultivated in town society, and which naturally find a place
among the diversions of these open-air entertainments. The ladies
generally dance alone. They form a quadrille, each dancer retaining her
original place, and confining her movements to swaying her hips, turning
or drooping her head, and stretching out her arms and hands, not without
grace and elegance, but with much monotony of action.

THE BIRD DANCE

233

" The men never dance, except for the purpose of showing off some
choregraphic feat among intimate friends, generally when inspired by the
fumes of saki ; or when they take part in the Rounds, which are a
favourite termination to family banquets."

The Rice Dance is also a rational pastime in Madagascar. Here it is a
genuine pantomimic
performance, exe-
cuted by one man.
The dancer first
imitates the clear-
ing of the soil, the
wielding of the axe,
the felling of trees ;
then the burning
of the destroyed
forest; he runs
about from side
to side, blowing
as if to fan the
fire, and, always
observant of time
and cadence, he mi-
mics the crackling
of the flame, the
snapping of the
branches. Then he
goes on to the
sowing of the seed,
and, after it is buried in the earth, to the invocation of the gods.

M. Desired Charnay, to whom we owe the above details, gives a vivid
description of the Bird Dance of the Malagasies :

" Leaning forward with outstretched arms, like a sibyl of antiquity,
the dancer beats slowly on the ground with her naked feet. She throws out
her arms, draws them back, lets them sink to the ground, then stretches
them as far as possible above her head ; all in vain ; she is chained to earth,

A UA.VCE Or KAMU-iiAiOlks

After Gtrdae
>!>• (wmuHloa of Horn. Bound VaJadon and Co.

234

A HISTORY OF DANCING

and cannot fly. The music swells in a rapid crescendo, the voices become
louder, the clapping of the hands more vigorous, the dancer's movements
more hurried, the upper part of her body is almost motionless, while her
arms beat the air like wings that struggle helplessly to lift her into space.
She becomes impatient at last, a sort of rage possesses her. She runs

A GIPSY DANCE

After Carl BOker

panting round the circle that encloses her, the ground re-echoes dully to the
beating of her feet ; she twists her arms, her hands, her fingers convulsively,
At last she pauses in despair, and we all applaud her."

The natives of the New Hebrides celebrate the banana harvest with
festive dances. " Persons of every age take part in these," says Dr. Hagen,
" from the infant whom the mother carries on her hip, to the toothless old
grandmother. The female dancers are tricked out in frippery of every hue.
They form a circle, from which each one comes forward in turn ; she
chants a couplet, to which her companions reply, advancing towards her,
and then retreating."

A DANCE AT SEGOVIA

After a Picture by Garcia Mencia

CHAPTER VIII

S paiish Dances — Danzat and 'Baylti — The Fandango — The Bolero — The Seguidillas
Manchegai — The J it a Aragonesa — The Jaleo de Jerez. — The Cackuca.

>w.-

'ANISH dancing is of great antiquity. It doubtless under-
went various Moorish modifications, and certain of its steps
are obviously of Arab origin. But everything goes to show
that in all its essentials it is heir to the traditions of the
Gaditanas — whom we have already mentioned — those famous dancing-girls
of Cadiz, who created such a furore in ancient Rome.

Obscurity envelops the history of the national dances of Spain during
the Middle Ages. In a study dealing with public amusements, the learned
Jovellanos suggests that the art of dancing took refuge in the Asturias
during the Arab invasion. We know that minstrels and troubadours
(juglares and trovadores) did not cease to compose baladas and danzas, and

238 A HISTORY OF DANCING

that the dance known as that of King Alonzo the Good belongs to the
twelfth century.

Among the earliest dances of the Peninsula were the Turdion, the
Gibadina, the Pie-de-gibao, the Madama Orleans, the Alemana, and the
Pavana.

Under Philip IV., theatrical dancing rose to an eminence hitherto
unattained in Spain. In the Court Theatre at Buen Retiro, certain Danzas
Habladas (spoken dances) were performed, in which allegorical and mytho-
logical subjects were developed with immense success — not, however, in a
manner wholly new, as something of the sort was already known in the
days of Cervantes.

Here, as at Versailles under Louis XIV., ballets were organised with
extraordinary magnificence of decoration and costume, members even of the
royal family taking part in the performances. Celebrated poets, such as
Quevedo and Luis de Benevente, composed several of these ballets, follow-
ing thus in the illustrious footsteps of their predecessors, Lope de Vega,
Mendoza, and Calderon, among whose works pieces of the same class are to
be found. Little by little these ballets d'action supplanted the national
dances on the stage, so that the Zarabanda and the Chacona were almost
extinct early in the eighteenth century. But then a new impetus was given
to choregraphy, and the Fandango, the Bolero, and the Seguidillas
appeared.

" What people so barbarous," cries the poet Tomas de Yriarte, " as
not to be stirred by the tunes of its national dances ! " All Spain, indeed,
thrills to the notes of the Fandango — pre-eminently the national air, and one
that accompanies a step so ardent and so graceful as to be " worthy of
performance at Paphos, or in the temple of Venus at Cnidus."

" Like an electric shock, the notes of the Fandango animate all hearts,"
says another writer. " Men and women, young and old, acknowledge the
power of this air over the ears and soul of every Spaniard. The young
men spring to their places, rattling castanets, or imitating their sound by
snapping their fingers. The girls are remarkable for the willowy languor
and lightness of their movements, the voluptuousness of their attitudes —
beating the exactest time with tapping heels. Partners tease and entreat and
pursue each other by turns. Suddenly the music stops, and each dancer

, //„ !i.\„//' i ,,,/,/.

THE BOLERO

241

of excommunication. A consistory having been convoked to try the
matter, sentence was about to be pronounced, when a cardinal interfered to
say that it was unjust to condemn even the guilty without a hearing : he
moved that the Fandango should appear before its judges. This being
agreed to as equitable, two Spanish
dancers, one of each sex, were
summoned. They danced before the
august assembly. Their grace and
vivacity soon drove the frowns from
the brows of the Fathers, whose
souls were stirred by lively emotion,
and a strange pleasure. One by one
their Eminences began to beat time
with hands and feet, till suddenly
their hall became a ball-room ; they
sprang up, dancing the steps, imi-
tating the gestures of the dancers.
After this trial, the Fandango was
fully pardoned and restored to
honour."

If the Fandango as danced by the
populace is too racy of animal life
and passion, it grows milder when
introduced into society. Moderated
by the laws of the theatre, it gains in
grace, though it loses in vigour.

The light and lively Bolero, or Volero, is not an ancient dance. It
dates from the end of last century, and its invention is ascribed to Sebastian
Ccrezo, a celebrated dancer of the time of Charles III. Experts, neverthe-
less, trace in it remnants of older dances- of the Chacona, for example, and

the Zarabanda. It is a more dignified and modest dance than the Fan-
dango ; but it has, like the latter, certain affinities with the Seguidilla.

The Bolero, which is a dance for two persons, consists, says Blasis, of
five parts :

1 he paseo, or promenade, which is introductory ; the differentia, in

2 H

A KIM K UANCR

After EilcUn

242 A HISTORY OF DANCING

which the step is changed ; the trayersia, or cross-over, in which places are
changed ; then the so-called finale ; followed, in conclusion, by the bien
parado, distinguished by graceful attitudes, and a combined pose of both the
dancers. The Bolero is generally in duple time, though some Boleros
are written in triple time. Its music is varied, and abounds in cadences.
The tune or air may change, but the peculiar rhythm must be preserved,

THE YOUTHFUL DANCKK

After a Picture by Cabral y IJejarano

as well as the time and the preludes, otherwise known as feintes pauses
(feigned pauses). The Bolero step is low and gliding, battu or coupe, but
always well marked."

On the stage, the Bolero is performed by several parejas, or couples.
One of its most graceful posturas, or attitudes, is that called the dar la
vuelta, in which the dancers find themselves face to face after a half turn.
The woman's part in this dance is infinitely more expressive and im-
passioned than that of the man. " Ole ! ote ! the Bolero intoxicates ! " as
says a Spanish writer.

By Seguidillas are to be understood not only the national dances,

SEGUIDILLAS ->43

but also certain popular stanzas by which they are accompanied. The
step of the Seguidilla of the present day had its origin in La Mancha
(hence the term Seguidillas manchegas), and it dates from the early part of
the eighteenth century ; but Seguidillas of some sort — very different,
perhaps, from those we know -are extremely ancient. They are mentioned by
Cervantes in Don Quixote, and also in the Vida y Hechos del Picaro Guzman

A MUX DANCIK

After a Picture by Worms
Bjr perniuion of Mean. Bouieod Valador and Co.

de Alfarache, by Mateo Alcman, who lived in the latter part of the six-
teenth century.

"Our buildings and weapons of war," says Alcman, "are renewed from
day to day. . . . Chairs, cupboards, tables, lamps, candlesticks are also
changed. It is the same with our games and dances, our music and songs.
I he Zarabanda has gone ; Seguidillas arc in fashion ; which, in their turn,
will disappear to make room for newer dances."

Mariano Soriano Fuentes, one of the most popular composers in the

244 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Peninsula, and the author of an excellent history of Spanish music, is of
opinion that the Seguidillas may be regarded as the oldest dances of Spain,
excepting only those dances called Bailes en Coro (Rounds), and the
Danza Prima, still in vogue in the Asturias. Senor Fuentes eulogises the
Seguidilla as an ideal popular pastime, full of variety in its figures, graceful,
spirited, gay — yet not immodest, and comparing favourably in this respect
nth the Andalusian dances.

But even in Andalusia, the penny fans {abanicos de calania) sold in the
precincts of the bull-ring on feslas, the tambourines, and the quaint yellow
carriages in the streets, are all decorated with pictures of Seguidillas —
very primitive pictures in glaring colours :

" No ka de f altar zandunguera,
Puesta en jarras una dama
De las que la liga ensenanj'

" In which there is always a fine lady, with her arms a-kimbo, and not
ashamed of her garters."

The Andalusian Seguidillas have a rapid rhythm, and are accompanied
by verses {coplas de baile) which are usually gay and lively.

In La Mancha — whose inhabitants, lovers of music and dancing, are the
merriest folk in Spain — Seguidillas are improvised by popular poets to suit
every occasion. Whistled by muleteers, sung in taverns, echoing through
the torrid air of the plains, the coplas de Seguidillas are innumerable :

" Dans la Mane he les jeunes files
Triomphent dans les seguidilles."

The coplas of La Mancha are famous. Many of them are ephemeral ;
others endure to enrich that patrimony of ancient song transmitted from
generation to generation, printed at Barcelona, or in the neighbourhood of
Seville or Madrid, and sold at bookstalls, or hawked by blind men through
the country-side.

Need it be said that the theme of these coplas is love — the longing and
the joy of the lover, or his jealousy, his anguish, his rage ? The structure
of these verses is simplicity itself — a more or less regular couplet or two,
(the copla proper) and an estribillo, or refrain.

seguidillas

245

Baron Davillier, in his Espagne, gives specimens of some popular
Seguidillas :

" Mi carazcn valanda
Sf/ui- J tu ftttt i
Lt cortastt las alas.

A Ml
After a Picture by D. PucbU

Y qutdt dentra.
Par atrrrida
Se quedari par sitmpre
En el metida."

" My heart flew to thy breast. Thou didst cut its wings, so that it
remained there. And now it has waxed daring, and will stay with thee
for evermore."

" San Iks ejas, hrmasa.
Flirts arptnes,
Que can mirar iraspasan
Las earazanes.

246

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Miraste el mio,
T desde aquel instant e
Por ti deliro."

" Thine eyes, O my beauty, are cruel spears, that pierce hearts with a
glance. Mine thou hast looked upon — and ever since, I have been mad."

Now it is a young girl who
sings :

" Aunque me ves que canto,
Tengo yo el alma
Corno la tortolilla
Que llora y canta,
Cuando el consorte,
Herido de los celos,
Se escapa a I monte."

" Lo, I sing ! but I sing
and weep like the turtle-dove,
whose mate, stricken of jealousy,
flies away towards the moun-
tain.

" These songs," continues

Davillier, " probably go back to

the seventeenth century, to the

days of Gongora. To us they

may appear very lackadaisical

and insipid ; yet, as compared with our own popular poetry — with our

street catches and our bon-bon mottoes — these Seguidillas are superior

both in taste and style."

During my own travels in the Balearic Islands, I halted in the little
town of Pollenza, near Cape Formentor. Here I noted down certain
malaguenas which seem to me to have something in common with the cop/as
de Seguidillas. Love is still the theme of these verses, which are tender and
sometimes quaint :

" Una estrella se la paraida
En el ciel y no parece ;
En tu car a se ha metido ;
T en tu /rente resplandece."

A SPANISH DANCER

After a Lithograph by Grenicr

SEGUIDILLAS

247

" A star is lost and appears not in the sky ; in thy face it has set
itself; on thy brow it shines."

" A un sabio U fregunti
De qui mat me moriria
I~ me a'iio ' Del qurrer ! '
Serrana, que le tenia ! "

tmk HArrv rAMit.v
Alter a Picture by Manuc Yus

" 4 What shall I die of?' I asked the wise man. He said, 'Of love ! '
And I loved thee already, girl of the mountains ! ' "

I heard these coplas de malaguefias everywhere. The wind bore them up
the mountain, the waves of the sea rocked them, they hung about the dusty
path of the muleteers, they echoed from the mysterious depths of twilit
patios to the tinkling accompaniment of guitars.

Nearly every Spanish province has its special Seguidillas, similar in
character to th««c of La Mancha, but modified by the temperament of its

248

A HISTORY OF DANCING

inhabitants. In Andalusia these dances are called Siquiriyas. Elsewhere
such qualifying terms as Gitanas, Mollaras, Sevillanas, Aragonesas, Valen-
cianas, are used. Seguidillas Gallegas are peculiar to Galicia, Pasiegas
to Santander, Quipuzcoanas to the Basque Provinces. Few Spaniards are
unacquainted with the Seguidilla step.

ON STRIKE, MALAGA

After a Picture by Ferrandiz

Baron Davillier describes one of these dances which he witnessed at
Albacete :

"One day at the fair of Albacete, one of the principal towns of
La Mancha, we saw Seguidillas Manchegas characteristically danced. The
dancers of the district met in a low-roofed room of the parador de la
diligencia (coaching-inn), the best hostelry of the place. The guitarist
wore,- instead of the usual gaudy short jacket (marselles), a thick lambskin
zamarra ; and had substituted for the classic sombrero of the Andalusians
a cap (montera) of wild-cat skin. He began in a minor key with some

SEGUIDILLAS

249

rapid arpeggios ; and each dancer chose his partner, the various couples
facing each other some three or four paces apart. Presently, two or three
emphatic chords indicated to the singers that their turn had come, and they
sang the first verse of the cop/a ; meanwhile the dancers, toes pointed and
arms rounded, waited for their signal. The singers paused, and the
guitarist began the air of an old Seguidilla. At the fourth bar the castanets

A. DAHCI or ARACfiNrtK rIASANTS

After a Picture bjt Ru-x <i« \ '..l.iierj

stiuck in, the singers continued their copia, anil all the dancers began
enthusiastically, turning, returning, following and fleeing from each other.
At the ninth bar, which indicates the finish of the first part, there was a
slight pause ; the dancers stood motionless and the guitar twanged on.
Then, with a change of step, the second part began, each dancer taking his
original place again. It was then we were able to judge of the most
interesting and graceful part of the dance — the bitn parado-- literally : well
stopped ! Hacer el bitn parado is a Castilian idiom indicating- the
renunciation of a useless thing for a better. The bien parado in the
Scguidillas is the abrupt breaking off" of one figure to make way for a new

2 1

2^o A HISTORY OF DANCING

one. It is a very important point that the dancers should stand motionless,
and, as it were, petrified, in the position in which they are surprised by the
certain final notes of the air. Those who managed to do this gracefully
were applauded with repeated cries of ' "Bien parado ! bien parado ! '

" Such are the classic lines upon which the dance is regulated, but how
shall we describe its effect upon the dancers ? The ardent melody, at once
voluptuous and melancholy, the rapid clank of castanets, the melting
enthusiasm of the dancers, the suppliant looks and gestures of their
partners, the languorous grace and elegance of the impassioned move-
ments— all give to the picture an irresistible attraction, only to be appre-
ciated to the full by Spaniards. They alone have the qualities necessary
for the performance of their national dance ; they alone have the special
fire that inspires its movements with passion and with life."

"The Seguidillas," says a Spanish author, " may be regarded as typical
of nearly all our national dances. Unless prejudiced in favour of foreign
fashions, every native praises the Seguidillas. A description of them gives
an approximate idea of the Bolero, of the Fandango, and of several other
popular steps ; but no mere description can adequately render the graceful
attitudes, the charming melodies, the movement and the expression, which
are the essence of this enchanting dance."

" La Jota en cl Aragon
Con garbesa discrecion. . . .'

This popular couplet indicates at once the modesty and the vivacity
of the Jota Aragonesa — the national dance of Aragon-1— originating, as many
think, in the Passacaille, so popular with the Latin races in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. Be this as it may, the Jota is a thoroughly
Spanish dance, distinguished by its reticence from the dances of Andalusia.
Not only does it enliven popular merry-makings, it also gives splendour to
certain religious festivals. A Jota, called the Natividad del Sei'wr (Nativity
of Our Lord) is danced in Aragon on Christmas Eve, accompanied by
songs. And, when the fete of Our Lady del Pilar is celebrated at
Saragossa, enthusiastic Jotas are sung and danced at all the cross-roads,
invoking the favour of the Virgin.

Like the Seguidillas of Andalusia, the Jota Aragonesa has its ancient

THE JOTA

2?'

coplasy which have been handed down from generation to generation. The
Aragonese are proud of their national Jota — infinitely finer to them than any
other dance of Spain :

" Diccn que las Andaluzas
Las mas talcntosas
son,
Mas en gracia las csccden
Las muchachas del
Aragon !

Los que cnsalzan la
cachucha
Dc Cadiz y dc Jerez,
Cicrto cs que bailar no
vicron,
La Jota una sola vcz."

'• The Andalusian
women are the more
accomplished, it is
said, but the girls of
Aragon are the more
graceful. Those who
boast of the Cachucha
of Cadiz and of Jerez
have surely never seen

A JOTA IS AMAIiON

.Vtrr a Picture by Manuel Viis

the Jota danced."

At the town of Pollen za, in Majorca, the people of the inn where I
lodged organised a sort of fete, to which they invited the best local
dancers and musicians. A large hall, cleared of its furniture, and lined
along the walls with chairs, was turned into a ball-room. On the appointed
evening, young men with guitars arrived, and girls dressed in their best,
and accompanied by their families. When all had taken their places, the
sides of the hall being occupied by spectators, who even overflowed into
the passages, two guitars and a violin executed a brilliant overture, founded
upon the popular airs of Majorca. Then quite a young boy and girl,
castanets in hand, danced a charming Jota to an accompaniment of guitars,
and of castanets, dcafeningly and ceaselessly plied by girls who waited

2^2

A HISTORY OF DANCING

their turn to dance. The Majorcan Jota, while lacking the brio and
voluptuousness of the Jotas of the mainland, is charmingly primitive,
modest, and unaffected.

Other provinces besides Aragon have their Jotas ; Navarre and Catalonia,
for example. The Jota Valenciana closely resembles that of Aragon. The
Valencians have always loved dancing. History informs us that as early as

EL JALEO

After a Picture by Moreno

the seventh century, the entrance of the archbishops into Tarragona was
celebrated by dances. And in 1762, at the laying of the foundation-stone
of Lerida Cathedral, dancers were brought from Valencia to celebrate the
event.

Senor Soriano Fuentes gives rather a curious anecdote connected with
our subject :

" When, in the thirteenth century, Peter III. came to the throne or
Aragon, a revolt broke out ; the king, the better to overlook the rioters,
withdrew from the town. The rebels, to the number of some four

EL JALEO

2S*

hundred, under the leadership of a barber called Gonzalo, descended one
day upon the royal camp, where they performed coarse and defiant dances,
accompanied by insulting verses. Gonzalo even forced the king and queen
and court to take part in these buffooneries. His Majesty, destitute for
the moment of efficient troops, had to swallow the affront. But the tide

A HlsTIC t'

A'tei a Picture by Peru Kubio

eventually turned, and Gonzalo was overpowered, and led before his
sovereign.

" ' O dancer, singer, and poet,' said the king, * dost thou remember
a certain performance executed before me? Little was I then able to
reply, but to-day shalt thou finish thy song — with an additional verse — on
the gallows ! ' And as he said, so was the thing done."

The dashing Jalco dc Jerez is generally performed on the spur of the
moment by some supple-waisted gipsy with castanets, to the accompaniment
of a guitar, and the notes of some old love-song. She rushes forward,

2^4 A HISTORY OF. DANCING

bounding, leaping, darting here and there, wheeling giddily, fleeing and
returning. And connoisseurs applaud her noisily . . . Ole ! ole !

Each province has its peculiar dance, of which the inhabitants are
proud. The Galicians and Asturians vaunt their Muyneira and their
Danza Prima, the Andalusians their Bondina, the La Manchans their
Seguidillas, the Salamancans their Charro, the inhabitants of Valladolid
their Zorgono, the Murcians their Torras and Pavanas.

EL JALEO

After a Picture by John Sargent

Sooner would the true Spaniard see the Moors masters of Spain again
than give up his bull-fights and his dances :

" Antes volvicransc Moros
Toditos los Espafioles,
Que renunciar a sus oles
Y a sus corridas de toros.''

The Gallegada, of Galicia — to be seen also in Madrid and other cities —
is danced best in its native province :

" En Galicia Gallegada,
Perfctamente bailada."

THK POLO

<55

Besides this dance, the Galicians have (in common with the Asturians)
the Muyneira, generally performed to the music of the gaita, a sort of bag-
pipe, heard at every public and private fit*.

The Danza Prima of Asturias dates back to the days of the Gothic
kings. It is a sort of Round, danced by young men and women, each of
whom sings a cop/a, the refrain of which is taken up by all the rest.

THK i. II LICADK

Af cr a f'ktuic by Worn

By Ptnaiuioa of Mown. Bouaaod Valadoo and Co.

In Old Castile, in Kstremadura, and in Salamanca, the I labas Verdes is a
very popular dance. It is accompanied by coplas and their refrain.

The name Polo, like Seguidillas, is applied both to a dance and to the
songs accompanying it. This dance is of Moorish origin. Baron Davilliei
describes a performance of the Polo :

The singer ran his eye over the girls present and, smiling on one of
them, he sang :

256

A HISTORY OF DANCING

li Ven aca, chiquiya,
Que vamos a bailar un polo
Que sc junde medio Seviya ! "

" ' Come hither, little one, and we'll dance a Polo that'll shake down
half Seville ! ' The girl so addressed was perhaps twenty years of age,

plump, robust, strapping,
and supple. Stepping
proudly forward, with
that easy swaying of the
hips which is called the
meneo, she stood in the
centre of the court await-
ing her cavalier. Then
castanets struck up,
accompanied by the gay
jingle of tambourines,
and the bystanders kept
time by tapping the flags
of the yard with their
heels or their sword-
canes, or by -palmadas
— that is to say, by
slapping the backs of the fingers of the right hand twice in quick succes-
sion into the palm of the left hand, and then striking the two palms
together.

"The dancer, marvellously seconded by her partner, had little need of
these incitements : now she twisted this way, and now that, as if to escape
the pursuit of her cavalier ; again, she seemed to challenge him, lifting and
lowering to right and to left the flounced skirt of her calico dress, showing
a white starched petticoat, and a well-turned, nervous leg.

"The spectators grew more and more excited. Striking a tambourine,
some one cast it down at the girl's feet ; and she danced round it with
redoubled animation and agility. . . . But soon the breathless and exhausted
dancers had to sink upon a bench of the courtyard."

The name Cachucha — which distinguishes a Spanish national dance — is

SPANISH DANCRKS

Af[ir an Etching by Goya

• •

■ • • I ,

. , / ' I / /# /

THE PAVANA

2 59

was perched a sort of lay-figure, dressed up as a woman, and called by the
people — oik hardly knows why — Ana Bolena."

A whole volume would not afford space for a complete study of ancient
Spanish dances. We will glance rapidly at the chief of them, mentioning
the Turdion — probably the old French Tordion, which we have already

A TAVKHN HALL IN MVMM
After 0 Dot*

discussed — and the Gibadina, or Hunchback's Dance, of which we know
nothing but the name.

The famous I'avana, our sixteenth-century Pavane, came from Spain
into France. Catherine de Medicis and Marguerite de Navarre excel lei)
in it.

" To this day in Spain," writes Baron Davillier, " they speak of enlrados
de pavana "the Pavana-like entry of a man who comes solemnly and
mysteriously to say something ridiculously unimportant And again, pasos
de pavana, is said of a personage whose walk is affectedly slow "

The Passa-callc was another very fashionable sixteenth-century dance.

260

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The name indicates literally something that passes or goes on in the street —
probably because in the first instance the Passa-calle was mostly danced in
the streets. It had the most passionate devotees in Spain, and enjoyed
much favour in France, whfre it was known as the Passacaille.

The Folias, too, was a very popular measure. The ferocious Pedro 1. of
Portugal delighted so greatly in this dance that he used to spend whole

SPANISH DANCEKS

After an Etching by Goya

nights in dancing it with his family, and the few other persons who risked
their safety in his vicinity.

According to Fernandez de Cordova, the Chacona was no other than
the ancient dance of the Gaditanas. The Ole Gaditano is also supposed to
be a heritage from them.

"One fete dav," says Baron Davillier, "we saw the Ole wonderfully
danced, in a suburb of Cadiz, by an extremely clever bailarina called,
from the slightness of her figure, La Nena (Baby), rather a common name,
by the way, in Andalusia.

" An exquisite and peculiar suppleness of body and carriage is required

A DANCER OF CADIZ

261

to dance the Oie well. This La Nena possessed in a high degree, being,
indeed, unrivalled in htr backward curving and posing. It was something
nurvellous to see her conclude a step of the most captivating animation by
bending backwards. Her willowy figure drooped with graceful languor,
her shoulders and arms sank till they almost touched the ground. She
remained thus for an instant or two, her neck extended, her head thrown back,
as if in ecstasy. Then suddenly, as if touched by electricity, she bounded
up again, shook her ivory castanets in cadence, and finished the dance with
as much energy as she had begun it."

A 'tAMlH IIAXCKK. MAI»II>

Aficr a Prist la ibe IUUiofhr.|nc National!

THE TARANTELLA AT NAPLES

From a Photograph by Sommer and Son

CHAPTER IX

(Modern Greek Dances — The Italian Tarantella — Some European D.wces — 'Bayaderes
and ullmees — Savage Dances

SIXTY Greek women with their children took refuge on a height
when Ali Pacha of Janina put the villages of Suli to fire and
sword. These women watched the pitiless slaughter of their
husbands and brethren. Then, in despair, they threw their
children from the precipice into a torrent that roared at its foot, and,
taking each other's hands, danced a last distracted round. One by one
they left the dancing circle and flung themselves into the abyss. As victim
after victim disappeared, the circle narrowed, and resumed its funeral
measure. When the dance ceased, the cliff was deserted. There was
silence, broken only by the eternal roar of the torrent. Nothing stirred,

MODERN GREEK DANCES

26;

save the thin wreaths of smoke rising from the heaps of embers that had
once been villages.

Greece still guards the glorious memory of her ancient dances. This
sombre round, danced by Suliot women about to die, expressed their
despair, like the dances of their ancestors on the eve of battle.

For many centuries past dancing has been dissociated from religious
rites among the Greeks. It is only
in the mountain fastnesses of certain
semi-barbarous clans that the old
union still lingers, though scattered
vestiges of the ancient choregraphy
are to be found here and there in
the peninsula of Hellas.

The dance that Homer describes
as engraved upon the shield of
Achilles is still performed. Lightly
clad girls, dancing hand in haul,
follow a leader through windings
that represent the Cretan labyrinth,
and indicate the episode of Theseus
and Ariadne. The dancers move with
a slow, sweet rhythm through scenes
of surpassing loveliness. The
spectator dreams that he is watching
that round of Nymphs and Graces
described by Hesiod.

The Greeks have retained several other antique dances. The Arnout
Dance recalls that of the ancient Greeks, when they went to battle dancing
— as did also the Lusitanians, according to Diodorus Siculus. The Arnout
leader* animates his company by cracking a whip or shaking a staff, as he
rushes from one grcup to another, followed by dancers moving in cadence
with hands entwined.

The Ionian, a true Bacchic dance, still survives among the Greeks.

A rUMLIC DAKCKK

From an eighteenth Century Print

* Mm Greek dance* ire guided by 1 leader, a*bp ii >r< bMj a tucccnor ol (lie ancient

264 A HISTORY OF DANCING

especially at Smyrna in Asia Minor. The Agrismene, once a dance of the
festivals of Aphrodite, is not extinct. Young girls, when they have filled
their jars at the sacred wells of Callichorus, join hands and dance and sing.
To this day kilted Greeks, quiver on shoulder and bow in hand, perform
the ancient Pyrrhic Dance. The Klephts, or Brigands, follow their thoregus
in a long chain, dancing and singing while he marks time by nodding his
head.

In modern Sparta, M. Henri Belle saw a performance of the Syrtos, a
grave, slow dance, evidently of ritual origin :

" The dancers, taking each other by the hand, turned monotonously in
a circle. But after the resinous wine began to circulate there was more
animation. A tall fellow danced a few steps, gravely and seriously, yet
lightly and gracefully. Then he began to rotate with wonderful speed*
sometimes almost crouching on the ground, sometimes straightening himself
with a leap, swaying to and fro, gesticulating with his arms, utterly without
method or grace, or the least concern for the movements of his companions.
Having at last become, as it were, the fugleman of the whole band, he
directed their movements with a handkerchief, supporting himself on the
shoulder of a companion. And so, silently and sedately, the dance went on
till fatigue forced the performers to desist.

"Northern Negropont," he writes in another part of his travels, "is
famous for its dances ; that executed by the natives of Mantoudi is
apparently a rhythmic pantomime of the hauling ashore of fishing-nets.

" In Chios the natives danced to a rather pretty Turkish air, something
like the music of the Farandole of Provence ; men and women hold each
other's hands, while a detached couple dance before the group."

But the dance seen by M. Belle at Megara was the most attractive
of all :

" The village women, gracefully and vividly dressed, were drawn up in
long files of forty or fifty. Those of the first file gave their hands to
those of the third file over the shoulders of the second. In the same way,
the women of the second line joined hands with those of the fourth, over
the shoulders of the third — the whole forming an alternation and interlace-
ment not easily described, but very charming. This done, all moved
together, three quick steps forward and three back, singing a slow and

1HK TARANTELLA

265

measured chant, their gold embroideries glittering and their silken vests
showing the varying colours of a sea under the setting sun.

" This is a very ancient dance, the learned tell us. It is distinguished
by a virginal and graceful sobriety, by a pure elegance in marked
contrast with the libidinous undulations and contortions of the Moslem
harem dances. Mere brazen animalism has never become acclimatised
among the Hellenes,
and though their
rhythmic dancing is
pursued to-day mainly
for pleasure and
healthful exercise, it
is easv to realise that
it was once a religious
symbol, or even a
ritual ceremony."

" The ancient May
dances still exist in
Greece," says M.
Fertiault. "On May-
day in certain

villages, women and children assemble in honour ot Flora, visiting green
meadows, gathering flowers, covering themselves with blossoms from
head to foot. The most beautiful among them being chosen leader, they
dance and sing. One sings, ' Welcome, O Nymph, goddess of May ! '

i the chorus echoes the refrain, ' Goddess of May ! ' "

Let us pass from the azure skies of Greece to those of Italy, where we
shall find the Tarantella, a dance that owes its name to the great spider,
whose bite was supposed to be cured only by dancing to the point of
exhaustion, both names being derived from Tarentum. This dance is
dcscriScd with much vivacity and humour by M. M. Monnier :

" Back to Naples and quickly ! for in that Villa Rede I quitted so
abruptly I hear the tabour calling to arms the tabour and the
Castanet* that joyous tabour of long descent, as ancient, says Bidera,
as Cybclc — but Bidera loves to make all things old ! Yet the tabour

2 1.

1 t f t- IAH\MK!I.\ m NAI l-t-s
From an eighteenth Century Print

266 A HISTORY OF DANCING

is at least as old as are the frescoes of Herculaneum, where it is painted in
the hands of slim Bacchantes whose light fingers shake it. Follow the
sound : it is the Tarantella !

"The dancers salute each other, dance timidly awhile, withdraw a
little, return, stretch out their arms, and whirl vehemently in a giddy circle.
Then partners turn their backs on each other, and go their several ways, as
in the scene between Gros-Rene and Marinette.

'"J'aime lc bruit du tambourin.
Si j'ctais fillc de marin,

Et toi pccheur, me disait-clle,
Toutcs lcs nuits joyeusement,
Nous danserions, en nous aimant,
La tarentcllc ! '

" This is what one sees in royal Naples on the eve and day of
Piedigrotta."

Other dances are known to gondoliers and sailors in this land of
sunshine. The villagers, gardeners, and vintagers of the Roman Campagna
affect the antique rhythm of the Saltarello. Men twanging the guitar and
women shaking the tambourine vie with each other in agility. It is the
popular dance of country fetes. The heavy herdsmen of Calabria have a
rough dance called the Sheep Dance. The Italian upper classes prefer the
simple and graceful movements of the Montefiorina. Thus, in Italy,
dancing varies according to place and circumstances, yet everywhere reflects
the peculiarities of the people.

Let us now turn to the other extremity of Europe. According to
Fertiault, Russians tread on one spot almost without changing ground in
their popular dances. '-They turn and turn, on the flat of the foot, moving
their shoulders, and arms, and hips clumsily, to the sound of a long guitar
called the balaleica, supplemented by the singing, the shouts, and even the
whistling of the spectators."

But M. Fertiault knew nothing of the dance known as the Little
Russian, nor of the dancing songs and scenes of the Russian army.

" On fete days," says M. Gaston SchefFer, " in a barn or at a tavern
door, the guitarist, whom we find here as in Spain, plays a slow air. Some

111
l

fc3

INDIAN DANCES

269

piper drones on monotonously for hours ; and the honours ot dexterity in

this ' turning,' as the dance is called, are eventually awarded by the

spectators to her who

during the whole fete

nas most successfully

preserved a wooden

impassivity, unbroken

by a syllable or a

smili.

Upper class Rus-
sians dance the dances
ot all nations, more
or less, but their fav-
ourite is the light and
graceful Cainaca, a
1 of swaying waltz.

We now turn from
Europe to the land
of the Brahmins, to
Bengal, and the banks
of the (ianges, that
mighty and sacred
river. Mirrored in
its waters, we see
magnificent palaces
and temples, shaded
by gigantic baobabs
and tamarind - trees,
half hidden by flowers.
This is Benares, the
holy city of innumer-
able pagodas, whither
pious pilgrims and

priests and illuminati come to die, in the ecstatic hope that their souls
miv, after many transmigrations, attain the blessed rerose of Brahnu.

A »AYAI>««*
Aller a Picture by Cc*
of Maw*. Bonaod Valadoa u4 Co.

270 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Savage bulls and monstrous serpents, consecrated to the gods, wander in
the precincts of these temples, within the mysterious walls of which are
immured girls who never leave their prison — Devadassis and Bayaderes,
chosen for their beauty to dance before the idols.

The word Devadassi (meaning a slave of the god) is derived from deva,
a god, and dassi, a slave ; but a Devadassi is commonly called a Nautch,
that is to say, a dancer. As for the name Bayadere, it is used only by
Europeans, and is of Portuguese origin.

" Any Hindoo," says M. H. Fourment, " may devote his daughter, or
his daughteis, to the service of the deity ; but, in the case of the caste of
the Kai'd Koleti (or weavers), it is obligatory thus to consecrate the fifth
daughter, or the youngest, should the family contain less than five girls.
These Devadassis are admitted to the temple in their ninth or tenth
year, when they are decorated, as a sign of their marriage to heaven, with a
jewel of gold (the taly) strung on a cord of a hundred and eight
strands — one for each of the hundred and eight faces of the god Roudza.
This string is stained with saffron in memory of Lakme, the goddess of
joy. The Devadassis dance thrice daily, at the hours of the poudja, in the
pagoda. Their dance is a prayer of love. Their ecstasy symbolises the
annihilation of the individual soul in that of universal deity.

"Their long-lashed black eyes are melting, languishing, and dreamy;
their skin is golden and transparent, like that of all the Hindoo women, but
what distinguishes them from women of every other race is their exquisitely
supple and voluptuous gait. The blossoms of a land which breathes forth
every sort of fragrance serve to bathe them in sweet scents, and balmy
breezes rock them as with mystic cadences and sacred chants. . . ."

The ancients deified Love; the Bayaderes, living mementoes ot
antiquity, are still its priestesses. They are the delight of Eastern nations.
No feast or festival is complete without them ; they adorn religious
pageants, and add to the luxury of royal entertainments.

When an Asiatic wishes to honour a guest, he shows him the
Bayaderes ; it is the necessary complement of his hospitality. They dance
to the music of the talan (a couple of discs, one of which is of polished
steel, the other of copper), the hautbois, the flute, and the drum, and
generally choose hideous or deformed musicians as foils to their beauty.

BAYADERE DANCES 271

Their hair, anointed with aromatic oil, falls in a shower about their
hips ; among its jetty waves sparkle diamonds, precious stones, and gold
chains, interspersed with flow

Their dance, says Arago
certain affinities with the Spj
Fandango.

Hoffher says, in his tra
that the young veiled Devac
form groups before beginnir
dance.

" A double bagpipe,
monotonous tourte, drones
the prelude, the melanc
notes of the hautbois and
flute without holes strike
reinforced by the steel
copper discs, and drums, j
signal from the ballet-ma
tney advance and unveil. ^
infinite grace and exquisite
they mingle, intertwine,
glide apart in their expre
dance. The old dancing-wc
who surround them sing
clap their hands, while the
toxicating scent of flowers f
on the warm air. . . ."

There are variations in tl
was present at a dance at Srii
elite of the Bayaderes, from I
jewels from head to heels.

with their dancing, which consisted of a succession of statuesque poses of a
purely antique character. They advanced in couples, gliding along the
ground, moving slowly and languidly, with studied art of" a very correct
character. It was like a bas-relief on a Greek temple of the best period.

272

A HISTORY OF DANCING

A sort of quivering motion of their naked feet caused a jingling of the
golden rings and belis with which their legs were laden, and this metallic,
cadenced sound at last produced a most curious effect upon the ear and the
nerves."

T.er . ,,„. _.,.,<., ,u iyj Aifreci Grandidier. The dance of the Bayaderes

impassioned,
pantomime, generally accompanied

;STIVAL

)h by Neurdein

by songs, chanted to a slow, monotonous rhythm. Three men, with a
drum and cymbals, accompany the movements of the dancer, while her
comrades, crouching on the ground, clap their hands and sing in chorus.
As a rule, only one dancer performs at a time ; stamping on the ground
with her bell-laden (eet, she is content to turn round and round, with
undulations of her arms and body that are rather strange than harmonious.
The songs are generally simple recitative, which the singer interrupts at

BAYADERE DANCES

intervals by piercing notes, which seem tD rise into the air like the lark
mounting skywards from his furrow. The European newly arrived in
India, who has often heard the Bayaderes described as irresistible
enchantresses, will assuredly feel astonishment and disappointment at the
sight of these dances and the sound of these songs, so different to those his
imagination had pictured on
the faith of travellers' tales.

" The Bayaderes' costume
is very rich, and extremely
modest, more so than that of
the women who are seen in the
streets.

" It must be admitted that
in hot countries, where mind
and body both demand calm
and tranquillity above all
things, nothing less suitable to
the enjoyment of life could
well be imagined than our
swift, intricate dances and
learned music. With us,
pleasure itself is a toil,
whereas the performances of
the Bayaderes cause no fatigue.
Plunged in a gentle drowsi-
ness, no lassitude of mind <>r
body supervenes, as the spec-
tator allows himself to be

lulled by these poetic tales of love, the eternal theme of all such
representations. 1 must confess that I felt a certain pleasure in them,
especially after having lived seme time in the East. Under the influence oi
my hookah, the pantomime and the chants of the Bayaderes appeared to me
as the visions of a dreamer, without arresting my attention in a fatiguing

manner.'*

We will quote Louis Roussclct, whose studies on the India of the K.ij.ih-

2 M

After a Picture by I'cralla

274 A HISTORY OF DANCING

made a great sensation, as our readers will remember ; he describes various
scenes of which he was a spectator.

" I seated myself," he writes, " on a luxurious divan, and was at once
surrounded by servants, offering me sherbet and fruit, or sprinkling me
with rose-water from large silver bottles. A few paces from me I saw the
pale-faced, large-eyed Bayaderes, covered with diamonds and costly tissues,
crouching on the ground by the musicians, awaiting the signal for their
dance. . . .

" Rising, they unfolded their scarves and shook out their pleated skirts,
jingling the little bells on their anklets, by which they mark the cadence.
After a preliminary chorus, accompanied by viols and tam-tams, they
formed a half-circle, and one of them advanced in front of us. Her
arms extended, her veil floating about her, she began to turn slowly round
and round, with a slight quivering of her body, which made her bells
tinkle. The soft and languorous music seemed to lull her ; her eyes were
half closed. Each dancer took her turn in a pas seul ; one imitated a
serpent-charmer or a wrestler ; another, more impetuous, twirled about
with great rapidity. A third, who wore a pretty pearl-embroidered cap,
followed the music with a coquettish movement of the- body peculiar to
herself. They concluded with a lively round, accompanied by songs and
hand-clapping.

" In all this there was no trace of the obscenity, supposed to be
characteristic of the Bayaderes' dances. Their bearing, though it has a
touch of coquetry, is always modest, and their costume stricter than that of
other women. Nor must we look for dancing from them in the ordinary
sense of the word. Postures, attitudes, and chants make up the official
Nautch Dance of the Hindoos. I say ' official,' because I did see, upon
occasion, dances of a very .different character, to which strangers are rarely
admitted. These were regular ballets, somewhat like those of our own
operas, but full of the ardent and voluptuous Eastern spirit. Under
ordinary circumstances the Nautch Dance is so serious and, indeed, so
unattractive, when the dancers are neither young nor pretty, that many
disappointed Europeans imagine they are assisting at some lugubrious
ceremonial rite."

After describing the Festival of Dassara at the Court of Baroda, and the

BAYADERE DANCES

275

curious licence accorded to the Hindoo Bayaderes during this celebration,
M. Rousselet tells us that in R:ijputana the Bayaderes always enjoy special

privileges.

He was present one evening in the Armondjan Palace at the religious
dances of" the Nauratri, performed by Nautch-girls.

" They were placed on the upper terrace of the Palace ; an immense

Yt m in

t lAYADfcRtt
Ka(ravi»g hy Poiwoo after Sol iK'st

carpet was spread upon the ground ; brasiers filled with resin flared in the
angles of the wall, struggling with gusty flashes against the brilliant star-
light. In the midst of 1 compact circle of women, who crowded the vast
platform, glittering with jewels and spangles, a dancing-girl moved
languidly to the sound of the ancient music of Indian worship. The
scene was truly beautiful and poetic. The uncertain light, glancing fitfully
upon the graceful crowd ; the starry vault above us ; the tufts of palm and
Him that waved at our feet, shaking out their intoxicating scents upon the
clear mountain air, that came to us laden with the keen odours of the
jungle ; the mysterious rhythm of the music- all combined to give a strange
charm to the evening,"

276 A HISTORY OF DANCING

At the Court of the Begum of Bhopal he saw the most charming of all
the dances.

" After a dance of young men, cathacks, a dancing-girl triads her
appearance. She was dressed in the costume of the women of the people, a
bodice and a very short sarri, and bore on her head a large wheel of osiers,
placed horizontally on the top of her skull. Round the wheel hung strings
at equal distances, each terminating in a running knot, kept open by means
of a glass bead. The dancer advanced to the spectators, carrying a basket
of eggs, which she handed to us that we might satisfy ourselves they were
real.

" The musicians struck up a monotonous staccato measure, and the dancer
began to whirl round with great rapidity. Seizing an egg, she slipped it
into one of the running knots, and, with a sudden jerk, threw it from her
in such a manner as to draw the knot tight. By means of the centrifugal
force produced by the swiftness of her rotations, the string flew out,
till the egg stood in a straight line with the corresponding ray of the
circumference. One after the other, the eggs were all thrown out on
the strings, until at last they formed a horizontal halo round the dancer's
head. Hereupon her movements became more and more rapid ; we could
scarcely distinguish her features. It was a critical moment ; the least false
step, the slightest pause, and the eggs would have been smashed one against
the other. How then was she to interrupt her dance, how stop it ?
There was but one way : to take out the eggs as she had put them in.
Though it hardly appears so, this last operation is the more difficult of the
two. By a single movement of the utmost neatness and precision, the
dancer must catch the egg and draw it to her ; it will be readily understood
that if she were to put her hand into the circle unskilfully, and touch one
of the strings, the general harmony would be at once disturbed. At last
all the eggs were safely extricated, the dancer stopped abruptly, and
apparently not in the least giddy after her gyrations of some half-hour,
she walked firmly towards us and presented the eggs, which were
immediately broken into a dish to prove that there had been no
deception."

M. Emile Guimet, a more recent traveller, thus describes his experience
of a Bayadere dance :

BAYADERK DANCES

'-11

"The music begins. The melody, marked by loud percussions at
intervals, is plaintive, sad, languishing, but belongs to our own order of
harmony. There is nothing Chinese, nothing Arab, above all, nothing
Japanese about it. If Arab music has preserved the tonality of antiquity,
Indian music reveals the origin of modern European methods.

"There are three dancers, who dance in turn. The first has very

\ m mm nvtcER

From a Photograph

regular features and wonderfully expressive eyes. Her dancing is more in
the nature of pantomime than of a succession of steps. She advances with
an expression of restrained passion, then retires, as if' alarmed and
humiliated by her involuntary confession. Her movements follow the
rhythm, her gestures emphasise her supposed sentiments with much grace
and energy. In her face and attitudes she seems to express in turn
sympathy, terror, joy, anger, recklessness, shame, self-aban;!onment, delight
and humiliation, the intensest passion and the bitterest remorse.

278

A HISTORY OF DANCING

"How remote from this touching poetry are the sensual Almees of
Cairo or Algiers, or the cold Geishas of Kioto ! Even the ouled-nails of
Biskra, who have preserved the traditions of antiquity in the oases of the
desert, give but a feeble reflex of this Brahminic epopee, at once burning
and delicate, expounded to us by glances and gestures.

"•The dancer's costume is red and gold, her black bodice is covered
with gold spangles. Her hair is very simply dressed, with a few flowers

A DANCE 1\ THE HAKIM

After a Picture by Richtcr

for ornament. She wears jewels in her nostrils, numerous bracelets and
anklets, and enormous toe-rings.

" The Bayadere who takes her place has a colder cast of countenance,
but she is much handsomer. Her head-dress of fragrant flowers, without
leaves or stalks, forms a sort of coronet, and falls down on the nape of her
neck with the ends of her hair. She wears costly bracelets on the fleshy
part of her arms, and her feet are plated with rings and golden circlets. It
seems marvellous that she should be able to stand up and dance under the

280 A HISTORY OF DANCING

weight of all her sumptuous fetters. Her dance, though less expressive
than that we have just witnessed, is statelier and more elegant ; her very
coldness gives more distinction to her attitudes.

" As to the subject, it is still an amorous drama, a scene inspired by
the touching episodes of the Ramayana, or some other mythological
poem."

The Egyptian, Tunisian or Algerian Almees differ greatly from the
Bayaderes, for the very essence of their dances is obscenity.

The Egyptian Almees wear a long silken robe, covered with a pattern
and fastened about them with a sash ; a gauze veil is drawn across their
breasts. Like veritable Bacchantes, they give themselves up to suggestive
contortions, to the sound of castanets, tambourines or cymbals.

The ouled-ndils of Algeria, adorned like idols, laden with necklaces, are
famous- for their Danse du Ventre. They may be seen nearly everywhere
throughout the country, but in greatest perfection at Ouargla, where
any one may witness their dances by the expenditure of a halfpenny for a
cup of coffee.
• At the sound of the rhaita, a shrill-toned clarionet, the thar, or
tambourine, the dherbouka, a skin stretched over a pot from which the
bottom has been knocked out, and which emits a hollow resonance, the
thebel, a big drum, on which the performer strikes with a piece of bent
wood, the Almees advance. They wave their arms, loaded with jewels,
their silken sashes interwoven with gold, above their heads, and walk,
swaying their bellies, half naked, in a manner more alluring than decorous.

" Eastern dance," says Jules Lemaitre, " is essentially a solo and a
spectacle. ... It is eminently private and intimate in its character.
Within the narrow limits and the dim light of a Moorish room it may
interest an artist, a voluptuary, or a student of manners by the suppleness of
its movements, the harmony of its lines and contours."

At Tunis, Almees are to be found everywhere, even in the lowest dens.
Their obscene dances are performed throughout the province, in cafes, at
private entertainments, and even at certain ceremonies.

I was once a guest at a Jewish wedding, and after the marriage had
been solemnised at the synagogue I followed the procession to the home of
the newly wedded pair. The festival was held in the patio. All around,

A JEWISH WEDDING IN TUNIS

281

from ground-floor and first-floor windows, hung bunches of human fruit,
women gleaming with jewels ; an orchestra, composed of a harmonium, a
flute, a violin, and a long-necked mandolin, gave out a deafening music.
The music ceased for an instant ; a look of attention came into every

THE DANSE Dl

Afar a Picture

face, as if something important, the nature of which was well known to all
present, were about to happen.

A little girl came forward, her eyes modestly downcast. She raised
them, and cast a languishing glance at the spectators. Then, half closing
her lids, she began to dance, to the monotonous accompaniment of voices
and orchestra, swaying her body to and fro in attitudes that contrasted
painfully with the solemn character of the preceding ceremony. Mean-

282

A HISTORY OF DANCING

while women, lost in the obscure recesses of the rooms, gave utterance to
the you-you, the cry which emphasises this dance.

Much the same kind of dance obtains in savage Africa. Commandant
Colomieu relates that one evening at Metlili, during his journey across the
Algerian Sahara, he saw the negroes and negresses of the oasis perform one
of their ceremonial dances with great pomp. The instruments of the

AN ORIENTAL DANCE

After a Drawing by Decamps in the Louvre

orchestra were iron castanets, accompanying a kind of chant, to which the
dancers, male and female, twisted themselves about with contortions that
suggested a veritable infernal ballet.

The negresses, excited by the applause, gave themselves up to a
choregraphic onslaught, in which the boldest and most daring attitudes
alternated with postures of mincing grace and affectation.

Dancing is still a rite among all primitive races, just as it was under the
antique civilisations, and in our wanderings throughout the world we find
it associated with religious ceremonies, festivals, and even with funerals.

PATAGONIAN DANCE

28$

The religious sect of Aissaouas in Mussulman countries execute frenzied
dances, the performance of which I have often witnessed. It is a strange
spectacle to see the howling crowd, excited by the fumes of incense,
bending and throwing back their heads in cadence, their haggard eyes
rolling wildly, and the guethdia, the long tresses of hair on the summit of
their shaven crowns, flying round them, now falling on their shoulders, now
covering the napes of their necks. The movement of head and body

•HOAX DAXCI

From a Photograph

becomes more and more emphatic, the boom of the tam-tams deepens,
until at last the Aissaouas, seized with delirium, crunch wood, iron and
glass between their teeth, scorch their flesh with red-hot coals, and swallow
live scorpions.

The Patagonian Indians of America hold a festival once a year in
honour of Vita Oucntrou, the god of good. On this occasion they grease
their hair, paint their faces with extreme care, and dress in the most
grotesque costumes ; but it is unlawful to laugh during the ceremonies.
The tribesmen form themselves in line, their faces to the cast, their women
behind them. The dance then begins, the only change of position being
from right to left ; the women sing, accompanying themselves on a wooden

284 A HISTORY OF DANCING

drum, covered with a wild cat's skin of many colours. The men pirouette
on one foot, the opposite one to that on which the women balance them-
selves, and blow with all their might into hollow reeds. Suddenly, at a
signal from the Cacique, cries of alarm resound ; the men spring hastily to
horse, and breaking off their dance, follow each other in a fantastic
cavalcade.

The Mandans, one of the Indian tribes of the upper Missouri, perform
what is known as the Bison Dance at a certain religious festival which they
celebrate with fasting, prayer, sacrifices, and all the tokens of profound
devotion. Eight Mandans, wrapped in bison-hides, on which the horns
and the eyes are left, are the actors in this strange ballet. Naked but for
these skins, their bodies painted in bands of red, white and black, and
bearing on their shoulders a fagot of willow-branches, they imitate the
movements and appearance of the bison. Space forbids a more detailed
account of the religious festivals accompanied by dances, in which the
Indians mimic the fauna of their country, serpents, beavers, vultures, &c,
while the master of the ceremonies invokes the Great Spirit.

The Indians of the Amazon solemnise their great religious festivals with
the most curious processions and ceremonies. At Exaltacion de la Santa
Cruz, M. Franz Keller-Leuzinger saw a dozen macheteiros (sword-dancers)
in head-dresses made from the tail feathers of the araras and down from
the breast of the toucan, with stags' feet fastened to their ankles, and large
wooden swords in their hands. They marched under the leadership of their
chief, who brandished a huge silver cross, and were followed by the whole of
their tribe. They went from Calvary to Calvary, singing psalms and waving
censers. Before each cross these braves executed a sort of allegorical dance,
which evidently symbolised the submission of the Indians to the Church,
and their conversion to Christianity. This manifestation accomplished, the
macheteiro, bathed in sweat, approached the Calvary with many genuflexions,
and laid his wooden sword and fantastic aureole at the foot of the crucifix.

Descriptions of this kind abound in books of travel. In the Philippines
the Negritos dance a sort of Pyrrhic at marriage feasts.

The men form a circle, each one laying his left hand on the hip of the
one in front of him ; with their right hands they brandish bows and arrows
with a threatening air ; they move round slowly, with jerky steps, striking

DANCES OF CENTRAL AMERICA

285

the left heel hard upon the ground. Three women occupy the centre of
the circle, chanting, or rather screaming, an air, which is restricted to a few
shrill, piercing notes. A young Negrito, who wears garters of wild boar
skin, strikes a drum at intervals, and rushes into the circle. He prowls
round the women, backwards and forwards, goes away and comes back again,
running about with the anxious and cunning look of the thief fascinated by

DANCS IN THE ISLAND OP LLIETKA OR WOLEA

From an Eagmiug by Bartolozri after Cipriani for Ctk'i I Vr<v«

the thought of his booty, but fearful of a surprise. It is the devil, or rather
Tagaloc, who fills his office among the Negritos.

In his journey through the Valley of Huarancalqui and the Pajonal
district, M. Paul Marcoy saw private dances performed in honour of the
birth of Christ. These quasi-devotions were practised before a shrine
representing the Nativity, El Nacimiento.

* A dozen women were seated in a semicircle round the nacimiento,
before which two candles, two bottles, and a glass were placed upon a little
table. In the vacant space between this table and the gallery a woman of
fifty and a young Cholo danced a national dance to a guitar accompaniment,

286

A HISTORY OF DANCING

pausing between each figure to curtsey to the shrine. Adjoining the room of
the nacimiento was a second, in which a crowd of dancers of both sexes
stamped about with tremendous energy.

" When any visitors arrived, a woman of the company, who seemed to
have constituted herself guardian of the nacimiento, rose, filled the glass on
the table with brandy, and offered it in turn to each of the newcomers, with

the usual formula :
' Que le aprovecha
la orina del nino
Jesu.' ' Many
thanks,' replied
the person ad-
dressed, wiping
his or her lips,
and waiting his
or her turn to
dance. After a
few steps executed
before the naci-
miento, and the
consumption of a
few more drams,
the dancer, now sufficiently warmed up, passed into the neighbouring
room, there to take part in those character-dances the Spaniards call
troche y moche."

The same traveller saw dances performed at funerals in Peru.
" Like the Scandinavian heroes," he says, " the Conibos pass after death
to a martial Paradise, the chief diversions of which are jousts and
tournaments. The Virgins of Walhalla are represented by Aibo-Mueai
(courtesans), who offer the Conibo warrior mountains of food and rivers of
drink.

" When the women have wrapped the corpse of a Conibo in his tari,
when they have placed his bow and arrows in his hand, smeared him with
rocou and genipa, and tied him up carefully, they chant a requiem dirge, the
chiringui, and perform dances,"

DANCE IN OTAHEITE

From an Engraving by Heath after Webber

DANCES OF AFRICAN TRIBES

287

During his journey to the Albert Nyanza, Batier was present by chance
at a funeral dance.

"One day," he says, "I heard the nogaras, or drums, beating, the
trumpets sounding. I mingled with the crowd, and soon found myself a
spectator of a funeral
dance.

" The performers wore
a curious costume. Their
helmets were adorned
with about a dozen large
ostrich feathers. Leopard-
skins and black and
white monkey-skins hung
from their shoulders.
Iron bells attached to a
leather girdle hung
round their hips, which
they twisted about with
the most absurd contor-
tions; an antelope's horn,
slung round the neck,
was used to give utterance
to piercing sounds, a
cross between the cries of
the ass and the owl,
when their excitement

reached its highest pitch. Every one howled in chorus, and seven nogaras
of varying sizes formed the bass of this infernal chorus.

"The men, who had mustered in large numbers, executed a kind of
galop, brandishing their clubs and spears, and following their chieftain, who
danced backwards before them, in a column some five or six deep. The
women accompanied the dancers, but did not mingle with them. They
swayed slowly to and fro, uttering plaintive and discordant cries. At some
little distance came a long line of children and young girls, their heads and
necks smeared with red ochre and grease, wearing necklaces and girdles of

&ANDWICH ISLANDER S DANCK

From an Engraving by Grignion after Webber

288 A HISTORY OF DANCING

coloured beads, stamping out the measure with their feet, and clanking their
iron anklets in time to the beating of the nogaras. A woman ran in and
out among the dancers, sprinkling their heads with charcoal ashes which she
carried in a gourd.

" This ceremony was to continue for some weeks in honour of a
number of warriors who had lately fallen in battle."

■

- ",■""*

Bk ~ < Mini T

-J£j& r fl|

4J ■

MAHOMET S PARADISE

After an Engi- iving by Jaz;t in the Bibliotheque Nationale

A BALL IN' THE CHAtSSBK d'anTIN

After a Lithograph by Gavaroi in the Bibliothcque Naiionale

CHAPTER X

Cntemftrarj Danees—Tt* Wtllx—The galop—The Tolka— Cellaring Merkow ski,

and Labtrde—Tbt Jardin (Mabille—Tritchard, Chicard, and

'Brididi — Queen Tomare.

[E Waltz was in high favour in 1830. The Volte, first
danced by Henry III., was simply the Valse a Irois temps.
The description of it given by Thoinot Arbeau in 1589
identifies it with the saltatio duorum in gyrum, to quote the
definition of the Waltz in Trevoux's dictionary. The worthy canon of
Langres not only reveals the analogy between Volte and Waltz, but shows
that the Volte was, in fact, the Valse a irois temps.

•'The Waltz we took from the Germans again in 1795 had been a French
dance for four hundred years," says Castil-Blaze. It may indeed be
looked upon as one of our most ancient dances. Provence was its
birthplace. It was fashionable throughout the whole of the sixteenth

2 o

290 A HISTORY OF DANCING

century, and was the delight of the Valois Court. It is certainly the most
graceful and seductive of all known dances.

" A technical examination of the Waltz would be out of place in this
work. Desrat, in his Dictionnaire, describes the movements and gives the
history of this, as of all other dances.

It may be of interest, however, to recall Saint-Ibald's recommendations
to waltzers :

" En dehors tes pieds tourneras,

Et tes jambes egalement.
Haute toujours la tete sera,

Et portee gracieusement.
Au bras droit ta dame enlaceras,

La conduisant solidemcnt.
Ta main gauche legere auras,

Et ton bras gauche memement.
Toujours dans ton pas glisseras,

Tes deux pieds aussi souplement.
Joyeux et gai tu valseras,

Sans jamais sauter follement.
Trois pas egaux, rythmes, feras

En l'antique valse a trois temps.
Du pied gauche tu commenceras,

Et du droit suivras lentement.
En avant, en arriere, iras,

Et ta dame reciproquement.
De la mesure esclave seras,

Et ta valseuse egalement.
Quand la valse tu finiras,

Dame remercieras poliment.
Au buffet tu Pameneras,

Et du punch boiras seulement.

As to the Waltz, "incorrectly called the Valse a deux temps (two beats),
instead of a deux pas (two steps')"^ as Professor Desrat says, it is of
Russian origin.

" It should be called the ' two-step ' waltz," he adds, " because it
consists of two steps, danced to a bar of three beats, the time proper to all
waltzes." *

* "I can speak with authority of the introduction of the Valse a deux pas into France,
for it was first taught to my father under the following circumstances : in 1839 the
Baron de Nieuken, an attache at the Russian Legation, was taking dancing lessons

■-...• / / . J/lf I I II in/.

DEJEUNERS DANSANTS

29J

guests should all appear in pink and white, the Queen's colours. All the
men wore " button-holes," made of a rose, and two or three sprays of
lily-of-the-valley ; the politician and the serious man displayed the pink
and white badge no less punctiliously than the greatest dandy of the
circle."

THI GAVOTTE

After a Print of the Restoration Period in the Bibliotheque Nationale

It was at the Austrian Embassy that the famous dejeuners dansants were
inaugurated.

"The guests arrived in broad daylight, about half-past two in the
afternoon. Each lady as she entered received a bouquet before passing into
the magnificent rooms, the honours of which Countess Appony did so
gracefully. She was indeed a literal embodiment of the old aristocratic
social tradition. The Count, with the Golden Fleece hanging from his
neck, and the Order of St. Stephen on his breast, was a perfect type of the
great noble, affable, but full of dignity. Dancing began at once. There
was a positive craze for the Valse « deux temps. . . . All the couples

294

A HISTORY OF DANCING

followed in the wake of the two Rodolphes and Julio Appony. . . . The
Dukes d'Ossuna, de Valency, and de Dino ; Counts Esterhazy, Zichy,
de Morny, de ChAteauvillars, de Jumillac, de la Tour-du-Pin, and Guillaume
de Kniff were supported by all the great financial luminaries, the Roths-
childs, Hopes, Barings, and Thorns. The women represented the supreme
elegance of Paris ; among them were Miles. Fitzwilliam, de Terzzi,

PARISIAN DAN'CERS

After a Print of the Restoration Period

de Stackelberg, de Chanterac, de Ganay, de Nicola'i, de Virieu, Lady
Canterbury, the Duchess of Sutherland, the Princesse de la Tremouille, the
Marquise de Contades, the Duchesses d'lstrie, d'Otrante, de Plaisance,
Mmes. de Vernant, de Magnoncourt, d'Haussonville. ... At about five
o'clock, there was a pause in the dancing, and the company descended the
flight of steps leading to the gardens. There, under the shade of the trees
and among the shrubberies, were set charmingly appointed little tables, at
which the guests seated themselves haphazard, or in select little parties, and

THE POLKA

29?

prolonged the delightful emotions of Waltz and Galop in conversations
animated by champagne. . . ."

Towards 1 844, the furore for waltzing began to show signs of abatement.
It had long reigned supreme in society, the Galop being no longer danced,
save in the carnival balls. The introduction of the Polka brought about an
extraordinary revolution in dancing. It created a veritable mania among

fAIIMAS DAKCKtS

After • Print of the Restoration Period

the middle and the lower classes, a terpsichorean epidemic which no one
escaped. All did not die of it, but all alike took the disease. Society
resisted for a time ; hitherto it had given the tone to fashion, and it was
not inclined to follow a movement. But the fame of this dance became so
widespread, and its popularity so immense, that at last a duchess opened the
doors of her reception-rooms to admit it, and thereupon the Polka reigned
supreme in the high places of the earth.*

• ■ The first time it was formally introduced into society was at a ball given by
M. G ... ., the Lucullut of our age. The smartest gentlemen rider* and a host of pretty

296

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The Polka came from Bohemia. It appeared first at Vienna, and

afterwards with brilliant
success at Baden. It was
introduced into Paris by
Cellarius, the famous
dancing - master, among
whose pupils were Hun-
garians, Poles and Wal-
lachians, who played their
national dances on the
piano for the others to
dance. Cellarius' school at
the end of the courtyard,
at No. 41 Rue Vivienne,
became the sanctuary of
the new dance, which owed
something of its success to
the gold spurs which were
looked upon as indispens-
able for a brilliant polkaist
of the male gender. The
young professor became the man of the hour. Dancing took place every
Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evening, from eight to eleven,

THE WALTZ

After Gavarni

women were present at this solemnity, at which M. Cellarius and M. Eugene Coralli were
to meet face to face and polka to polka. All the votaries of the Polka were on the tiptoe
of expectation. Chledowski himself had composed the music for the occasion. Cellarius
appeared, with carefully dressed hair and glossy beard, triumphing in advance ; he was
surrounded by four or five experts carefully chosen from among his best pupils. A certain
anxiety was nevertheless visible in the master's face ; every now and then he sprang nimbly
upon the platform where the musicians were installed, and made them play over the new
composition, the third polka that had been written. Then he returned in haste to his
disciples, passing along the ranks, haranguing them in brief, decisive phrases, animating them
both by words and gestures. The great Germanicus could have done no more, pace Tacitus.

"While the master was thus engaged, Eugene Coralli, Lucien Petipa, and two or three
other accomplished Labordians of the opposition preserved a scornful silence and a redoubt-
able calm.

"At last the orchestra gave the signal of battle. The spectators made way respectfully,
Cellarius led out one of his sisters, dressed in pure white like a vestal virgin, and started in
full career, followed by his faithful cohort.

CKLLARIUS

297

under his auspices, and during the winter he gave a nocturnal fete every
Wednesday. He further gave balls every year, to which ladies were admitted

A <*Rt>l-r Or fAKIMAH DAHCEIM
Prom a Print of the Restoration Period

on the sole condition that they should appear in very elegant toilettes. I [c
afterwards carried out what may be described as a social coup d'etat by

" It wis like Achill»s rushing under the walls of Troy to defy Hector, and avenge the
death of Patroclus ; but

'O rage ! O descspoir ! O fortune enncmic,
N'avait-il tant polkc que pour ccttc infamic ! '

"Oh, agony ! No one could dance to the new tunc ; they required the old routine
with which they had sucked the milk of Mother Polka ! The performers stopped and
gazed at each other in astonishment. The master in vain endeavoured to revive their
courage in this extremity. 'At least give us enemies we can cope with ! ' they exclaimed.
These words were an inspiration for the master. Rushing to the orchestra, he threw down
the traditional score before them, and the complaisant musicians once more struck up the
old wearisome tunc, the most wearisome ever written, perhaps, with the exception of the
Tklir* Ji "Dt»j L'M CSUnttz.. As the familiar strains fell on their cars, the Ccllarians took

2 P

298 A HISTORY OF DANCING

inaugurating artists' balls, to which admission could only be obtained by

means of a letter of
invitation, signed in most
cases by some famous
opera-dancer.

For the struggle had
become deadly ; rival
professors had arisen,
Markowski andLaborde.
The latter disputed the
honour of having intro-
duced the Polka into
France with him.

Did the King dance
the Polka ? An irreve-
rent couplet of the day
declares that he did :

" C'est le. grand Louis
Philippe
Qui s'est fichu par tcrrc,
En dansant la polka
Avcc la reinc Victoria."

THE GALOi'

After Gavarni

Books, feuilletons, novels, poems, plays, music, all dealt with the
Polka. There was even a Polka Almanack, published in 1845, an^ tne

courage ; they advanced with great spirit, bringing their heels up among their coat-tails in
the most daring fashion, and remained masters of the field.

" But their triumph was not of long duration. The crowd presently parted to make
way for their terrible rivals, whose very first steps ensured the discomfiture of the Cellarians.
The whole cohort dispersed, and the unhappy chief, his eyes darting flames, his heart full of
fury, withdrew to swallow the affront as best he might.

"Such was this memorable day, the events of which are so suggestive of a mock heroic
poem that our very prose has been affected. Thenceforth an unquenchable hatred, direr
than that of Capulets and Montagues, reigned between the rival schools. Immediately
after their defeat the Cellarians are said to have assembled in the little Pink Boudoir and,
before the statue of the Hermaphrodite, to have vowed an enmity to their foes, which might
very well have found expression in something more than words." — {La Polka enseignie sans
Ma"it,e.)

THE POLKA

299

dance was made a pretext for political satire, the diva polka being thus
apostrophised :

"Dansc dc libertc, d'amour, de pocsic,
Ouc vicns-tu done cherchcr, 6 polka, parmi nous ? . . "

The Country Dance, it was said, suits the sanguine, the Galop the
bilious, the Waltz the lymphatic, the Polka the nervous and passionate.

Ai.GI'il I' of PARISIAN DANCKKS

After a Print of the Kestoraik n Period

An amusing little treatise of the time contains the following
reflections :

" The entry of the Polka into Paris took place without pomp of any
sort, without any public rejoicings, without the ghost of a sergent-de-
vilte.

" No miracles heralded its advent, no dogs barked as at the birth of
Csesar, no chimneys were blown down as at the death of Macbeth."

The rivalry between Laborde and Ccllarius became more and more
acute; the brilliant star of Markowski appeared on the horizon; the
newspapers engaged in fierce polemics concerning these professors.

$oo

A HISTORY OF DANCING

According to Delvau, Mme. de Girardin and Eugene Vitu took the
trouble to discuss this Polish Cancan.

"The Labordian," said one of the two, "turns his foot inwards,
which gives the true foreign stamp to his step ; he raises his heel
but very slightly behind him, and rests much more on the point of
the foot, which gives greater elegance as well as greater lightness to his
dancing.

" The Cellarian, on the other hand, twirls round with great delight,

stamps with alarming
vigour, and lifts his heels
as if he intended to put
them into the tail-pockets
of his coat ; we purposely
exaggerate the Cellarian
faults a little the better to
show their absurdity. All
this would be well enough
it the Polka were simply
a stagc-iance ; then, the
more choregraphic prob
lems, Cyclopean strides,
and tours- deforce it could
introduce, the better. But,
as the Polka is destined to
be danced in ball-rooms, I
cannot see why, instead of retaining its national simplicity and original
grace, we should rack our brains to transform it into a kind of convulsion,
no less dangerous to the joints of the performer, than to the sensitive
parts of the spectator."

Meanwhile the Polka, its invasion of the capital completed, slipped
through the city barriers, and took possession of the provinces.

We are told that the Northern districts, with the exception of Rouen
and Verdun, remained fairly calm, but from Orleans downwards and
throughout the South, a frenzy of enthusiasm reigned. Every town was
attacked by Polkamania. Lyons, Marseilles, and Toulon were the most

ALWAYS ASK MAMMA TO DANCE

Afler a Lithograph by H. Bellang£

MARKOWSKI

JO'

impassioned ; at Bordeaux the Polka was danced in the theatres, the
streets, and even in the shops, &c.

I'tim'i cinmiiiii i

But, as I have said, the star of Marlcowski had risen in the choregraphic
firmament. The professor introduced certain Polish dances. Cellarius'

•}02

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Polka began to wane. It shone with a last furtive splendour for a time,
like a flame on the point of expiring, and then the general enthusiasm died
out completely.

Markowski's origin was shrouded in mystery. It had its legend, too.
At his birth his father dreamt that he saw gnomes dancing round a cradle.

MLLE. BUSE AND M. CORSET

From a Print of the Restoration Period

All that was known about him when he started a dancing-class in the Rue
Saint-Lazare was, that he had arrived from Poland at the age of eighteen,
very poor, and had gone about giving lessons in schools, his pocket-fiddle
under his arm.

In 1848, after many vicissitudes, he opened a dancing-school at the
Hotel de Normandie, which suddenly had a great success. The aristocracy
and society generally thronged to his rooms. He very soon made a
fortune, which soon melted away in his hands. It was at this stage of his

MARKOWSKI

303

career that, as director of the Enghien balls, he gave a brilliant fete, which
was long remembered, in the establishment he managed.

A BALL IN 1830
From a Print of ibc Period

The entertainment in question was a pantomime of Robert the Devil,
performed by the light of Bengal fire. The effect was extraordinary, the
crowd immense, so much so
that certain journalists, who had
been unable to get in, mounted
a poplar-tree in order to give
an account of the spectacle.
The receipts amounted to
37,000 francs.

Markowski afterwards
created the magnificent El
Dorado of the Rue Duphot, and
lived in great luxury, but his
career was full of ups and
downs, of lights and shadows.
Shortly afterwards, his effects
were seized, and his furniture
and carriages sold by auction.

From 1851 to 1857 he was
sunk in the deepest poverty,
and he who had known wealth,

who had been seen in the Hois daily with a carriage and servants in livery,
was neglected aiui lor^ken.

PROM CCLI.AMK>
After A lithograph try Vcrrccr

*o4

A HISTORY OF DANCING

He lodged in a cold and wretched garret, and slept on a heap of
shavings ; no landlord would let him a flat, for he had nothing to
offer as security for his rent ; he was insolvent. And each time he
appeared on the stage he was virulently attacked in the press. One evening
he danced at a charity ball at Ranelagh, poorer himself than those for

whom the fete was
given, for he had eaten
nothing since the day
before. Returning to
his miserable den,
some four kilometres
distant, through the
darkness, shivering
under an icy wind,
the soles of his boots
came off" as he waded
through the mud.
Poor Markowski
thought it lucky that
this accident had not
befallen him at Rane-
lagh in the middle of
his brilliant perform-
ance.

And it was during
this time uf loneliness
and poverty that he
composed his finest dances. Shivering with fever on his pallet, and racked
with the cough he never lost after the memorable night at Ranelagh, he
created the Schottische, the Sicilienne. the Friska, the Lisbonienne, and,
above all, the Mazurka, the success of which was nearly equal to that of the
Polka.

Markowski at last found his capitalist, M. Covary, who placed all his
fortune, three thousand francs, at his disposal for the decoration and
arrangement of the saloons of the Rue Buffault, a place of entertainment

A RALL IN 1830
After a Lithograph of the Period

MARKOWSKI

organised for the demi-monde and Bohemia, but where the flower of the
aristocracy and of the arts was often to be encountered. Marlcowski,
with three thousand francs in hand for the preparation of his rooms,
promptly" spent sixty thousand. His creditors — numerous enough in all
conscience ! — were alarmed, and began to dun him. One fine day a
policeman arrived to carry him off to Clichy. Markowslci fled through

THE MAtV VTtUUH vfAUkll.UC

After a Lithograph by Eugene Limy

his dwelling, the policeman after him, and, the better to escape, made for a
dark narrow staircase leading to the offices. The policeman stumbled, and
rolled to the bottom of the staircase. He declared in court that he had
been enticed into an ambush, and an inquiry was held, which proved the
professor's innocence.

Throughout all his misfortunes the kindliness of this man, who had
suffered so bitterly, and whose friends had deserted him in adversity,
remained unchanged. His warmth of heart is attested by innumerable
traits.

ifl

}o6

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Markowski's public consisted in a great measure of foreigners, English-
men, Wallachians, &c, with a few artists and men of letters. Among the
writers occasionally to be seen in his rooms were Villemessant, Gustave
Claudin, Roger de Beauvoir, Murger, Lambert Thiboust, &c.

Markowski gave his farewell entertainment in the Rue BufFault in 1863.

The hall had been requisi-
tioned in view of the exten-
sion of the Rue de Lafayette.
Markowski's star had set.

Catherine de' Medici
created Cours-la-Reine, be-
tween the road to Versailles
along the Seine, and certain
waste lands. In 1660 Louis
XIV. transformed those
waste-lands into the Champs
Elysees, and laid out a vast
quincunx on Lenotre's plans,
which crossed the high road
to Saint-Germain. Between
the Versailles and Saint-Germain roads a shady avenue was planted, to which
the name of Allee des Veuves was given.

pg By a curious irony of fate it was here that the Bal Mabille was established
about 1840, to become in time the rendezvous of fashionable women and
dandies.

At first it was nothing but a little rustic dancing-room, frequented by
ladies' maids and lackeys from the Faubourg Saint-Honore. It was lighted
by oil-lamps, and the visitors danced to the music of a clarionet.

This upper-servants' ball-room, which was only open in the summer
months, was managed by Mabille the elder. He was a dancing master, who
also held dances at the Hotel d'Aligre, Rue Saint-Honore, which had a
certain vogue. Mabille's son transformed the establishment, replacing the
smoky lamps by gas, introducing a lively orchestra, suppressing the ticket-
collectors, who took payment for each Quadrille before it began, and closing
the establishment on Mondays, the popular day, to open it on Saturdays.

-11

/^^■l <l ^Br^K v .

■BHBL.jH^r^' .

■m,

-11L ^f^^W

i I

■'

■ •- MM [

After a Lithograph by Henri Monnier

MABILLE

307

All the feminine public of the Quartier des Martyrs and the Chaussee
d'Antin flocked to it, and the footmen and ladies' maids disappeared.

The Bal Mabille had become fashionable.

Everybody knows Mabille ; the memory of its merry balls has not yet

THB WAITI

After a Lithocraph by J. Dirid

died out ; it remains a legend of careless gaiety, full of the songs and
laughter of its whilom poets, its ephemeral kings and queens :

" Pomarc, Maria,
Mogador et Clara,
A mc* ycux enchantes
Apparaiucz, chutes divinitcs!
C'ctt tamedi dam le jardin Mabille ;
Vous vous livrcz a de joycux (5bat».
Cot la qu'on trouve unc gahc tranquillc,
Et dc» vertui qui nc tc donncnt pat."

Such was its popularity that Charles de Boignc devoted an article to it

308

A HISTORY OF DANCING

in the serious Constitutionnel, glorifying the kings of the ball, Chicard,

Pritchard and Brididi.

The following passage occurs in a little book of the period :

" In the steppes of Russia, in the green and trackless prairies of America, on the heights
of Chimborazo, or by the waters of the Araoor, in the lands ot the dawn and the sunset, in

strange unknown regions, let
but some being with a human
face and voice pronounce this
word, ' Mabille ! ' and he will
perhaps see a Laplander or a
Yankee, a Red Indian, a
Chinese, or a Caracan spring
to his feet and dance a few
steps of a pas seul ; the whole
world knows something of the
spot.

"This corner of Parisian
soil, where the flowers die,
poisoned by the emanations of
gas-jets, where no blossom is
born, where the air fades all it
fans, where the turf is yellow
and the foliage blue, has greater
fascinations for misguided man
than the perfumed gardens of
Asia, where roses bloom perennially, than the snowy peaks, whose pure air gives new life to
the exhausted, than fertile meadows, than dense forests. . . . He is drawn to it from every
quarter of the globe, a smile on his lips if he be rich and disdainful, a pang at heart if he be
poor; but, in either case, he comes.

"There the prince elbows the hairdresser, the ambassador the cook ; there you and I
jostle somebodies and nobodies, and worse than nobodies. ... So that, later in life, when
we are advocates or notaries in France, generals in Bolivia, princes in Brazil, consuls in
America, merchants in China, or free lances at large, we shiver when we read the word
' Mabille ' on the newspaper in which some old boots are wrapped, recalling those nights
of noise and fever."

Pritchard, one of the kings of Mabille, an inimitable dancer, was
eccentricity incarnate, enigma made man. He was a muscular fellow of
about five feet six, taciturn and sepulchral, always dressed in black, which
gave an added comicality to his extravagant dancing. Once he spoke, once
only, relapsing into a silence as of the tomb. It was at the Opera Ball,
when he was expelled by the police for an over-suggestive dance. He
opened his lips to claim damages !

FAITHFfL AS A POLE !

After a Lithograph by Raffet (1833)

THE DANCER PRITCHARD

309

Some said he was a doctor, some that he was an apothecary or a writing-
master, others that he was a Protestant minister, and others again that he
was an undertaker's coachman. As a fact, no one was able to clear up the
mystery that hung about the saturnine Pritchard.

" Take Pritchard by any end you please," said E. de Champeaux, " run
your eye over his Briarean arms from the shoulder to the tips of his dirty
nails, take the carelessly knotted
cravat from off his neck, ex-
plore the depths of a mouth
defended by two formidable
rows of false teeth, follow the
irregular lines of his bony
profile, look into the wide
nostrils of his enormous nose,
peep under the glasses of his
spectacles, and try to seize in
their passage one of those
sardonic gleams that flash
beneath his heavy eyebrows ;
examine even the soles of his
boots, which it is his habit to
raise to the level of his vis-a-
vis' face in the Quadrille, and
you will know no more of him
than before. Champollion may
decipher hieroglyphs, but he
could not tell us who is this
man whose manners resemble

no one's, whose dancing is his own, who never speaks to a living soul, whom
every one wishes to see, and who seems to be wrapped up in himself, to smile
at his mental asides, and to enjoy his triumphs without betraying a trace of
emotion. Further, in spite of the name that has been given him, and which
does not seem to displease him at all, there is reason to believe him a very
good fellow; his kind heart reveals itself constantly, for he is the providence
of the two or three ugly girls who take it into their heads to appear

MGOLKTTO

After a Lithograph by Adolphc

3io

A HISTORY OF DANCING

occasionally at Mabille, as if to give shade to the picture ; no one dreams
of asking them to dance ; but Pritchard appears ; he circles for some time
round the ugliest among them, like a vulture about to seize his prey :
finally, having singled out the smallest and plainest of the lot, he advances
with a little conquering air, and utters his formula in the tone peculiar to

himself : ' Will you dance ? '
The lady does not keep him
long expectant, he hooks his
partner on to his arm, as
Mere Michel hooks her bas-
ket, and leads her rapidly
from one Quadrille to
another, until he finds space
enough to give himself up to
all the delirium of a pedes-
trian improvisation, a series
of gymnastics which have
something in common both
with the danees of the Iowan
Indians and the Bourree of
Saint Flour."

Chicard, another famous
Mabille dancer, was the very
antithesis of Pritchard. His
rubicund, open face was always
beaming with smiles. He danced in a very unceremonious fashion, displaying
a portly paunch, his coat-tails flying, his hat at the back of his head. He was
the type of the good fellow, the jovial boon companion, shouting to Pilodo
from the middle of the room in stentorian tones : " Mais allons, done,
V amour ! " and following up his speech with sonorous peals of laughter. He
was a child of Romanticism, a creature of plumes, red waistcoats, and high-
sounding phrases. It was he who always gave the signal for the most
delirious waltzes at the Opera Balls. It was he who invented the Cancan.

Brididi, like Pritchard, was a king at Mabille. He was the best dancer
of all, the most elegant, the most graceful, the most indefatigable. It is

BALL OF THE SONS OF MARS

After a Lithograph by Vernier

QUEEN POMARE

supposed that Eugene Sue, who had so much reason to love Mabille, had
Brididi in his mind when he created the poetic character of Rodolphe.

" Indeed," says E. de Champeaux, " if all the current rumours are to be
believed, Brididi is nothing less than a sovereign prince, who has come to
Paris on purpose to analyse the Polka, and form an opinion upon the
Mazurka, and high kicking in
general ! "

After the kings, we turn to
the queens. The most famous
of these was the so-called Queen
Pomare, whose real name was
Elise Sergent. She belonged
to a family employed at the
Olympic Circus. She started
in life as a circus-rider, it
seems, but that was not her
vocation.

"One evening in May,
1844," says Delvau, in his
Cytheres Paris'ienties, " a young
woman, whose beauty and cos-
tume had both a strange, exotic
cast, appeared in one of the
Quadrilles at Mabille. She had

abundant black hair, the olive complexion of the Creole, a white dress, less
decolltiet than those affected by honest women, tasteful beads and bracelets.
She began to dance the Polka, then the fashionable novelty, with a supple-
ness, a grace, and a fire that at once attracted a crowd of admirers, as the
light attracts the moths. It was evident that she was entirely untaught,
and that she was improvising the attitudes and steps of the supposed Polka
she was dancing ; but it was this very ignorance, combined with her dazzling
beauty, which made her so original, and ensured her fame. That evening
she was greeted with thunders of applause from voices, hands, feet and
chairs, everything that could express enthusiasm ; the feminine glories of
the place paled before her ; a rival star had risen.

THI ML'MCirAL Cl'AKUS BALL

After a Lithograph by Vernier

JI2

A HISTORY OF DANCING

" Whence did she come, this stranger, who was thus acclaimed ? No

one knows, no one ever knew.
' Her mother was a princess,
her father a Roman prince,'
said those who want no
credentials from a beautiful
woman.

" The new-comer, who pre-
sented herself at Mabille that
evening under the modest name
of Elise Sergent, left it with
the title of Queen Pomare.
. . . Thus do we improvise
royalties in our pleasant land
of France."

This name made her for-
tune, her reputation became

MONTESQUIEU. A LIVELY l'OLKA

After a Lithograph by Vernier

European :

her

" Mais toujours, chose ctrangc, au milieu de la joie,
Elle garde un sinistre aspect d'oiseau de proic,
Elle mele au plaisir un funcbre flambeau,
Aux suaves parfums un odeur de tombeau."

The charming poet, Theodore de Bauville, addressed these verses to

" Elssler, Taglioni, Carlotta, soeurs divines.
# # # #

O reines du ballet, toutes les trois si belles,

Qu'un Homcre ebloui fcra nymphes un jour,
Ce n'est plus vous la danse : allons, coupez vos ailes,
Eteignez vos regards ; ce n'est plus vous l'amour.

" C'est notre Pomare dont la danse fantasque,
Avec ses tordions frissonnants et penches,
Aiguillonne a present comme un tambour de basque,
Les rapides lutteurs a sa robe attaches."

QUEEN POM ARE' jij

The ambition which devoured her cast a shadow on her brow. It was
her ruin. She made her debut at the Palais-Royal, where she danced the
Polka, and was outrageously hissed. For a time after this she lived
obscurely in Paris, and this queen of a day died poor and forsaken in a
house of the Rue d* Amsterdam.

THE ELITE or HAB1LLE AT Vl*v-Li -*KC

After a Lithograph by Vernier

2 R

RANELAGH, PARIS

After a Lithograph of 1840

CHAPTER XI

'Public "Balls— Ranelagh— The Chaumiere—The Sceaux 'Ball— The Trado — The
Delta — The Chateau-Rouge — The lie a" dmour — L'Ortie and Les dcacias
— The Mars— The Victoire—The Bourdon— The 'Bal des Chiens—The
Montesquieu — The Valentino — The Jardin d'Hiver — The Lac Saint-Fargeau —
The Grand Saint-Martin and the T)escente de la Courtille — The Closerie des
Lilas — Bullier

IE have seen the dances of the nobility, dances of decorative
steps and statuesque attitudes rather than of movement, dis-
appear one by one during the latter half of the eighteenth
century. But the Revolution popularised and thus com-
pletely metamorphosed dancing. The proud Minuet and the chilly Country
Dance were replaced by the graceful and charming Waltz, soon to be
followed by eccentric dances such as the dishevelled Cancan. Hitherto the

DANCING PLACES IN PARIS

only dancing, save that of the Court and the theatre, had been the jigging
and stamping of the country tavern, the leafy arcade, the village green,
where noble and burgher appeared but rarely. In certain rustic fetes (such
as the Flemish Kermess, immortalised by Teniers) a tradition of the
Bacchanalia seemed to survive.

About 1793, certain speculators, shrewdly appreciative of new chore-

LA HKt, 01 THE ALLIES, AT TIVOLI

graphic tendencies, conceived the idea of providing Paris with public
gardens. Successively there sprang into existence the Jardin Boutin (the
old Tivoli),* the Champs Elysees, the Elysee Bourbon, Marbceuf, the Pare

This occupied a great space at the foot of the Rue de Clichy, on the present site
of the Rue de Londrcs and the Passage Tivoli. Here all that 'fun of the fair' which is
even to this day the delight of the patrons of the Kermess, was to be had in abundance.
Hither resorted the gilded youth of the Directory with their tadtntttts, or long plaited love-
locks. Here Madame Tallien led her train of litcrtjablei and (Mtrvtilltux. Which of us
has not heard some ancestral relative dilate upon the joys of this earthly paradise, and
especially upon the emotions inspired in our grandmothers by the then novel delights of
the CWtntsgsus runts." — 'Paris qui dan it.)

"All the boudoirs of Flora are open, and the vast and beautiful Tivoli invites an
eager crowd of Parisian sweethearts to the shades of its groves. Long has this delightful place
been a favourite haunt of the most charming society. Trumpets and fireworks announce
the prelude of the Jilt. Already the merriment has begun — under the trees, on the green

Jl6

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Monceaux, the Hameau de Chantilly, Frascati, the Jardin d'Isis, the Salon
de Mars, the Salon de Flore, and many others.

So numerous were they that a song of the day ran as follows :

"A Paphos on s'ennuic,
On deserte Monceau,
Le Jardin d'Idalie,

Voit s'enfuir ses oiseaux ;

A GROUT OF WAI.TZERS
From a Print of the Restoration Period

Dc la foule abusce,
J'ai vu les curieux,

Bailler dans l'Elysce

Comme dcs bienhcurcux."

lawn, beside the brook, in the paths of the great flower-garden. Some linger under the
lindens to applaud Oliver and his tricks, the magician and his oracles, the big elephant and
his driver, the parroquet and her old master. Nimble and volatile youth tosses the shuttle-
cock, or flies through the air on the see-saw, the wooden horse, and the merry-go-round.

"But the signal is given ; the orchestra is ready ; it strikes up a dance beloved of the
fair ; and shrubbery and grove, and all else are deserted. Hands join and hearts beat ;
happy pairs set to each other and are off. Pleasure animates the lady and love the gallant,
and the Graces inspire attitude and step. The Waltz quickens, becomes more
absorbing. . . . And overhead young Saqui walks the air on his tight-rope, and Ruggieri,
the dexterous pyrotechnist, illuminates all with his marvels." — (Anonymous author, quoted
by Alfred Delvau in his Cytheres Parisiennes.)

RANELAGH IN PARIS

3»7

The Ranelagh was among the first public balls of the close of the
eighteenth century. A gatekeeper of the Bois de Boulogne, doubtless aware
of the success of a similar

entertainment in London,
opened a public dancing-
place on the lawns of Passy
in 1774, and gave it the
name of Ranelagh. The
Controller of Lakes and
Forests was strongly opposed
to the opening of the estab-
lishment. It caused a great
commotion in high places,
and Parliament annulled the
concession made to the gate-
keeper by the Prince de
Soubise, governor of La
Muette. But Marie-Antoin-
ette was on the side of the
dancers, and the licence was
finally ratified.

Ranelagh was aristocratic
and fashionable. Madame

Rccamier and Madame Tallien (" Our Lady of Thermidor ") paraded
there, clothed in "the Athenian fashion," that is to say, in gowns of
gauze slit down the sides from hip to ankle, so as to show a good deal
of the person, and two gold rings encircling the thighs.

" D'un tissu trop clair, trop lcgcr,

Cct belles Grccqucs sont vctucs ;
Un souffle pcut le dcrangcr,

Et nous les montrcr toutes nucs.
Aux ycux, souvent, un voile adroit

Promct unc bcautl divine ;
Rarement la forme qu'on voir,

Vaut celle que Ton devinc."

THE I'KAUO. A SOLEMN MOMENT
After a Lithograph by Vernier

Ranelagh was closed during the Revolution, and did not reopen till

3i8 A HISTORY OF DANCING

1796. It renewed its earlier successes, but declined again in 18 14, only,
however, to attain unequalled prosperity under the Restoration, under
Louis Philippe, under the Second Republic, and under the Second Empire.
In 1849, ^e manager celebrated the seventy-fourth anniversary of its
opening by a grand evening fete for its frequenters. He also gave a great
annual ball for the benefit of the poor of Passy. This was preceded by a
concert, in which appeared distinguished artists such as M. and Madame
Lefebure-Wely.

Being a good way from the centre of Paris, Ranelagh was available only
to such dancers as were rich enough to keep on hire a carriage. All this
was changed by the opening of the railway to Auteuil. Then a new public
poured in — tradespeople, grisettes, clerks, students — and society turned
its back on the place ; its palmy days were over. Nicholas II. alighted at
Ranelagh station when he visited Paris in 1896.

A little book, very rare nowadays, describes how, about 1788, an
Englishman called Tinkson raised certain thatched sheds near the Observa-
tory, where he organised a ball. The originality of this rustic creation
drew the crowd. At a later date Tinkson, now in partnership with a
neighbouring restaurant-keeper, replaced these sheds by a large and
ostentatious hall — the Grande Chaumiere.

Tinkson, denounced in 1793 to the revolutionary tribunal as a suspect,
was forced to flee the country. The fate of his partner is unknown ; but
eventually we find the great-granddaughter of this restaurant-keeper married
to the famous Lahire, who won for the Chaumiere the great popularity it
enjoyed so long. The management of M. Lahire dates from 1840.

"A three-headed dog," says our brochure, "kept watch at the gates of hell ; a monster
of seven heads forbade approach to the Golden Fleece ; but the Chaumiere possesses in
Pere Lahire a guardian who, without being dog or dragon, has much in common with
these famous classical warders. Pere Lahire has an eagle's eye, in itself worth all the eyes
of Argus. At his post when the ball begins, majestic of stature, an imposing presence, he
nips every tendency to disorder in the bud. Would you steal a kiss in the 'first figure,'
would you be skittish in the 'set to partners,' would you 'galop' like a lunatic?
Beware, Lahire ! His voice thunders. You must restrain your ardour : quick of foot as of
eye, he wiil kick you out in a trice. He is wine-merchant as well as proprietor of the
Chaumiere. Bacchus and Terpsichore join hands: this double business has brought him a
large fortune and a notable portliness.

THE CHAUMIERE

?i9

" He loves peace and order ; he reigns without pomp, and even with a certain grace of
voice and gesture, which inspires respect and goodwill."

Gavarni, the great artist and humorist, has said : " The Chaumiere
is a big garden, where young
folks go of a Sunday to
enjoy sacred music after
vespers. You hear your
music as you stroll through
bower and thicket, or be-
tween flower-beds, or on
green grass among daisies
and wild roses, with some
fair piece of frivolity leaning
against your shoulder. Under
starry gas-jets this sacred
music will presently excite
the wild Cancan, that is
continually setting the
authorities and the dancers
at odds."

Our little book tells us more of this Cancan, which it calls the French
Cachucha :

m IHACMIBRE. A SK.NTIMfcMA:

After a lithograph by Vernier

** The invasion of France by the Castilian Cachucha will prove a no less momentous
historical fact than the first importation of the potato. . . . Some day folks will say : A
Duke of Orleans succeeded to the throne during the reign of the Cachucha. I am not
here to chronicle Pctitpa or Mabillc, nor any of those ballet-dancers who follow mechani-
cally geometrical figures chalked on a stage ; nor am I here to eulogise the Taglionis, the
Fanny Elsslcrs, the Crisis, who obey cast-iron regulations, who permit themselves no
pirouette, no gesture, no step, which is not measured and calculated beforehand : I
celebrate the free and buoyant student, who follows his own inspiration, and the griitttt
whose unstudied movements speak frankly of pleasure and love.

" As the music strikes up, the student falls academically into position — left foot forward,
head on one side, back curved, right arm round his partner. She, her left hand on his
shoulder, clings to him like an amaranth to a palm-tree. With the right hand she pulls
forward a fold of her dress, while her scarf, drawn tightly round her figure, defines its
contours with provocative exactness.

"They are off! It is a helter-skelter of bewildering dash, of electrifying enthusiasm.

po A HISTORY OF DANCING

One dancer leans languidly over, straightening himself again with vivacity ; another races
the length of the ball-room, stamping with pleasure. This girl darts by as if inviting a fall,
winding up with a saucy, coquettish skip ; that other passes and repasses languidly, as if
melancholy and exhausted ; but a cunning bound now and then, and a febrile quiver,
testify to the keenness of her sensations and the voluptuousness of her movements. They
mingle, cross, part, meet again, with a swiftness and fire that must have been felt to be
described.

"Plutarch defined the dancing of his time as a silent assembly, a speaking picture;
what then shall we call the Cancan ? It is a total dislocation of the human body, by which
the soul expresses an extreme energy of sensation. The French Cachucha is a super-
human language,' not of this world, learnt assuredly from angels or from demons."

How many elderly magistrates, notaries, ministers even — for there have
been so many ! — who have retired to the safe obscurity of the provinces,
still remember the stupendous nights of the Chaumiere ! The memory of
that joyous Bohemian time haunts them like a dream ; it warms them more
than the sunshine that plays about their white hair. They have all been
there, those makers and administrators of the law, barristers, physicians,
surgeons ! That bizarre haunt has been frequented by the elect and by the
outcast ; it has seen both the future and the past.

The Sceaux Ball was opened in 1795, under the chestnuts of the park
that had sheltered the castle of the Duchesse du Maine. Generations have
danced under those venerable trees. Muscadins, Incroyables, Merveilleux,
men and women of the Directory, of the Empire, of the Restoration, h|ve
vied with each other there in the extravagance of their costumes. Towards
the end of the Second Empire, this ball, its splendour finally eclipsed, had
become the haun't of the grocer and the market-gardener.

The Prado, one of the most fashionable of pleasure resorts early in the
century, had once re-echoed to sacred songs. It occupied the site of the
church of Saint Barthelemy, a royal parish. A theatre replaced the church,
a masonic lodge succeeded the theatre, and a dancing-room the masonic
temple.

Dating from 1810, the Prado dancing-saloon prospered for about fifty
years, and then made way for the long robe, that is to say, for the Tribunal
de Commence. \

The Prado was hidden away in one of the most picturesque corners of
old Paris, in the malodorous Passage de Flore, between the Marche aux

THE HERMITAGE

*2I

Fleurs and the site of the pillory, near the Conciergerie and Notre Dame,

and the Morgue — among convicts and judges, death and flowers ! One got

to the Prado by following a long covered passage, terminating in a wide

stone staircase that led to the hall. This hall was divided into two separate

parts, the Rotonde and the

Grand Salon. The rotunda

was reserved for students

and grisettes; in the great

saloon were to be seen,

every Monday and Thursday,

the choregraphic celebrities

of the time — Clara Fontaine,

Mogador, Louise la Baloch-

euse, Rose Pompon, Mala-

koff", Jeanne la Juive, &c. —

who performed eccentric

dances to the music of an

orchestra conducted by

Pilodo.

Who now remembers the
Delta, popular from 1815
till the Restoration ? And
many others, the very names

of which are forgotten. Lugele Veneres Cupidinesque ! The Hermitage
dancing saloon, founded in 1815.an old bal de barriere, the delight of clerks
and grisettes until 1862, is already a memory of the past. " The garden,"
says Dclvau, " with its trees, that gave such a cheerful air to the Boulevard
des Martyrs, had shady nooks in which to drink the traditional March beer
and munch the famous crumbly three-cornered puff. The orchestra was not
numerous, but big enough for the frequenters of the place, who were not
exacting. Male and female, they came there to frolic ; and frolic they did,
with merry hearts and legs, to the sound of a fiddle, a clarionet, and perhaps
a cornet a piston. Later on, not to be behind the times, the orchestra was
reinforced by a few other wind and string instruments, which did no
harm.

KASM.AGH. AN ARISTCKTRATIC POLKA

After a Lithograph by Vernier

}22

A HISTORY OF DANCING

" Having shone under the Restoration, under Louis Philippe, under the
Republic, and under the Empire, with varying fortunes and a changing
public, the Hermitage disappeared in 1862. Its trees were cut down, its
groves delivered over to the spoiler, its orchestra demolished ; solid six-
storeyed houses, like those of
the Rue de Rivoli, arose where
the garden had been.

" ' La-bas, la-bas, tout au bout de la

tcrre,
II existait dans la rue Clignan-

court
Un gai chateau ou s'amusaicnt

nos peres.
Ah ! mes amis, regrettons-le

toujours.' "

The Chateau-Rouge occupied
the site of a former residence of
the beautiful Gabrielle d'Estrees,
on the summit of the Butte
Clignancourt. In 18 14 its
orchestra was silenced by
artillery and musketry ; it
became the headquarters of
King Joseph, Napoleon's brother, when he was President of the Council of
Defence. From one of its upper windows, the Brigade-major of the
National Guard and Director of the Depot of Fortification of Paris studied
the movements of the besieging Allies. When, after some time, its balls
again re-opened, they were continued till 1848, the date of the first reform
banquet. The establishment disappeared upon the opening up of the
Boulevard Ornano.

About 1830, the Chateau-Rouge was in its glory. Every Saturday,
fireworks illuminated the gloomy Butte, and the neighbouring citizens with
their families enjoyed the gratuitous show — from the outside. And three
times a week, fashionable Paris climbed the hill to amuse itself.

THE CHAUM1KKE

After a Lithograph by Vernier

LES ACACIAS

323

Many another dancing saloon prospered between 1830 and 1850.
There was the He
d' Amour :

"L'lle d'Amour
Est un amour d'ile,
L'lle d'Amour,
C'est un chouette sejour.
Flaneurs du faubourg,
Flaneurs de la villc,
Venez a l'lle d'Amour,
C'est un chouette sejour ! "

So ran a song of the
day. To the He went
dandies in Bolivar hats
and Souvaroff boots, to
meet elegant ladies in
spencers, their powdered
hair brushed back and tied
in bobs on the napes of
their neck, a lenfant, or
crowned perhaps by the

high poke-bonnet and plumes of the chapeau a la girafe. The He
d'Amour was installed beyond the old barrier of Belleville, near the Rue
Rigolo, in an odd-looking house since displaced by the town-hall of
Belleville.

The ball variously named the Astic, the Acacias, or the Reine-Blanche
was frequented, between 1830 and 1850, by some great artists and their
models. Meissonier, Daubigny, Daumier, Cham, Staal, and Bertall were
often seen here. Another habituie of the place was the beautiful Jewess
who sat for Fame in Paul Delaroche's fresco, Fame distributing Crowns,
which decorates the hemicycle of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. At this time
each public ball (and Delvau counts sixty-three) had its special features and
its special public.

At the Mars, and at the Victoire, near the Military School, soldiers

RANELACH

After a Lithograph by Vernier

324

A HISTORY OF DANCING

danced disorderly Cancans with partners of a non-vestal type. The
Bourdon, installed in a tavern called the Elysee des Arts, had, prior to
1848, a short popularity with the artistic frequenters of the Astic. Later,
it was the resort of the youth of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and of Jews.
The Bal des Chiens was a Cythera of the populace which flourished about

1840 in the Rue St. Honore.
This is how Gerard de Nerval
describes it :

" The old hand exclaims, ' Are
you coming in ? it's a lively
place ! ' And so indeed it is !
The house, which is approached
by a long alley, is like an antique
gymnasium. Here youth finds all
that is needed to develop its muscles
— and its wits : on the ground-
floor a cafe and billiard-room, on
the first floor our ball-room, on
the second a fencing and boxing
saloon, on the third a daguerreo-
type studio.

" But at night there is no
question of the gloves or of
portraits. A deafening brass
band, led by M. Hesse, nicknamed Decati, draws us irresistibly towards
the ball-room. We fight our way through hawkers of biscuits and
cakes to a sort of vestibule, where are tables at which we are privileged
to demand a glass of something in exchange for our twenty-five centime
tickets.

" And now we perceive pillars among which flit merry parties of dancers.
And we must not smoke, for smoking is forbidden save in the vestibule.
So we throw away our cigars, which are promptly picked up by young men
less fortunate than we. Yet things might be worse : there are certain
deficiencies of costume no doubt ! — but then this is what they call in Vienna
an undress ball. Let us not be too proud : the women here are as good

MLLE. NOBLET

After a Lithograph of 1830

DANCING SALOONS OF THE POPULACE

325

as lots of others ; and, as to the men, we may parody Alfred de Musset in
Les Derviches Turcs, and say of them :

"'Ne lcs derange pas, ils t'appellcraient chitn :
Ne lcs insulte pas, car ils te valcnt bien."

"Good society is dull compared with this. The large hall is- painted
yellow. Respectable visi-
tors lean against the
pillars, under the 'No
smoking ' placards, and
only expose their chests
to the elbows, their toes
to the tramplings of
waltzers and galopists.
When dancing intermits
there is a rush to the
tables. About eleven
o'clock the work - girls
go home, making way
for women from the
theatres, the music-halls,
and such like. The
orchestra strikes up with
renewed vigour for this
new audience, and does
not give over till mid-
night."

We have seen a dancing-hall replace a church ; we may now note
the Montesquieu dancing-rooms transformed into a restaurant, a Bouillon
Duval, the first of its kind, in 1854. This hall was one of the largest and
finest in Paris, but frequented only by the dregs of the populace.

The Valentino was somewhat better ordered, but nothing to boast of ;
it prospered exceedingly during the concerts and masquerades got up by
Musard.

"The Barthclemy," says Delvau, " was known originally as the Ball of

HLUE. • ICOTTIKI

After a Lithograph of 1830

326

A HISTORY OF DANCING

the Turnip-fields. It was probably so called because its promoter had
chosen for the dancing of the youth of the Temple quarter a waste, sandy,
uncultivated bit of ground where nothing would grow but weeds or turnips.
Here, in a rickety wooden shed, waltzing went on as merrily in fine
weather as on a polished floor ; but when it rained, the roof leaked, and

there was mud underfoot,
and the provident dancer
protected his partner's
dress with an umbrella.
It was a very primitive
affair — just the thing for
its patrons.

" Despite, or because
of its imperfections, it was
much resorted to by the
grisettes of the Boulevard
du Temple and the quar-
ters adjacent. New build-
ings, however, including
the barracks, ousted the
old dancing - shed ; the
owner of which, not to
be too far away from his
patrons, built a hall more
adapted to modern needs
in the Rue du Chateau d'Eau : thus the Salle Barthelemy succeeded the
Champs des Navets.

" The new establishment tried hard for a while to be at once a ball-
room, a concert-hall, a theatre, and an opera-house, but at last made up its
mind to be merely a dancing-saloon — pretty well frequented on Sundays,
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Its winter balls have a special vogue
with certain classes of masqueraders : here are to be seen not only perrots
and pierrettes as at other balls, but also titis, chicards, and even balochards—
three types almost as extinct elsewhere as the mastodon and the mega-
losaurus.

'--V

THE CHAUMIERE

After a Lithograph by Cuj.is

THE CHATEAU DES FLEURS

327

" You, who have only a hearsay knowledge of the eccentricities of your
father's time, and who have not seen -xchicard of 1838 except in Gavarni's
sketches, go to a Barthelemy masquerade. There you will meet this modern
harlequin who has gone so far afield for his costume : his gauntlets belong
to Jean de Paris, his
breeches to the reign
of Louis XIII., his
waistcoat to Le Sage's
Turcaret, his epaulettes
to the National Guard,
his helmet to antiquity.
There, too, you will
find the balochard with
his blue smock-frock,
his red heavy- cavalry
trousers, and his grey
felt hat."

In 1856 there died
at Batignolles a man
who had enjoyed a
fleeting success — Victor
Bohan. To his in-
genious initiative we
owe the Winter Gar-
den. Fond of flowers,
and especially of the

dahlia, it occurred to him to build a great glass conservatory, duly
heated, in which exotic flowers should bloom despite of snow or storm
outside. He carried out his idea, but no permanent success attended
the concerts and masquerades of his fairy palace. His Castle of Flowers
had a prosperity almost as ephemeral as the bloom of its roses, and this
notwithstanding that Cellarius appeared here (during the Exhibition of
1855) with his troupe of dancing -girls, that Musard shook the glass
roof with an orchestra a hundred and twenty strong, that Olivier
Mctra conducted, and the brothers Lionnet and Darcier appeared for

A DANCING LKSSON

After a Lithograph by Boucbot

328 A HISTORY OF DANCING

the first time at a concert. But this will suffice to keep its memory
green.

The Bal du Vieux Chene was long-lived ; doubtless its name was lucky.
Its roses could not wither, for no rose bloomed in the shadow of the Old
Oak. A special society exercised its muscles here nightly, in the stagnant

and nauseating atmosphere of
the back-room of a wine-shop
of the Rue Mouffetard.

"The frequenters of the
Vieux Chene," says Delvau,
the great authority on popular
dancing-saloons, " are of that
truly sinister Parisian breed
which shoots up from the
paving-stones and the gutter
— the breed that Victor Hugo
has personified, and striven to
idealise, in Gavroche. Here
swarm Gavroches, Montpar-
nasses, and Claquesous, with
their Eponines and Fantines —
blackguards of fourteen and
trulls of twelve — boys who
have never known childhood
and girls who have never known innocence — every one of them on the
straight road to transportation or the House of Correction, food for
Cayenne and Saint-Lazare. The Faubourg Saint-Marceau does not set
itself up to furnish Paris with Joans of Arc or winners of the Montyon
prize, with models of conduct, or angels of virtue ! "

It was not safe to enter in a coat. The blouse was the thing, and the
characteristic black silk cap. Nor was this enough. The famous casquette
had to be worn just right, flattened to a nicety, not tilted too much back-
wards, or forwards, or to one side. Then, too, the visitor had to make up
his face a little, to affect a horny hand and dirty nails, to be master of the
catchwords of his company. If, in spite of all this, he betrayed himseif, it

A MINUET

After a Lithograph by Gavarni

LA DESCENTE DE LA COURTILLE

i 29

behoved him to make himself scarce as quickly as possible, for there was an
open clasp-knife in every pocket.

We turn now to the Lac Saint-Fargeau. On the plateau of Belleville, on
the site of a former Pare Saint-Fargeau, an old carpenter, the father of
fourteen lusty sons, owned a workshop and a piece of ground. In the
midst of his territory was a
limpid lake, fed by an in-
visible spring. The depth
was unknown, no sounding
had reached to the bottom.
According to popular tra-
dition, a woman, given over
to a hopeless passion, had
wept so abundantly here that
her tears had filled a yawning
chasm, into which she finally
threw herself. About 1850,
the carpenter's shop was
turned into a dancing-saloon,
which took its name from
the lake. The owner con-
structed merry-go-rounds and
a switch-back railway, and an
artificial island. The clerks,

mechanics, and market-gardeners or the neighbourhood rowed on the lake,
mounted the wooden horses, or danced frantically in the saloon.

Not far off" was the hamlet of La Courtille — an ill-famed place.
Visitors, it was said, were murdered there nightly, while those who escaped
with life were robbed. There was much exaggeration in all this. Probably
the workmen of the neighbourhood discouraged the attentions of well-
dressed strangers to the workwomen of La Courtille rather roughly.

It was from the dancing-saloon and tavern called the Grand Saint-Martin,
situated on the slope below the Lac Saint-Fargeau, that a famous carnival
procession, called the Dcscente de la Courtille, set out every year for Paris.

The Grand Saint-Martin belonged at that time to Desnoycz, one of

THE CARNIVAL

After a Lithograph by Gavarai

A HISTORY OF DANCING

the celebrities of Paris. Around his establishment stood seven others of
various sorts, each of which contributed its quota of revellers to the pro-
cession. Of these seven, the most important was the Salle Favie, now used
for public meetings of a more decorous kind. The Grand Saint-Martin
faced the Salle Favie ; it was kept open night and day from Shrove Sunday

THE RUSSIAN MAZURKA. FIRST FIGURE

After a Lithograph by Guerard

till Ash Wednesday. During the Descente, which began at six on Ash
Wednesday morning, every window commanding the Rue de Paris was let at
a fabulous price.

It was the custom for masquers from all the public balls of Paris to
spend the last night of the Carnival at La Courtille, winding up by a
banquet of oysters and white wine at the Favie and the Grand Saint-Martin.
After the orgy, began the famous Descente, one of the most curious sights of
eccentric Paris, recalling the ancient Bacchanalia.

Lord Seymour, nicknamed Milord I' ' Arsouille (Lord Blackguard),

LA DESCENTE DE LA COURTILLE

3*>

and a rake if ever there was one, always attended this procession.
Standing up in a carriage, he used to scatter gold pieces right and left, done
up in paper like sugar-plums. When the procession made its usual halt at
the well-known restaurant Les Vendanges de Bourgogne, this God of the
Orgy, as Louis Bloch calls him, was to be found at an upper window,

THE RUSSIAN MAZURKA. SECOND MGVKK

After a Lithograph by Guerard

ladling red-hot guineas down upon the crowd. It was his delight to
hear the screams and maledictions of the women and starveling children
who flung themselves on this infernal manna, and were trodden under-
foot and wounded by the mob. It is impossible to describe certain
further excesses, which would revolt the reader ; they eventually forced the
authorities to suppress this survival of a barbarous age.

But long ere this was done, the proprietors of the two principal
establishments from which issued this stormy torrent of mud and tinsel
must have made large fortunes. It is related of Desnoyez that he had no

3p A HISTORY OF DANCING

time to count his takings at the Grand Saint-Martin. The money as it
came in was dropped into a funnel on the counter, terminating over a cask in
the cellar. When this funnel became choked, Desnoyez knew that his cask
was full. Then he went down and replaced it by another, leaving Madame
Desnoyez with a salad bowl into which, during the interval, each customer
paid his reckoning as he passed. The provisioning of this house was on a
correspondingly extensive scale. Five hundred hogsheads of wine stood
at one time in the cellar. Living oxen were bought for meat, every-
thing was made on the premises. Thirty-two wedding-parties were counted
in one day, all feasting at once in the Grand Saint-Martin. Desnoyez had
a brother who fell in Egypt, at the Battle of the Pyramids ; his name is
engraved on the Arc de Triomphe. " When a hero like Desnoyez falls,"
cried Kleber, " what must we do ? We must avenge him ! "

The Pre Catalan, opened in 1856, was short-lived, despite its Spanish
dances, its children's balls, its marionettes, its kiosks, and its aquariums.
It was admirably managed, and charmingly situated in the Bois de Boulogne,
but too far from the centre of Paris.

Contemporary with the Pre Catalan was the Folies-Robert, a ball with
distinctive and well-marked features. It consisted of- a large saloon,
regular in shape, and surrounded from floor to ceiling by Oriental or
Italian galleries. At the end of this was an unroofed hall, where dancing
went on in summer. The galleried hall was capable of holding some 1800
to 2000 guests, and here various foreign national dances, taught by the
manager to his pupils, were nightly performed with extraordinary energy.
The names of these dances were set forth on placards, displayed in pro-
minent parts of the building — the Fricassee, the Roberka, the Polichinelle,
the Gavotte, the Mariniere, the Russe, the Ecossaise, the Valse, the Polka,
the Redowa, the Schottische, the Mazurka, the Varsoviana, the Hongroise,
the Sicilienne, and various Oriental dances.

A whirlpool of dancers, and an incessant stream of dazzled visitors,
moved under the chandeliers of this imposing hall. Olivier Metra con-
ducted its orchestra for some time, and his waltz, Le 'Tour du <!Monde, was
first performed here.

About this time, that is to say in 1859, tne Casino Cadet was
founded on the site of the mansion successively occupied by Marshal

THE CASINO CADET

333

Clausel and by the Danish Minister. Arban conducted its orchestra, and
crowds were drawn to the place by the feminine celebrities whose resort it
was. Here were to be seen Rigolboche, Rosalba, Alice la Proven^ale,

■

?m%

if"

Bl^k ^P^^-

vtfci

■j

THE »A«1>L OX. AN

After G. Dor*

Finette, Nini Belles Dents — in short, all the satellites of Markowski and
Mabille. Along the walls of the Promenade hung full-length portraits of
Jenny Colas, Madame de Stael, Marie Dorval, the Duchesse d'Abrantes,
Rachel, Madame dc Girardin, Fanny Elsslcr, Madame de Genlis, Jenny
Vcrtprc, Madame Campan, Mademoiselle Mars, Madame Recamicr,

334

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Malibran, Mademoiselle Georges, Mademoiselle Duchesnois, and Madame
Boulanger.

" This Promenade," says Delvau, " is frequented by the higher heiairi
of Paris — by courtesans of every grade and variety. It is their Bourse :
they do business here."

The Casino Cadet had a branch establishment — the Casino dAsnieres —

established in a charm-
ing country house, in
a park of fine old full
trees.

"The midnight
departure for home of
all these dancers," con-
tinues Delvau, " is a
curious sight. Three
or four times a week,
at the same hour, they
crowd the Rue Cadet
and the adjacent streets,
and swarm into the
little railway - station,
imitating the cries of every zoological genus — the yelping of foxes, the
cheeping of chickens, the lowing of cattle," &c.

We will only mention the Bal du Grand Turc ; it was frequented
chiefly by Alsatians. It used to be in the Boulevard Barbes, and was a
merry place, despite the black clothes of the men, and the big bows of black
ribbon on their partners' heads.

The Bal de l'Elysee-Montmartre disappeared in 1894, after a career of
half a century. It was much patronised in its day, especially by artists and
literary people. La Goulue and Grille d'Egout were stars here. It is
mentioned in the Assommoir, for the great Zola did not overlook Bohemian
balls in his portraiture of the shady side of Parisian life.

" We remarked in this establishment," says M. Louis Bloch, " a fair-
haired girl of barely eighteen, emaciated and pale as death ; La Palotte
(Pale-Face) they called her. Apparently too weak to stand alone, she

MADILLE

From a Lithograph in the Conservatoire de la Danse Modcrne

DANCING SALOONS OF THE POPULACE

leaned on the arm of a young man, while the music of a stormy orchestra,

with an ear-splitting cornet a piston, shook the room. Suddenly, at a sign

from her companion, this corpse-like girl flung herself among the dancers.

She danced madly, indefatigably, with all the ardour of an enthusiastic

debutante, with a chance

cavalier whom she

picked up. Then she

drank five glasses of

chartreuse. After the

next dance — for she

danced every one, and

each with a new partner

— she drank a bowl of

mulled wine. And soon

after that, a glass of

American punch. All

this was quietly and

unobtrusively watched

from a corner by her

' friend,' the young man

who had sent her to

dance : his piercing dark eyes seemed to magnetise the girl. At last La

Palottc took her departure with an elderly man, whereupon the ' friend '

rose and followed the two."

The opening of the Moulin Rouge caused the Elysee-Montmartre to be
deserted.

But the public balls of the past are too many to mention ; we can
speak here only of the most remarkable. There was a second Reine
Blanche, installed, with grim originality, at the gate of the Montmartre
cemetery ; and there was the Boule Noire, a regular tavern ball in the
Rue des Martyrs. The Boule Noire was respectable only on Saturdays,
when the small shopkeepers of the neighbourhood resorted to it. As to the
Bal de la Cave, we will let Delvau describe it :

" The door opens and a descent yawns before us, dark as the pit.
Taking our courage in both hands in default of a banister, we stumble

GR1SKTTKS AND A STUDENT

From a Lithograph in the Cotutrvatoirt de la Danst Modcrme

336

A HISTORY OF DANCING

down a black and slippery stair. At the bottom we encounter strange
sounds and a still stranger odour. The sounds are those of a melancholy
fife and a strident violin, dominated by the sinister drone of a double-bass.
The odour is due to the smoke of a solitary oil-lamp and the fcetid
emanations of a crowded cellar. You are at the ball — which takes place
every Sunday and Monday from six in the evening till eleven.

" There is no conversation : dancing is done silently, like a task. And

they who dance are not
men and women but
shadows — shadows with
only the crowns of their
heads touched by the
light of the solitary lamp
that swings from the
ceiling. When these
shadows weary of their
silent Cordax — when their
task is done — they seat
themselves round the
cellar on a divan of
empty kegs and drink brandy. Do not be too much horrified ; the brandy-
drinkers are the inhabitants of the quarter, and the quarter is a proletarian
one ; they leave you your barley-water, leave them their vitriol : rag-pickers
are not squeamish. ... It is like a canvas by Van Ostade."

We must not forget the Bal du Mont-Blanc, the mustering-place of
ladies' maids and cooks ; the Rosiere in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, which
was not frequented by Nanterre's maidens, and Waux Hall, where the
famous Pilodo flourished his bow ; but we must pass on to the Closerie
des Lilas, now known as the Bal Bullier.

This spot did not always harbour the Cancan. Here, in former days,
austere Carthusian friars meditated in their lonely gardens. The Revolution
scattered them ; and the sacred ground trodden by their noiseless sandals
was transformed into a resort of pleasure — the Closerie des Lilas. Yet no
avenging bolt has fallen from on high ; the site bought for forty thousand
francs fifty years ago is said to be worth one million four hundred thousand
now.

THE LATIN QUARTER AT THE CLOSERIE DES LILAS

After a Lithograph by Gavartu

BULLIER

3J7

The old Closerie des Li las was frequented by the student-loving grisettes,
immortalised by Beranger. When Beranger was living close by in the Rue
d'Enfer, he strolled out aimlessly one night and entered the Closerie.
Somebody recognised him ; his name ran round the room. There was a
rush ; there were cries of enthusiasm ; the old man was surrounded and
almost suffocated by embraces and flowers. "Jeanne la Belle," says Delvau,
" pressed her bouquet
upon him. He accepted
it with emotion. Then
Delphine begged to be
allowed to press her
young lips on the
wrinkled brow, where
the laurels should have
been. Stupefied by this
frenzy of admiration,
•the astounded poet
submitted to every-
thing. ' I shall die

happy now that I have kissed Beranger ! ' exclaimed Delphine ; whereupon
all her companions, jealous of this distinction, imitated her example with
such zeal as almost to smother the kindly old man who had loved them
so well. Many of their sins must have been forgiven them that night, in
virtue of the sincere and passionate enthusiasm they lavished on their dear
poet, whom they sent home half dead ! For the time being they were all
grisettes again, and made good resolutions — ebtu fugaces ! "

The griselle has disappeared, the student's mate is dead ; she has been
succeeded by the woman of the Quartier Latin. She used to be content
with a modest cap and a modest name. To-day she wears a fine hat with
feathers and calls herself Georgette or Bebe, or Yvonne Vadrouille, for
the highest professional celebrities of the Chahut and the Grand Ecart,
such as Grille d'Egout, Rayon d'Or, La Goulue, and La Mome Fromage,
rarely appear at Bullier ; and the distinction of this ball is that its
dancing is not professional. The real public dances here, and gets good
sport for its money — sport which is, perhaps, not very elegant nor very

2 u

nCBATHNIi SALARY, 300,000 KKANCs

338

A HISTORY OF DANCING

" correct," but which is at least youthful and animated, without being
indecent.

Those who dance at Bullier are grouped in different categories,
according to the measure of their skill. They begin in the " kitchen,"
they pass on to the " ante-room," from that to the " drawing-room," and
thence to the " Prefecture " — where there are no more worlds to conquer.
Ah ! how many memories the very name of Bullier recalls to those who
have spent their twentieth year in Paris !

DANCE OF THE " HAUTE ECOLE "

After Daumier

PAMCf BALL AT THE OIK HA MjOtM

After Eugene I .ami

CHAPTER XII

Modern Dancing — From the Stand Empire to the present Time — Society Walls — The
Revival of Old Dances in France and in Foreign Countries

)R some years only two dances were danced in private ball-
rooms, viz., the Quadrille and the Valse. Under the latter
name we include all round dances, whether they are called
Polka, Berline, Pas de Quatre, &c, for in all these, the dancer
" voltes " or turns ; in short, he waltzes.

The Quadrille was already danced towards the end of the eighteenth
century, under the name of the Country Dance — Contredanse. There were a
considerable number of Contredanses, for at this period every dancing
master arranged new ones for himself. Every little event served as a
pretext for a new arrangement. But the invention in 1859 of the Imperial
Quadrille by the ephemeral academic society of dancing-masters in Paris
was the final creation. The fire of inspiration has since died out.

To tell the truth, the Quadrille seems daily to lose in popularity. The

A HISTORY OF DANCING

fascinating American Quadrille, which had so much success at first, is now
more neglected than our national one. The same may be said of the
Galop, which at one time was intoxicating, and with Musard at the Opera
masked balls, even " infernal." It was danced, gesticulated, yelled, by four
thousand dancers, accompanied by the report of firearms, the wild ringing
of bells, and the breaking of chairs.

These times are long past : in society there is less dancing, and all
gaiety has vanished from public balls, and even from the balls at the Opera.
It has often been remarked recently : but it was thirty years ago that the
De Goncourts pronounced the funeral oration of these brilliant fetes. Their
exclamation to the dancers is well known. " For heaven's sake, pretend to
be enjoying yourselves ! " (" Mais, saperlotte I ayez au moins Pair de vous
amuser ! ")

The false nose disappeared : as part of the old-world humour, it had
had its day. Towards the end of Louis Philippe's reign, two millions
of false noses were manufactured in a year ; two hundred and fifty thousand
were sold in Paris, and the remainder were for the provinces and for
exportation. It was even said that M. Guizot once thought of putting up
the monopoly of false noses to auction ! Nowadays,, poets, wits and
draughtsmen have ceased to concern themselves with the Opera Balls ;
Gavarni has had no successor.

From the early days of the Second Empire, the decay of the Opera Balls
was very apparent.

They took place, however, every Saturday during the Carnival, and
they were very brilliant, as compared with those of our own day. Gentle-
men appeared at them in black coats, instead of being dressed as Polish
lancers or fishermen, as in the time of Louis Philippe. But the
masqueraders (who were fairly numerous) were dressed in the most
picturesque fashion, and gave themselves up to the dance in the maddest
and most riotous spirit. These were the days of Clodoche, the great, the
hilarious Clodoche, a name adapted from his true one, Clodomir
Ricart.

He made his first appearances in 1859 at the Casino Cadet, at the
Chateau des Fleurs, the Casino of Asnieres, and the Opera Ball. He
attracted some attention at first by the originality of his dancing, but his

CLODOCHE J4,

invention of the famous Quadrille des Clodoches was a triumph. There
were four dancers : himself (Clodoche), Flageolet, la Cornete and la
Normandie. The two last were dressed as women, while Flageolet and
himself retained their masculine garments. The names of their dances became
famous : Les Pompiers de Nanterre, les
Gendarmes de Landerneau, les Gommeux,
&c. &c. : the wildest stories got about.
It was said that the members of this
troupe were undertaker's mutes.

Clodoche had the honour of dancing
at the Jockey" Club, and was even ad-
mitted among the members sometimes,
when he received the compliments
showered on him with great respect.

The Emperor, who had often heard
of Clodoche, wished to see him, and he
was presented at the Tuileries. The
same evening there was a ball at the
Opera ; the Emperor was present in a
box, wrapped in a double domino, in
order to preserve the strictest incognito.
Clodoche knew of the Emperor's pre-
sence, and his dancing was more delirious
than ever. Before he left, the Emperor

called him to the ante-room, and gave him a sealed letter containing four
hundred francs.

In the autumn of his life, after having whirled and eddied like the
leaves, he disappeared like them. He retired to Chennevieres, to an
eccentric chalet painted black, under some poplars, where he kept an inn.
The mirth-provoking dancer, a fine old man, spent his last days here philo-
sophically amusing himself by making quaint furniture, for he had not
forgotten his old calling of cabinet-maker. He was surrounded by trophies
of his triumphs, crowns of gold and silver, drawings and photographs of
the famous Quadrille. Over the door was the simple sign : " Au vicux
Clodoche."

THE MINUET

After a Statue by Laporte-Blaizy

342

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The public fetes of the Second Empire differed very little from their
forerunners. They had neither a specially civil nor a specially military
character, and were simply popular rejoicings, quite devoid of originality.
A curious custom must, however, be mentioned. It was the fashion
for the dandies and all the gilded youth of the day to invade the Morel
ball at midnight of August 15, and turn out every one there. The men

A BALL AT THE TUILER1ES. THE IMTEKIAL QUADKILLE

After a Drawing by Janet, published in Le Monde Illustre

were dressed in stable-jackets, with caps on their heads, the women in calico
dresses and linen caps — hence the name of the bal de bonnets blancs. They
all behaved like the dregs of the people : fought, drank the commonest
wine, and used the vilest language.

Society in the Second Empire was never so gay as during the period
between the Exhibition and the "Terrible Year." The winter of 1868
was distinguished above all by its brilliant gaieties ; there were continual
soirees, balls, receptions. Costume balls, which seemed to be reserved to
Government circles, became a great attraction, and many of them were
exceptionally splendid. The Duchesse de Bisaccia arranged one to represent

BALLS OF THE SECOND EMPIRE

34*

a village wedding, which roused enormous enthusiasm. The beautiful Madame
de Beaumont appeared as the bride ; Madame de Montgomery as a canteen-
keeper, in the primrose uniform of the hussars of the First Republic ;
Madame de Galiffet wore a magnificent Renaissance costume. The cream of

UIMVAI. »ALI. AT IHK orr.ll A HOVU

Alto a Uranw by G. Dor*, published in U MmJt llliutn

Parisian society met at this ball. It was unique of its kind, vying with the
great costume balls given by the Marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat, the naval
minister. The Comtesse de Montgomery organised a burlesque ball the
same winter, in which a Quadrille was danced by market-porters {forts de
la halle), with their partners in the dress of the Marche des Innocents, a
revival of one of the best ballets of the old Opera. This was a great
succas.

The Comtc de Mauguy says that at this ball a commissionnaire and a

344 A HISTORY OF DANCING

mysterious gamekeeper puzzled all the guests. " But the most striking
character, and the one who attracted most attention, was a pastry-cook
(unless I am mistaken, the Marquis de Galiffet), who sat on the staircase
leading to the second storey, addressing lively sallies to all the guests with
a freedom of language often very embarrassing."

The season of 1869 had neither the gaiety nor the spirit of the preced-
ing year. There was one splendid entertainment, however, at the Austrian
Embassy. The Princesse de Metternich, in a black domino, and Madame
de Pourtales as an Almee, carried off" the honours of the evening.

The same year there was a magnificent ball at the Hotel de Ville in
honour of Prince and Princess Frederick Charles of Prussia, who were
staying in Paris. On January 18, 1870, the Prefect of the Seine and
Madame Henri Chevreau gave a beautiful fete, at which every one of
distinction in politics, diplomacy, or letters, and all the leading repre-
sentatives of the army and the law, were present. The Archduke Albert
of Austria and the Archduchess were present for an hour, and went away
dazzled. What gloomy morrows were to follow on this /<?/*/

An old dancing-room, the Assommoir du Temple, which deserves men-
tioning, disappeared in 1870. It was founded in 1846. It was a large
room, lighted from the top, divided into three parallel aisles by stone
pillars. Billiards were played in the galleries over the two sides. A thick
layer of straw covered the floor, which was generally strewn with sleepers.

" On va par ribambelles,

Dcposant les mann'quins,
Boir' des polichinelles,
Manger des arlequins."

" Every week," says Adolphe Racot, " the human dunghill of the
Assommoir was raked aside, and a ball was given, at which the rag-pickers
were the most vigorous dancers."

In 1870 the General Committee of the National Guard took possession
of the Assommoir, and it was there that the Commune of Paris was pro-
claimed, and all the revolutionary measures decided on which laid Paris
waste from September 4 to the terrible days of May.

The great chief of orchestral dance music during the eighteen years of
the Empire, the successor of Musard, was Strauss, the man of the famous

STRAUSS AND THE EMPRESS EUGENIE

cravat, who only laid down his baton at the advent of the Republic. He
came to England in 1873, in spite of his great age, to follow the Emperor's
coffin to the grave.

" I remember," says Parisis, " a pathetic incident at the official reception
after the funeral. When the Empress caught sight of the old impresario,
the brilliant spectacle of all the past ritts at which he had presided

CuMI\«. AWAV ma THI FANCY BALL

After a Picture by Madrazo

suddenly rose before her. She clasped her hands together piteously, her
eyes filled with tears, and sobs rose in her throat. Strauss said to me as we
retired, ' I am not like any ordinary person to the Empress, my life and
hers have been intimately connected, and from her earliest years my name
has been associated with all her happiest memories. I called the first Polka
I ever composed the Eugenie Polka, and dedicated it to Mademoiselle de
Montijo in 1846. The Polka was in its infancy, as it were, and was not
then danced in official drawing-rooms ; it was first introduced to the
Spanish Court by the Empress, where she danced it with M. de Courpon,
the son of the rich stockbroker, and a famous Cotillion-leader at the
Tuilerics. Later I saw her in Paris, first in that aristocratic drawing-room

2 x

M6 A HISTORY OF DANCING

where everything artistic was welcomed with so much hospitality, then in
that gorgeous saloon, where the woman took precedence of the sovereign,
and where her irresistible grace and charm tempered the stiffness of Court
ceremonial. Is it not natural that on seeing me again the contrast between
those happy days and her present situation should call forth an outburst
of grief ? "

And while he spoke the old refrain came back to me with an inde-
scribable melancholy :

" As-tu vu,
La cravate du pore Strauss ? "

In former times balls were generally given between Christmas and the
Carnival. Now the dancing season begins' after society returns from Nice,
and closes when it leaves for the seaside ; it lasts, that is to say, from the
Carnival to the Grand Prix.

During the last few years society has inclined very much to those
costume files I mentioned as taking place under the Empire, where each
guest vied with his neighbour in ingenuity and invention. The fur and
feathers ball, and the animal ball, given by the Princesse de Sagan, are not
yet forgotten. The Princess revived Versailles in 1881, and Trianon in
1 884. The following year she illustrated Lafontaine's fables. The Quadrille
of Hornets and Bees was a repetition of one under the Empire, carried out
by Madame Tascher de la Pagerie. It was the triumph of the evening.

Baron Seilliere, in the costume of M. de Buffon, presided over the
fete. The ladies appeared as crickets, swans, swallows, owls, cats, parrots,
grasshoppers, butterflies, bats, scarlet ibises, serpents, and even as tigresses.
The men were made up as ravens, crabs, cocks, eagles, owls, herons, basset
hounds, ducks, turkeys, giraffes, monkeys, &c. The Princess appeared as
a peacock, and her costume was magnificent. Her blue satin petticoat was
covered with gold and silver Venetian point, fastened at the sides with
peacock's feathers, also in gold and silver. The bodice was the body of
the bird, and the tail, spread out like a fan, formed an aureole round the
shoulders. The Medici coiffure was crowned by a" diamond diadem, on
the top of which quivered the peacock's aigrette. The bird's beak was
placed over her forehead.

PARISIAN FANCY BALLS

347

The electric light shed a strange violet glow over -this charming, fan-
tastic assembly.

Madame la Comtesse de la Martiniere had previously given a "Swallow "
ball in 1883. The great room, transformed for the occasion into a Japanese

TMK MIM ^ I

A'tci ■ Picture by Carri lo

garden, shimmered with the plumage of humming-birds, cardinals, bengalis,
love-birds, thrushes, sparrows, nightingales and tits. The graceful origin-
ality of a ballet of swallows was much admired.

The same year the Society of Retired Officers gave a costume ball at the
Continental Hotel, in which all the military uniforms worn from the middle
ages to the middle of the nineteenth century figured. It was a curious

348

A HISTORY OF DANCING

sight to see archers, reiters, and musketeers elbowing the soldiers of the
First Empire and the Restoration.

In some foreign countries costume balls are immensely popular. During

TMI". I'AYANE

After a Picture by Garrido

the Carnival at Vienna, the various corporations meet at dances, and it is a
point of honour with the dancers to hit upon original ideas.

The most extraordinary of all these balls was the bal des gueux, or riff-raff
ball, organised in 1883. Everyone went in rags, with torn clothes, the
dress-coat being severely banished. The riff-rafF ball attracted seven
thousand people in rags ; a sombre gaiety indeed prevailed among these
grimy faces, purposely bedaubed to appear like the faces of beggars>

THK CARNIVAL AT BINCHK

?49

thieves, assassins, rag-pickers, pickpockets. One might have imagined
oneself in some annexe to the galleys.

TKr rAHAWDOLK

After a Picture bjr GanUo

In Belgium, all the gaiety of the old Carnival seems to have centred in
the little town of Him he. There wc may still sec Gilles with two hump, in

3^o A HISTORY OF DANCING

their variegated costumes, hats turned up and decorated with feathers, and
waistbands hung with bells. They patrol the streets in bands of thirty
or forty at a time, each one accompanied by a man selling oranges, jumping
and dancing to the tune of a band which goes before them. All the local
societies receive them, as indeed does the burgomaster at the Hotel de
Ville, offering them the best wine.

Writing of curious balls, I must not forget one given beyond the seas
by the Mormons of Salt Lake City. The dominant element was European —
English, Scotch, Irish, Scandinavian, and German. Before proceedings
began, Brother Brown appeared, invoking the blessing of God on the
choregraphic exercises of the Latter-day Saints. Then, the ball commenced
solemnly to the music of an organ, assisted by two violins. A number of
Minuets, Quadrilles, Cotillions were danced, and even a Waltz — the last
generally prohibited as dangerous. As midnight struck, Brother Brown
reappeared, and closed the ball with a prayer.

Along with eccentric or original balls, Parisian society has organised
many charming entertainments in the most exquisite taste.

The Japanese charity fete, given at the Hotel de la Rochefoucauld, was
admirable. It consisted of a dramatic representation, a. ball, and a series
of Japanese amusements. When the Japanese Ambassador arrived, he
exclaimed with a movement of surprise : "I feel as if I were back in my
own country ! "

The walls were entirely covered with fine matting, on which were hung
kakemonos painted on silk or rice paper, representing fierce warriors, or
smiling ladies with delicate eyebrows, dressed in blue or pink silk. Dragon-
flies flitted about among strange flowering shrubs. Certain rooms were
veritable ethnographical museums, where noble ladies sat upon mats, in
white dresses flowered with wistaria or lotus, or where poets wrote,
surrounded by flying birds. Next came a pagoda with its golden door,
where idols slumbered, squatting on the ground, between rare vases and
the mystic lotus. Under the moonlike beams of the electric light an
astonished crowd wandered through the fairy sanctuaries of Buddhism
under hot-house palms, and canopies of leaves and flowers, towards the
theatre, where the sound of a gong announced the drawing up of the
curtain. The young Comte de la Rochefoucauld was dressed as the Japanese

PARISIAN FANCY BALLS

*5«

Prince Imperial, in dark blue satin, embroidered with arabesques and birds.
Madame de Munkacsy appeared as a Japanese, wearing long pins in her
hair with diamond heads, and a dress of white crape trimmed with a coloured
border. Other ladies had Court dresses of satin or crepe de Chine, wreaths
of lotus flowers, royal stuffs with heraldic ornaments. It was like fairy-

A rAMSIAN BALI.

After a Picture by Bridginan
Photographed by Braun *■ d Q .)

land. The men wore trousers of various colours, emerald, bright blue,
violet, red — harmonising with the bold and delicate tints about them.

Mention might also be made of the balls given by the Princessede I .con,
the Comtesse de Montigny, General de Charette, the Vicomtesse de Gilly,
the Marquise de Castcllane, the Comtesse Branika, Madame de Heredia,
and Madame de Pourtalcs. Amongst others, the fete which M. Gailhird
gave his friends in his beautiful chateau in the Place Malesherbcs was a true
fairy pageant, for a repetition of which many of those present have sighed
in vain.

We have seen that the Quadrille, at one time so popular, has almost

A HISTORY OF DANCING

disappeared from our ball-rooms. On the other hand, the old Court dances
seem to be coming back into favour, bringing with them traditions of the
grace and elegance of the last century. The Minuet and the Pavane have
made their appearance again in great houses during the last few years.

Our dramatic authors have often revived the Pavane in their pieces. It
is danced in La Jeunesse du Roi He.iri, and in the ballets of Patrie
and Egmont. The balls in aid of the Hospitalite de Nuit have always been
marked by their beauty and originality. They have resuscitated the elegant

WM '

A COTILLION

After a Water-Colour Drawing Ly H. Tern*

refinements of the eighteenth century. Thus, in 1880, one of the Woodland
Balls was reproduced, those balls which drew all Paris in 1745, when the
Dauphin was married to Marie Therese of Spain. On that occasion, to
avoid the immense crowding of the populace at the marriage fetes, the
sheriffs arranged open-air balls in different places. One of the prettiest
was on the Place des Conqiietes (now the Place Vendome), and it was
this bal de bois which the Hospitalite de Nuit revived. The copy was a
faithful one, and, to make the illusion more complete, Mesdemoiselles
Reichemberg, Baretta, Broisat, Bartet, Martin, Tholer, Durand, and
Feyghine, of the Comedie Franchise, appeared as Court ladies of the
time of Louis XV. Pages walked about the rooms, and Scotch guards, in
the white livery of the House of France, were ranged all down the stair-

REVIVAL OF OLD COURT DANCES

J53

case. It was an exact reproduction of the engravings of Moreau the
younger.

At the Palace of Fontainebleau, a sixteenth century costume ball was
given for a charity in the Henri II. Gallery and in the Salle des Gardes.
It seemed to the spectator as if he had strayed into some fete of the
Renaissance. The Pavane and the Volte, the graceful dances of the Valois
Court, were revived.

1HE MODERN COTILLION

After a Picture by II. Tenre
.Photographed by Braun and Co.)

As prescribed by the good canon of Langres, in his Orc/iesogra/iie, the
Pavane was accompanied by a song on the ancient model (see p. 97) of
which we give the first couplet :

" Belle, qui ticns ma vie

Captive en tcs doux ycux,
Qui m'as l'.'imc ra\ic

D'un tourit gncicui,
Vicns i6t me tecourir,
Ou me faudra mourir !

I. The air, which is more solemn than cheerful, was transcribed by

2 Y

3^4 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Wekerlin in his Echos du temps passe, from the text of the Orcheso-
graphie.

These attempts delighted the great world, and inspired them with the
idea of dancing the old dances in their ball-rooms. The Marquise de
Castellane, and M. Gustave DrOz, each gave brilliant fetes, where powdered
ladies and gentlemen in knee-breeches danced the Menuet de la Cour, and
the Pas des Archers. Then the Cotillion admitted the Salut de la Cour.
The graceful Minuet found favour with the Vicomtesse de Gilly, Madame
de St. Aignan and the Comtesse d'Enval. The Minuets of the great
masters were heard again, the works of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and the
masterpiece of such compositions, the Menuet d' Exaudet. Also Gavottes,
which were the rage under the Directory, Glvick's slow Gavottes in Armide
and Orphee, Gretry's in Cephale et Procris and Panurge.

Elsewhere, at Madame de Marinval's house amongst others, the soirees
of Louis XV. were repeated ; couples danced the Minuet or Gavotte to
Leon Guyot's orchestra, and the Cotillion ended with the Indian March.
At the Comtesse de Montbazon's, and at the Comtesse de Villiers', ladies in
hoops and paniers danced the Minuet under an immense triumphal arch of
flowers.

At other houses, attempts were made to substitute the Branle for the
Cotillion. The Branles of Brittany and Poitou were studied, the Branles of
the Washerwomen, of the Wooden Shoes, Horses, the Torch, Mustard.
At an entertainment given at a sumptuous house in the Rue Sainte-
Apolline, where all the ladies were in Louis XV. costume, the Cotillion
was concluded by a procession in sedan-chairs. The house, in the purest
Louis XV. style, with its carved woodwork and correct ceilings, was a
marvellous setting for this revival of the last century.

Elsewhere, a costume ball reproduced a famous///* given by MM. de
Duras and de la Ferte, during the Carnival of 1783. At the Comtesse de
Courval's, there was a medley of all periods : the hostess wore a gorgeous
Henri II. costume, the guests were magicians, Pierettes, Incroyables ; some
wore the costumes of Jacquet's pictures. The Minuet was danced by twenty
ladies as Watteau shepherdesses, reproducing an episode in the bal du May.
The men wore the village dress of the end of Louis XV.'s reign, pale green
breeches and lilac coats.

RKVIVAL OK OLD COURT DANC1-.S

355

The old Saraband was next revived in a house in the Rue de Lisbonne ;
and an attempt was made to Parisianise the Festa de las F/orts, so dear to
the Spanish South Americans.

Thus, one after the other, the old dances reappear : they form

A CHILDREN % BALL

After Booutdt Moml

picturesque artistic interludes in modern entertainments, jo that nowadays a
ball is hardly complete without one. Nothing can be more effective than
superbly dressed couples dancing a Courante, a Gaillarde, or a Passe-pied !

This last dance, one of the most graceful of all, is often performed by
dancers in modern dress ; but in that case the gentlemen wear coloured
coats and knee-breeches, and the ladies, white dresses.

3^6 A HISTORY OF DANCING

As in the days when the Branle was danced all round the great baronial
hall, so now there is a beautiful dance in which each couple follows the
other all round the room, stepping in time, and carrying a lighted torch or
candle.

The Sword Dance is sometimes performed after a Gaillarde. The
gentlemen stand facing each other, draw their swords, then raise them,
inclining them a little till the points touch. The ladies then walk under the
blades.

At the Comtesse des Allains', young girls danced old Caroles on the
grass. These are Rounds accompanied by songs. They were danced after
the ancient fashion by ladies alone, and in the costume of the twelfth
century : a quaint idea, giving variety to the pretty bals blancs which are
now so popular in society.

The same taste for reviving ancient dances is found in foreign countries.
In aristocratic houses in Russia, the old Horovod is danced. The Horovod
was even arranged as a French Quadrille at St. Petersburg, by the ballet-
master BogdanofF.

In Germany, the Faclceltanz or Torch Dance is still danced. It is of
very great antiquity. It was performed at the marriage of the Princess
Margaret, sister of William II., with Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse.
The Figaro gives a description of the scene :

" After dinner, which began at six o'clock in the Hall of the Knights,
the Court and the guests met in the White Saloon, the largest room in the
castle, which will hold two thousand persons. The Emperor, the Empress,
and all the princes and princesses of both families ranged themselves on a
platform at one end of the room, while Count von Eulenburg, the Grand
Marshal of the Court, and numerous chamberlains in brilliant uniforms,
gathered round them."

" The view of the room, and of the gallery reserved for several hundred
favoured spectators, was magnificent. The marble columns, the statues of
the twelve Electors of Brandenburg, the pictures and decorations of the
room, formed a fitting frame for the brilliant assemblage.

" Towards nine o'clock the Emperor gave orders to the Marshal to
begin the Torch Dance. Count von Eulenburg, his marshal's baton in
his hand, placed himself in the middle of the room, Behind him, two

THE TORCH DANCE AT BERLIN

3 57

and two, in order of seniority, stood the twelve following ministers :
M. Bosse (Worship and Education) and M. Thielen (Railways), M. von
Heyden (Agriculture) and M. von Kaltenborn (War), M. Miguel
(Finance) and Baron von Berlepsch (Interior), M. Schelling (Justice) and
M. von Wedel (Imperial Houfehold), M. Achenbach and M. Delbriick, ex-
ministers ; M. Boetticher and Count von Eulenburg, Vice-President and
President of the Ministry
of Prussia. #fl % ■Mflfi tJ^Jk

"The Chancellor, ^

Count von Caprivi, the
Minister of Marine, and
the other ministers of the
Empire, took no part in
the ceremony, which was
exclusively Prussian.
They were present, how-
ever, their splendid uni-
forms adding to the lustre
of the scene. Twelve

youthful pages, pretty and dainty as the pages of opera, entered slowly by
a side door under the direction of the chamberlains. They carried torch-
holders in wrought silver, containing thick white wax candles, which they
handed to the twelve ministers. The Marshal raised his baton, the
orchestra from the gallery opposite the Emperor slowly began a tuneful
Polonaise. The bride and bridegroom placed themselves after the twelve
ministers, who made the tour of the room ; the chamberlains closed the
cortege, which stopped before the Emperor. The bride made a slight
curtsey, the Emperor rose and offered her his arm, the cortege again passed
in procession round the room. On returning, the bridegroom invited the
Empress, and made the tour with her. Then the twelve pages approached,
took the torches again, and replaced the ministers. The dance continued.

" This time the young bridegroom invited the Landgravine of Hesse,
and the Duchess of Connaught. The bride also made the tour with
two princes. And so on in order, until all the princes had marched round
with the bride, and all the princesses with the bridegroom. The ceremony

THK CARNIVAL

After a Lithograph by Coiodrc

3?8

A HISTORY OF DANCING

might have become monotonous, but for the infinite variety and richness of
the costumes and uniforms, and the liveliness of the music. The twelve
pages were quite delicious, and marched with all the enthusiasm of youth.
They were very much admired. Their success was complete.

" At ten o'clock the dance came to an end. The torch-bearers stopped
for the last time before the Emperor, who rose. The imperial couple, with

A PUBLIC HALL

After a Picture by Jean Bcraud

all the princes and princesses, placed themselves behind the pages to conduct
the bride and bridegroom to their apartments. In the great ante-room, the
twelve pages ranged themselves at the door of the bridal chamber. The
Emperor, the Empress, the princes and princesses, formed in two lines,
leaving a passage for the young couple, who disappeared through the
door.

" The Court then returned to the "White Saloon, where the chief brides-
maid distributed bits of the bride's garter among the company. Of these
there were several basketsful — little bows of red and white silk, with the
bride's initials in gold and silver."

We may just mention, in passing, certain dancing devices, rather curious

THE INCOHERENT BALL 3^9

than delightful. The Americans have inaugurated dancing-cars on their
railways, to beguile the tedium of the long journey between San Francisco
and New York. As the train rushes along, a ball is in full swing in a
gaily decorated and brilliantly lighted car. The women wear exquisite
dresses, which they don in dressing-rooms set apart for the purpose.

The Incoherent Ball was a Parisian invention. Placards forbade the

HIL1M. UH..>kATI"N AT MOM I I.UL.

Alia Clairin

company to bore or be bored, and warned those who transgressed that they
would be fined. Incoherence reigned supreme. Metra, the leader of the
orchestra, appeared in a white blouse, with all the paraphernalia of a suburban
Adonis. A whirlpool of wild, fantastic, gruesome maskers swirled and
eddied round him. Everything that a delirious fancy could conceive was
represented at this strange ball, from bearded nurses, clowns, Punches, pre-
historic firemen, grotesque policemen, and astounding Englishmen, to
General Bonaparte in his famous grey coat and cocked hat, escorted by a
bond of bizarre lnvalidts.

Of the official balls at the Elysee and the Hotel de Ville we will say

360

A HISTORY OF DANCING

nothing. The picturesque element has no place in these functions.
Grumblers complain of the overcrowding, and of the somewhat slipshod
etiquette that prevails. Is it true, as an acrimonious contemporary declares,
that a democracy has neither the right nor the faculty to demand certificates
of distinction from its guests ?

But such considerations lie outside our province. We gladly leave them
to others.

MCE TC If Or lAUKt DANCERS

After Kenouard

CHAPTER XIII

A 'Brief Survey tf the "Ballets if this Century— (Modern Theatrical Dancing — The
Operatic Corps de "Ballet— The Serpentine Dance — The Tublic
'Balls »f To-day.

[K have seen the birth of the ballet, and have followed it from its
infancy to its adolescence at Rome under the influence of
Pylades and Bathyllus. In France, during the Middle Ages,
ballet-dancing was included among the pastimes known as
masques or mumming, and did not partake in any way of the character
of the present ballet till the time of Catherine de' Medici. From the
seventeenth century it became the rage at Court, and began to have
recourse to mechanical contrivances.

m that time forward wonderful scenic effects were produced. The
music became more coherent, and harmonised better with the plot. Still,

2 z

362 A HISTORY OF DANCING

there was no real pantomime-ballet, or dancing-ballet, as we understand
it ; the poetry and the music were far more important than the actual
dancing. The French ballet did not develop its peculiar ingenuity, grace,
and distinction till some time later, when masks and padded skirts were
abolished.

Under the sway of Rossini and Meyerbeer, the music of the ballet, while
losing nothing of its rhythmic character, became more expressive and poetic.

In the space at our disposal it would not be possible to enumerate all
the new ballets, or to dilate on every scenic innovation. It will be enough
to mention the most important creations, and to point out the principal
" stars" whose brilliant performances have given distinction to the stage.

" It is only in France," says Theodore de Banville, " that the real classic
school exists, where severity and correctness do not exclude originality,
where grace and rhythm are valued, and where one is always conscious that
every step is equivalent to an image in a poem. . . ."

In 1 84 1, Carlotta Grisi, then a new "star," distinguished herself in the
superb ballet La Peri, and in Giselle ou les Willis, for which Theophile
Gautier wrote the libretto, and Adolphe Adam the music ; Coralli arranged
the dances.

A good many of our readers will probably remember Saint-Leon, the
distinguished and popular ballet-master. Originally an eminent violinist,
it was out of love for the fairy-like Cerito, whom he married, that he first
gave himself up to the enthusiastic study of dancing. La Cerito bewitched
the public with her exquisite dancing, while Saint-Leon delighted them with
his skill upon the violin, and the dignity and distinction of his compositions.
Fanny Elssler, the famous German dancer, was her contemporary and
rival.

The great success at the beginning of the Empire was Adam's Corsaire,
with its dramatic mounting, in which Mazillier exercised his double
talent as choregrapher and composer. Les Elfes, and Auber's Marco Spada,
followed, in which Mazillier executed a series of amazingly complicated
movements, and in which Laure Fonta and Rosati outvied each other in
skill and grace.

In Theophile Gautier's ballet Sakuntala, the dancer Lina, who had just made
her first appearance in Le Trouvere, and who subsequently became Madame

LEONTINE BEAUGRAND

*6j

Merante, proved herself a formidable rival of La Ferraris. She figured
in the ballet, Le Tapillon, by Emma Livry. Finally, however, this ill-fated
dancer caught fire at a rehearsal of La Muette, and died of her injuries after
the most fearful and prolonged agony.

In 1 860, Leontine Beaugrand, after having graduated in all the classes
of the Opera, made her first
appearance in the trio of the
third act of Guillaume Tell, and
at once became famous. " Before
long," wrote Gustave Bertrand,
" the public will learn to love
this strange profile — so like a
frightened bird's — and criticism
will have to reckon with this
aspiring talent." She had not
as yet put forth all her strength.
It was not until she appeared in
the part of Coppelia that she
wholly revealed what was in her,
and that the full extent of her
grace and poetic feeling was un-
folded to the public.

" Her movements," said Paul
de St. Victor, " might inspire a

designer of fine and dainty ornament. All she does is exquisite, minute
and delicate as a piece of fine lace-work."

About 1865, new stars arose in the theatrical firmament. I refer to
Mesdames Fioretti and Fiocre, both brilliantly successful public favourites.

At the end of the following year M. Charles Nuitter — now librarian of
the Opera — composed the charming ballet Im Source, arranged by Saint- Leon,
and set to music by Delibes and Minkous. Salvioni appeared in it and
received a perfect ovation. "She is," says Paul de St. Victor, " the typical
Italian dancer, strong and daring as an Amazon, shaking out her steps like
a flight of arrows. She excels above all in suggestive steps, and in those
intrepid attitudes that recall the vehemence of Florentine painting."

FANNY ELSSLER IN THB BALLET OF " LA CHATTE
METAMORPHOSES EN FEMME "

364

A HISTORY OF DANCING

M. Nuitter composed the ballet Coppelia, for which Leo Delibes wrote
the music, but its success was cut short by the war of 1870. On
October 16, the reproduction of this fascinating ballet was announced.
The title-role was created by the youthful Bozacchi, a delicate little creature
of sixteen, who died very soon afterwards. La Beaugrand played the part
with extraordinary success. " She is the successor of Carlotta Grisi ! "

THE LITTLE QUADRILLE CLASS

After Renouard

exclaimed Theophile Gautier. After the dark days of 1870, we find
M. Nuitter composing the ballet Gretna Green, which Merante, Saint-Leon's
successor, arranged for him. But the theatre in the Rue Lepelletier suddenly
caught fire, and its successful run came to an abrupt end. We hear of no
new ballets till January 5, 1 875, at the production of an opera by M. Gamier.
M. Nuitter was again the composer. This operatic revival was a magnificent
performance, but it had not the future that was anticipated. For a long
time both theatrical and social dancing seemed unable to shake off the

//#• . tjotiet of ■ J<> ■ Horrtaane

THE BALLET OF NAMOUNA

367

the Grand Ballet of Namouna, the clever libretto of which was written by
M. Nuitter, and the charming music by Lalo.

Petipas' dance was intoxicating. Rita Sangalli fascinated the audience
in the part of Namouna, and Mile. Subra was simply astounding. Merante
played the part of Ottavio with much grace. Pluque distinguished himself

THE DAKCIKOftCHUOL

After PaJmiroU
of Man. Bound Vabdoa and Co.

as a gorgeous pirate. The dresses were superb. Sangalli, as a Moldavian,
was in pure white, spangled with gold, with a glittering veil and apron
embroidered in silver, and fringed with pink silk. Invernizzi wore a Greek
dalmatic of green velvet, enriched with gold.

In 1883, the Eden Theatre opened with Manzotti's ballet Excelsior.
The mounting was superb, and, in spite of mediocre orchestration, it was
received with enthusiasm, thanks to the talent of Mile. Lany, from La Scala.

368

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Manzotti, encouraged by this success, produced a new ballet in the
Italian style in 1884. The plot, borrowed from a Scandinavian legend of
the year 640, takes us to the enchanted region of Thule. The success of

Sieba was as great
as that of Excelsior.
La Zucchi created a
new dance, brilliant
and impassioned, and
drew all Paris to see
her.

Of Widor's Kor-
rigane, Messager's
Deux "Pigeons, of La
Maladetta, and of
VEtoile, there is .
little left to say.
We can but reiterate
the praises heaped
on the authors and
their brilliant inter-
preters.

Grand ballets
with intricate plots
are no longer in
favour with the
management at the
Opera. Neverthe-
less, all the masters
of our time have scored music for our charming dancers. Wagner alone,
after an unsuccessful attempt in Rienzi, seems to have abandoned ballet
music. For the performance of Tannhauser in Paris he wrote an interlude
in the Venusburg scene, but this beautiful composition is not, properly
speaking, ballet-music.

Here is some information I owe to the kindness of M. Nuitter, the
clever choregraphist and librarian at the Opera, on the subject of the shaping

A DANCKK

After Degas

THE COMPOSITION OF BALLETS 369

of a ballet. The librettist, he said, first writes his book of the ballet. This
book describes the action, but contains no indications of a purely choregraphic
nature. The choregraphist studies the story. He considers the scenes,
which, as they are to be explained by the limited language of pantomime,
are marked by a necessary simplicity. He then composes the steps to be

A DASCIKL. lUO»

After Krnouard

danced. In former times this was all done before the musician composed
a single note of music. It was the choregraphist who explained to him
in detail what he required. He asked twenty bars of a quick movement,
sixteen of a slow ; here a valse tune, there a gavotte.

But this custom has been gradually modified. Composers now write as
they please for the dancers, as well as for the merely pantomimic scenes, and
it is for the ballet-master to do the best he can with the ideas furnished to
him ; a task at once more difficult, and giving less scope to the choregraphist,
than the older system.

37Q

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Once this double work is finished, the ballet-master calls together the
staff which is to interpret it. The ballet-master indicates every gesture, and
dances every step, at the same time giving to each its proper designation,
after which the dancers reproduce what has been shown them. All this,
however, is learnt much more quickly than one would imagine, and is

THK DAN'CING LESSON

After Renouard

stamped upon the memory very rapidly. At the end of some years, a
dancer, hearing the difFerent scores, remembers to the smallest detail the
steps she has danced. M. Hansen, the ballet-master at the Opera, had the
kindness to let me see a rehearsal of the ballet in the Meister singer, and I
was surprised at the facility with which the dancers remember the variations
of step and attitude, and grasp the meaning of the master directing them.
Spectators of a ballet, we have all wondered at the birdlike movements of
graceful women, sinuous, young, and impassioned, swathed in gold-spangled
gauzes, lighter than wings. In our excitement these entrancing beings

TRAINING OF BALLET DANCERS

37'

seemed like embodied visions. But how distant the dream is from the
reality I only knew when the doors of the classes at the Opera were opened
to me by MM. Bertrand and Gailhard, and I was made free of the wings.
I arrived at the Opera for the first time one morning about nine o'clock,

!>K*TCH OT MUJCT DANCUtS

After Renouard

and walking up and down, I waited for the pleasant guide to whose care
M. Hansen, the ballet-master, had confided me.

Some little girls arrived, with their baskets on their arms. These were
the youngest pupils — future stars, perhaps — who have to be in class
every day at nine o'clock in summer, at ten o'clock in winter. A few
minutes later I found them dressed for their work, that is to say, in tights,
with little calico knickerbockers and short gauze skirts, taking their places
in a class directed by Mile. Bcrnay, formerly a very popular premiire danseuse.
When their mistress clapped her hands, they formed in line before the railing
fastened to the wall and running round the room. Then the lesson began

372

A HISTORY OF DANCING

to the chords of a violin. And while these little things were occupied with
their first five positions, &c, I thought of their teacher, Mile. Berthe
Bernay. What she had written about her early training recurred to me, and

I realised that these
children before me
would have to un-
dergo an initiation as
severe as hers.

What she says is
this :

"I was seven years
old, and my mother
used to wake me to
go to work, winter
and summer alike, at
half-past seven, and
as at this time the
lessons were held in
the Rue Richer
(where they keep the
scenery), I had to
leave our lodgings at
Belleville, near the
Buttes-Chaumont, at
an hour that would
enable me to be
dressed and in class

LA ZUCCHI

After Clairin

by nine o'clock,
my small means.

It goes without saying that an omnibus was beyond
I had to make the journey on foot, and what a
journey the reader can easily imagine ! The morning lesson lasted
from nine o'clock to half-past ten. After this I changed my dress
and returned home for my small luncheon at twelve o'clock. Not that
I always got off after my lesson. I did not regain my native heights
so early every day. There were days, frequent enough, on which I
had to attend rehearsals at the Opera, where young pupils like myself

TRAINING OF BALLET DANCERS

373

were employed to ' walk on.' On those days I lunched in the Rue
Richer, with my mother, off the frugal meal that we brought with us in a
basket (that basket I have never forgotten), after which we went to the
rehearsal at the Rue Drouot, which lasted untiL two o'clock. Then I
was at last free to
make the journey back
again to Belleville. But
on the evenings when
I had to ' walk on ' at
the theatre, we came
down once again for a
'call' at the Rue Drouot
at eight. In short, I
had to start at seven
o'clock, and often the
piece lasted until mid-
night. On these oc-
casions my poor mother
literally dragged me
along on her arm, and
we would arrive at our
lodgings worn out, at
one o'clock, to find
my father waiting up
for us. After a brief
sleep I had to start off
again next morning for
the class in the Rue
Drouot. But I earned

a franc for the rehearsal, and a franc for * walking on ' in the evening."
Fran her we learn what were the salaries of a dancer of the first rank
during more than ten years of her career. In 1869 she was engaged by
M. Perrin in the second quadrille at 600 francs a year. After passing an
examination, this was raised to 700 francs. Under the management of
M. Halanzicr her salary was fixed at 900 francs. Three years afterwards,

A SALLST DANCE*

After Htrtier

374

A HISTORY OF DANCING

being in the first quadrille, she drew noo francs, and as leader of the
corps de ballet, 1200 francs. Eight years later her salary was successively
1 500, 1 800, 4000 and 6000 francs. Under the Vaucorbeil management it
reached 6800 francs, but only to drop under that of Ritt and Gailhard to
5000 and 3000 francs. And this after twenty-six years of work ! . . .

mlle. Theodore's danxing-class
After Laurent Desrousseaux

Meanwhile, however, the lesson was going on, and after a series ot
movements in the first five positions, the class passed on to different poses
and postures, the nomenclature of which is only to be understood after a
lengthy initiation. To become a good dancer, however well endowed a
pupil may be, five years' preparatory study is indispensable. Every day for
an hour and a half they all take lessons. Many even come before the time,
to prepare themselves by taking a turn at the wooden railing.

In her interesting study on La T>anse au Theatre, Mile. Berthe Bernay

TRAINING OF BALLET DANCERS

asks the reason of the discredit that so often falls on the dancer and her
profession.

" Even if some deserve it," she adds, " we should bear in mind the
fatigues, privations and
sufferings to which they
have been exposed
almost from their earliest
childhood. We should
take into account their
exposure to temptations,
their inadequate remun-
eration, the life not only
of continual self-denial,
but almost of indigence.
. . . Reader, be lenient
to the woman, always to
a certain extent inter-
esting and meritorious,
who gives up her youth,
her health, her life, to
the art of dancing.
Think kindly of her . . .
for she has worked hard,
and suffered much to
earn your applause, or
even your criticisms."

We have seen how,
i n the eighteenth
century, 'choregraphers
conceived the idea of

representing dancing by illustrative signs and characters. This com-
plicated method has since been abandoned, and the teaching of steps is
now effected in quite another way. The professor indicates them with his
hands, counting the beats of the time aloud. The pupils copy him, learning
by mimicry, and then execute with their legs the movements that their

BI.IVD'MANS BVVF

After Carrier- Bclleu*c

}76

A HISTORY OF DANCING

hands have demonstrated ; a method that reminds one a little of the
language used in teaching the deaf and dumb.

After having watched the preliminary studies, 1 had a glance at the
higher classes of the quadrille, and of the ballet-girls, in which they learn

the intricate exercises
which prepare them for
variations and impro-
visations on the stage.
I was also allowed to see
the boys' class, under
the control of M. Stilb.
I then came to the
finishing classes, to
which M. Vasquez wel-
comed me with, an
exquisite courtesy.
Seated at his side, I
watched several lessons
given to premieres dans-
euses, and even to the
" stars." Amonof the
students were Miles.
Zambelli, Piodi, Otto-
lini, Lobstein, Chabot,
Torri, and many others,
whose grace and bril-
liancy I had often
admired on the stage.
M. Vasquez is an exceptional teacher, with true artistic insight. "One
should be able," he said to me, " to fix a dancer at any moment, however
fugitive and aerial her pose, and if she obeys the true principles of move-
ment, her body, her arms, and her legs will all combine in a graceful and
harmonious whole."

He attaches great importance to expression, requiring soul, spontaneity,
and suppleness in every attitude. The dancer must rise lightly on her toes,

A J'i'SIKK

By ChSret

'•'*• ^

^ r v

*^P !« ^

^^g

^rA *'- ^l™ A

^^^HIHHH^H^^S

»KBTCHE» OF ftALLKI DA !»(.«••»

After Kvaouanl

3»

378

A HISTORY OF DANCING

bound in one step from the ground, and skim over the surface of the stage
as if about to take flight into the air. I admired the perseverance with
which even the " stars " went through their exercises, for Miles. Subra and

Rosita Mauri came each
day to the bars, working
hard to preserve their
elasticity.

A few years ago, the
ballet was the greatest
of delights to the play-
goer. To-day it holds
a very subordinate
position. The ballet
seems no longer in
request, and its place in
our principal theatre is
becoming more and
more restricted. Never-
theless, the classic school
of French dancing still
retains its traditions for
brilliancy, grace and
dignity at the Opera.
Elsewhere it has had to
make way for the sin-
gular, but sometimes
charming dances introduced by artistes such as the Barrison sisters, the
Martyns, Mile. Eglantine, and many others. We shall not easily forget
one of them, the Serpentine Dance, undulating and luminous, full of
weird grace and originality, a veritable revelation ! By means of a
novel contrivance, the gauzy iridescent draperies in which Loi'e Fuller
swathes herself are waved about her, now to form huge wings, now to
surge in great clouds of gold, blue, or crimson, under the coloured
rays of the electric light. And in the flood of this dazzling or pallid light
the form of the dancer suddenly became incandescent, or moved slowly and

LOIE FULLER

379

spectrally in the diaphanous and ever-changing coloration cast upon it.
The spectator never wearied of watching the transformations of these
tissues of living light, which showed in successive visions the dreamy
dancer, moving languidly in a chaos of figured draperies — in a rainbow of
brilliant colours, or a sea of vivid flames. And after having roused us to a
pitch of enthusiasm by this luminous choregraphy, she appeared triumphant

Troupe de

M^ECLANTINE

JonC . \ /r 11

in the pantomime-ballet Salome, reproducing the gloomy episode of the
death of John the Baptist. The stage of the Folies-Bergeres, where Loi'e
Fuller performed this weird and graceful Serpentine Dance, is famous for
its ballets ; as, for example, Phryni, with its brilliant and marvellous costumes.
As for public balls, the old balls, so merry in days gone by, the
majority have disappeared, and those that remain have sadly degenerated.
At the Moulin de la Galette a new school has been inaugurated, the
school of eccentric dancing, the chief features of which are the "realistic"
quadrille and the grand ecart, which have figured in the programmes of the
Jardin de Paris, the Moulin Rouge, and other places. I confess that the

}8o

A HISTORY OF DANCING

risky gymnastics and painful distortions of Miles. Grille d'Egout, La Goulue,
Nini Patte-en-1'air, and Rayon d'Or, not only have no attraction for me,
but seem to me absolutely unpleasant. I am probably too old-fashioned to
understand them. I confess also that the present Bullier makes me regret
what I have heard of the frank and wholesome gaiety of the students' balls
of former days. And I dream of rustic dances amid the balm of new-
mown hay, the natural expression of enjoyment after the toil of summer
days.

BALLET-PMTOMiME
en Trois Tableaux

T*B COYAL umiDAT *ALL AT ST. JAHCS's FALACE : MKTIIDAY Or GF.ORGF. 111., JINK 4, 1781

After Thomas Slothard, R.A.

CHAPTER XIV

Early Hiittrj of Dancing in great "Britain — .fnglo-Saxon Dancing — D^jrman Dances
— {Middle Jges — Dances of Knights-Templars and Templars — Dancing under
Tna'tr Sovereigns — James I. and Court {Masques — Charles I. and Court
{Masques — The Commonwealth — Dancing under Charles II.— Old {May-day
Dames — Dancing in the Days of Queen June — "Bath — "Beau {}(_ash as {Master
if the Ceremonies — His Successors — {Masquerades at {Madame Comely 's, Carlisle
Home— The Tantkeon—%anelagh and Vauxhall gardens— Jlmaci's Club and
Subscription 'Balls — Famous Dancing- masters and Coryphees of the eighteenth
Century — The Vestris Family — Stage-dancing — Opera Dancers at the KJng's
Theatre — Her {Majesty's, from Vestris le grand to Kate Vaughan

IT has been the custom of strangers, who have not taken the
trouble to inform themselves on the subject, to assume that
the inhabitants of the United Kingdom ranked low amongst
dancing nations, while admitting that the tastes of the people
inclined them to favour dances which are rapid, lively, and spirited ; such,
for example, as Hornpipes, Country Dances, Irish Jigs, Highland Flings,
Reels, and Strathspeys, severally characterised as national dances.

382 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Like the hardy races of antiquity, the early inhabitants of these islands,
for the most part warriors, delighted in dances of a warlike character.

Goths, Gauls, Danes, Picts and Scots, hardy Norsemen, and the warrior
nations with whom the ancient inhabitants were brought into contact, had
the same passion for these saltatory exercises. The Roman conquest added
to the passion for gymnastic dancing, by bringing in its train the Pyrrhic
martial dance, the great dance of war, daily practised.

The Anglo-Saxons were undoubtedly lovers of dancing, the nation dis-
porting itself with characteristic spirit on holidays and merry-makings. It
is demonstrated from the graphic evidence which is procurable, that the old
forms of gymnastic dancing were still in favour ; hopping, leaping, tumbling,
and somersaulting are all described as popular feats, and we may gather that
the " gleemen," like the Norman jongleurs, were professional " tumblers,"
dancing on their hands no less readily than on their feet, vaulting, throw-
ing somersaults, flip-flaps, and in general performing those gymnastic
tricks associated with proficient acrobats. We see in the pictures female
jongleures performing similar feats of tumbling and dancing. Hoppesteres was
a name given to feminine performers expert in this branch. The mimi, or
minstrels, who travelled the country in bands, were also dancers, performing
Jigs and Flings to the accompaniment of the musical instruments they carried,
dancing Hornpipes amongst eggs without breaking them, and Reels amidst
knives and daggers.

The Normans improved English domestic dancing by adding to the
stock of Rounds, common to the people, the variety of steps and figures
found in the Contredanse, supposed to have been introduced here by William
the Conqueror. Primitive dances were expanding, and professional dancing
borrowed hints from distant lands. The first Crusaders brought back in
their train dissolute Eastern practices ; they not only introduced suggestive
dances from the East, but kept their troops of dancing-girls.

The mention of the Carole, originally a singing dance, opens up the
extensive subject of Christmas dances, carols in their surviving form, Yule-
tide festivities, plays, pageants, disguisings, masques, mummers, mysteries,
masquerading revels, " Christmas Princes," " Lords of Misrule," Masters
of Revels, Courts of Father Christmas, with the Rondes, Brawls, Galliards,
Courantes, Jigges, Flings, and the whirl of merry dances, singing measures,

DANCING UNDER THE TUDORS 38$

choral exercises, &c, they brought in their train, as contributory mirth to
the festive season.

In the Middle Ages, out-of-door dances of the peasant order were
common. The Roundel consisted in any number of people joining hands,
and, to the music of the roundelay, performing such evolutions as were then
in favour, or dancing in one long procession, headed by a couple, whose
turns and sauts, leapings and twistings, the train endeavoured to imitate.

In the reign of Edward III. the Morris Dance was in favour, derived
from the Morisco; the parti-coloured masquers had bells attached to their
quaint masquing habits, and held drawn swords in their hands. This was
a figure-dance of agility.

In the days when Knights rode through Knightrider Street, to hold their
"jousts," or tournaments, at Smithfield, " antic-dances, masquerades, jigs,
sarabands, quarter-staff dances," and a " chair-dance," were performed at
the old Elephant Ground in Smithfield.

Dancing was from early times considered an important part of a gentle
education. The Inns of Court, among other practices, were zealous about
their dancing observances ; the holding of revels had been duly provided
for, and kept within convenient bounds by an Act passed in the reign of
Henry VI.— (Dugdale, Orig. Jurid.)

These exercises of dancing were thought very necessary, " and much
conducing to the making of gentlemen more fit for their books at other
times," and " under barristers " were put out of commons for not partici-
pating in the dancings, with a threat of fines and disbarment for contumacy.

Under the Tudor sovereigns dancing flourished mightily, and the land
seemed more like the " Merrie England " of the chroniclers. Henry VIII.
was an all-accomplished prince as regards those portions of a gentle
education, music and dancing ; he composed the music and danced to his
own melodies. The jousts, masques, and pageants given in the earlier part
of his reign, culminating in the extravagant splendours of the Field of the
Cloth of Gold, arc sufficiently well known ; Shakespeare has immortalised the
" disguisings " and " surprise visit" to Wolsey's place. These were the
days of Kissing Dances, the kiss probably contributing to their popularity.
So Henry VIII. is made to say: "Sweetheart, I were unmannerly to
take you out and not to kiss you."

384 A HISTORY OF DANCING

In Edward VI. 's reign fanatics commenced the Reformation crusade
against the licentiousness of dancing, and inoffensive maypoles were cut
down.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth was a dancing era, and the Queen herself
set the fashion. Are not the great officers of State rumoured to have
danced into their grave offices ? There was, among other sprightly instances,
" Sir Christopher Hatton, who wore the green satton," dancing the Pavane
to such dignified perfection that he tripped his way to the woolsack.
Elizabeth prided herself upon her own skill, and ambassadors were asked to
solve the delicate point whether her Majesty's dancing surpassed that of
sister princesses, such as Mary Queen of Scots, that rival devotee of the
dance. Stately measures, such as the Pavane, were a necessity, though it is
related of a princess that she performed the lively movement of a Courante,
the nimble Courant, wearing an embroidered train three yards in length, of
course borne by a gentleman train-bearer, whose agility was deserving of
equal admiration.

Majestic measures were adapted to the requirements of the performers,
decked in all the dignity of brave apparel ; high head-dresses with towers of
hair ; coifs overloaded with jewels, with osprey, and other plumes, to which
brisk movements would have brought destruction ; rigid and elongated
stomachers ; starched ruffs of several stories ; buckramed sleeves and skirts ;
hoops both high and inflexible ; extravagant trains and stiff shoes, also
stiffer with jewels, and with very high heels ; all adornments necessitating
dance-measures suitable to the constrained and stately deportment of the
wearers ; hence the favour in which was held the " grave Pavane," other-
wise admirably designed to harmonise with stately surroundings, evidently
the precursor of the equally courtly Minuet. The Pavane and Paduane, pre-
sumably the same, are supposed to have been in favour in Padua ; the more
popular acceptation was that the name is derived from pavo, a peacock, for
a more " peacocky " measure it is difficult to imagine. Lord Burleigh, and
the wisest of their time, joined in the " deportment " movements. Sir John
Hawkins, in his History of Music, has summed up the specialities of the
Pavane : " It is a grave and majestic dance. The method of dancing it
anciently was by gentlemen dressed with caps and swords ; by those of the
long robe in their gowns ; by the peers in their mantles ; and by ladies in

BRAWLS AND MASQUES ty

gowns with long trains, the motion whereof, in dancing, resembled that of
a peacock." Her Majesty kept a Master of the Revels, whose office it was
to superintend the dances. There was the Undumpisher, according to
Daniel, christened from " Dump," the name of a dance. This official may
have been a Court buffoon. Besides the chivalric Pavane, there was the
Pazzamezzo, the Cinque-pace alluded to by Shakespeare ; Courantes,
Galliards (both lively dances), Trenchmores^ Brawls, Jigs, Fancies, and La
Volta, another Court favourite. The latter, as its name implies, of
springing character ; the cavalier turning his partner in several rounds,
and then assisting the lady to make a high spring, or cabriole, perhaps
similar to cutting an entrechat.

The Brawls led by Sir Christopher Hatton were of an agile nature,
derived from both the French Branles, and the Italian ; another phase of
the Ronde. This, like the generality of peasant measures, vivacious and
saltatory, was popular at wedding feasts. There is an old song, 1569, in
which some of the features of the Brawl are described :

" Good fellowes must go learnc to daunce,

The brydcal is full near a :
There is a brail come out of France,

The first ye harde this year: a,
But I must leape and thou must hoppc,

And we must turn all three a ;
The fourth must bounce it like a toppe,

And so we shall agree a.
1 pray the minstrel! make no stop,

For we will merry be a."

One of the earliest dance tunes, St. Leger Round, was wedded to a
circular Country Dance known as Sellenger's Round. This was in favour in
Elizabeth's reign, with Rogero (suggestive of Sir Roger), 'The Hay, and
John, come Kiss Me now. The Beginning of the World, we are told
(Chappcll's Old English Popular Music) was another title for Sellenger's
Round. The description of this dance is given in Playford's Dancing
Master.

The history of dancing in the reign of James I. chiefly refers to the
costly Masques and emblematic pageants, such as were devised by Ben
Jonson ; many of these were on a lavish scale, full of " rare conceits " and

386 A HISTORY OF DANCING

high-flown panegyrics upon the prince and his belongings. The story of
these divertissements, too lengthy for this place, is interesting, as they all
introduced dancing in various forms. Sometimes, as in the case of a
Masque offered to a royal visitor and brother-in-law to the King, the
personage in whose honour the revel was designed happened to be over-
come by previous potations ; the goddesses represented in the Masque
staggered on in similar state and speechless ; the chief performers were put
to bed in hopeless conditions ; and Majesty remained prostrate.

King James I., as has been mentioned, was a lover of dancing. Young
Henry, Prince of Wales, excelled in these exercises, and "Steenie," the
royal favourite, delighted to exhibit his fine figure, rich attire, and graceful
agility in the dance. Prince Charles, too, was an accomplished dancer, and
was sent dancing through the Courts of Europe with the elegant Villiers,
Duke of Buckingham, as his travelling tutor.

Courtly magnificence under Charles I., with his consort, daughter of
Henri Quatre, aspired still higher. The King's love of art raised the Masques
to their greatest glories ; Buckingham encouraged these costly entertain-
ments, at which he assisted. There was Ben Jonson to devise the pageant,
generally founded on fables and myths, to furnish the lyrics and heroic
speeches ; Lawes composed the music ; and the great architect, Inigo
Jones, furnished the mise-en-scene, invented the " machineries " (which were
very elaborate), and was responsible for the costumes, chariots, vehicles and
accessories in general. Prodigious sums were lavished on these spectacles,
which were brought to artistic perfection under Charles I. Members of the
Court and professional classes devoted themselves to learning new measures,
to furnish forth what would now be the ballet, and a general dance of the
company brought these amusements to an appropriate finish. The
expensive nature of these Masques can be gathered from the sum (£21,000)
alleged to have been expended upon one presented at Whitehall by the Inns
of Court in 1633.

Offence to the decorous was given by the dancing of ballets drawn from
heathen mythology, and the Sarabands, Courantes, Galliardes, and livelier
measures at Court, where French fashions held the ascendency ; Queen
Henrietta Maria enjoying the traditional gaiety of her race, and being
surrounded by favourite attendants and courtiers of her own faith and

DANCING AT CHARLES II.'S COURT 387

nation. These degenerate amusements evoked the protest of the godly, and
helped to precipitate the civil troubles of the reign ; hence the frivolous era
was replaced by a stern reign of puritanical propriety, and dancing fell with
courtly and similar levities.

It has been mentioned that there are Jigs christened after each successive
sovereign from Charles II. to Queen Anne. On the same authority (Grove's
Dictionary), there is a Jig called Old Noll's Jig, possibly in derision ; for,
though the Protector delighted in music, it is perhaps over far-fetched to
picture Oliver Cromwell, footing a Jig.

The Commonwealth looked askance at fripperies, and dancing came
under the ban. With the Restoration an era of gaiety set in, the people
seemed to wish to compensate themselves for the oppressive parliamentary
reign of enforced sobriety by rushing to the other extreme ; and " Merrie
England " was revived with enthusiastic zeal, which, on occasions, was
carried to excess. All the old Mayday revels were restored, and Maypoles
flourished abundantly ; there were dances on all occasions ; the playhouses
were reopened, and dancing, with ballets, after the manner of Louis XIV. 's
favourite diversions, were introduced ; actors and actresses were expected to
excel in performing Jigs, and favourites were called back at the close of the
pieces, when the audiences called upon them for a dance, with which invita-
tion it was considered good taste to comply.

Dances were the order at Court, and, judging from King, courtiers, and
female favourites thereat, pretty lively proceedings must have been the
order of the nights. We have space but for a passing glimpse of the school
of dancing prevailing under the easy, roysterous, pleasure-loving auspices
of Charles II. In the company of Secretary Pepys (1662) we are taken to
a ball at Whitehall, shortly after the Restoration. The King and other lords
and ladies danced the Brantle or Branle, a dance of several persons, holding
hands, and leading one another by turns. Then Majesty led a lady a single
Courante ; then the other lords did likewise, This was the .steadier portion
of the dancing ; for the Country Dances which followed were boisterous ; the
King leading the first, which he called for ; characteristically naming the
old English measure, Cuckolds all Awry. This, as the title implies, was a
frolic, with plenty. of wild swinging to set the dancers awry ; the company
joining hands in a circle, and doing their best endeavour to shake each other

388 A HISTORY OF DANCING

as violently as possible. The steps, changing with the time, consisted of three
pas and pied-joints, the time being given to four strokes of the bow,
vigorously carried out. After the liberal courtly allowance of wine, and the
difficulty of keeping on their legs, this must have been a merry romp, for
considering the loose habits then prevailing, the dancers must have pretty
nearly shaken each other out of their clothes, already sufficiently d'ecollet'ee.
This eventuality may account for the Merry Monarch's preference for
Cuckolds all Awry.

The spirit of dancing seemed to inspire the people of England in an
extra degree on the advent of May-day, and no better refutation could have
been offered those prejudiced critics — who have held the theory that dancing
was foreign to the English character — than the dancing observances
zealously kept up in the times when our country was " Merrie England,"
and the merry month of May was ushered in with joyous dances.

An admirable picture of May-day revels in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, with all the accessories of tall Maypole, an arbour of greenery
reared for the Lady of the May, mummers, dancing on the green, Queen
of the May, morris-dancers, hobby-horses, a dragon, &c, was painted by
C. R. Leslie, R.A. An engraving after this happy representation of old
English customs is here reproduced.

Maypoles were a favourite institution both in town and country ; in fact,
they were provided out of the common funds. The morris-dancers, already
mentioned as in high favour under the Plantagenet sovereigns, formed
another accessory of May-day revels ; the Lord and Lady of the May
were identified with Robin Hood and Maid Marian, their attendant
courtiers and followers with Little John, Friar Tuck, and the sylvan train
of Sherwood Forest ; with these were the antics of zanies and hobby-
horses ; with a reference to the champion legend of St. George and the
Dragon, the " strange beast from other lands," as represented in Leslie's
animated picture of May-day festivities. Pipe and tabor furnished the
measures, the bagpipes were also popular, witness Browne's Pastorals :

"I have seen the Lady of the May
Set in an arbour (on a holiday)
Built by the Maypole, where the jocund swains
Dance with the maidens to the bagpipe strains,"

5 f

}90 A HISTORY OF DANCING

A great Maypole was set up in Cornhill; the Maypole in the Strand was
134 feet high. Says Pope :

"Amid the area wide they took their stand,
Where the tall Maypole once o'erlooked the Strand."

The standing Maypole was an institution. The last of its race left in
London, according to Hone's recollection, was near Kennington Green, and
was mostly frequented by milkmaids :

Misson, in his Observations on his Travels in England, has set down :
"All the pretty young country girls that serve the town with milk, borrow
abundance of silver plate to make a pyramid, which they adorn with ribbons
and flowers, and carry on their heads instead of a pail. They are often
accompanied by their fellow-milkmaids and players on the bagpipe or
fiddle."

The bright shining milk-pails were garlanded too ; Pepys records meeting,
on his way to Westminster, May 1, 1667, "many milkmaids with their
garlands upon their pails, and dancing with a fiddler before them."

Occasionally the model of a cow with gilt horns, begarlanded with oak
leaves, bunches of flowers, rosettes, bows, and streamers of .ribbon, took the
place of the plate ; which latter, as one can fancy, was less readily forth-
coming. Tankards, salvers, bowls, porringers, cups, &c, were arranged in
trophies of plate of pyramidal form, all bound together with gay ribbons and
festooned with floral garlands ; naturally, when these trophies were burden-
some, they could not be carried on the heads of the dancers, but were
mounted on a wooden horse and borne by stout porters ; as were the
garlands of greenery and flowers when of inconvenient dimensions. The
custom was to stop before customers' doors and dance a Galliard ; for this
performance a donation was expected.

In Scotland there were May-dew dancers at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh,
where :

" Strathspeys and reels
Put life and metal in their heels."

This festival commenced with a great gathering at daybreak ; before
five o'clock in the morning the entire hill became a moving mass of folk of

BATH UNDER BEAU NASH 39I

all clans, arrayed in all the colours of the rainbow. At the summit a kilted
company were whirling round a Maypole.

In Ireland May-day observances were equally popular. At Finglass,
near Dublin, the antique Maypole dancing long continued to be kept up in
the old style. A high pole was decorated with garlands, and visitors came
in, from different parts of the country, to dance round it, to the accompani-
ment of whatever music the occasion had conducted there. The best
dancers, male and female, were " chaired " as king and queen, and, when
the Maypole festivities were wound up, carried to some adjacent inn, where
after a feast, with libations of whisky-punch, the proceedings were continued
with a dance indoors.

The art of dancing, as practised by the fair sex in the palmy days of
good Queen Anne, had indeed arrived at a point of graceful perfection
difficult to associate with the amusements of the time. We may accept
the evidence of Sir Richard Steele, as set down in the Taller, wherein is
described, under his assumed character of Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff, a spirited
contest for the pas between two charming young ladies, who had elected to
submit their respective claims for pre-eminence to the decision of the Taller.
Both the rival charmers being pupils of Mr. Isaac, a famous dancing-master
of the period, a Frenchman and a Roman Catholic.

The allusions to Monsieur Isaac, the proficiency of his system of training,
and the all-conquering " rigadoon step," was followed up, a few papers later
on, by a playful essay in the Taller, also by Steele, wherein the eccentricities
of a professor of dancing, who happened to be his neighbour, formed the
text of Mr. BickerstafFs pleasant lucubration.

Apart from London, the normal metropolis of everything modish — the
aristocratic centre of polite company, genteel assemblies, and, incidentally,
of select and stately dancing, during the eighteenth century — was Bath, the
seat of Beau Nash's Court.

Curiously enough, the despotic ruler and the place seemed designed for
one another. Nash had already enjoyed some experience, before, in gentle
Anna's reign, he became famous, along with the city of which, for half a
century, he was practically king. He had matriculated at Oxford, had
figured in the army as an ensign, dressing the martial character.says Goldsmith,
*' to the very edge of his finances"; but finding the duties and restrictions

392 A HISTORY OF DANCING

enforced by the military profession irksome, he reverted to the law, and
entered as a student of the Inner Temple in 1693. Here he so distin-
guished himself by his taste in dress and lavish display, leading an extrava-
gant life without visible resources, that the Beau's most intimate friends
suspected him of being a knight of the road. Loving display, his fine
manners and airy gaiety pointed Nash out as the proper person to super-
intend the masque and pageant the students of the Middle Temple exhibited
before William III. in 1695. So skilfully did Nash comport himself in the
office of Master of the Revels that the King proposed to knight him, an
honour subsequently offered by Queen Anne, who had revived the reputa-
tion of Bath by repairing thither for the waters in 1703 : fashion had
followed the Court, and Beau Nash followed the fashion in 1705, when the
fame of the gambling drew him there. In those primitive days dancing was
conducted on the bowling-green, or in a booth, according to the season ;
there was no Assembly, no codes of etiquette, nor rules regulating the niceties
of dress. Nash found " the Bath" still in its primeval provinciality, and,
as a person of agreeable ingenuity, with marked organising capability, he
readily enlisted the favour of the visitors and the corporation, obtained
subscriptions for music, kept a band of six performers, improved the booth
into an Assembly Room, raised the Pump Room to dignified standing under
the care of an officer called " the pumper," posted up the code of rules
which he had drawn up for the reformation of manners, and inaugurated a
new and polite order of things.

The company elected Nash Master of the Ceremonies, and it must be
acknowledged that the new monarch of the assemblies showed astonishing
gifts for his office. A handsome Assembly House was built under Nash's
direction, the number of musicians increased, their pay doubled, and the
reign of social propriety began. Says the Gentleman's Magazine (for 1762,
the year the Beau died), in an article probably written by Goldsmith, Nash's
biographer : " Nash, in administering his government, found it absolutely
necessary to enact such laws as would execute themselves ; he, therefore,
very artfully contrived to make a kind of penalty the consequence of the
breach of them by the manner of drawing them up, as appears from the
rules, which he wrote with his own hand, and caused to be put up in the
Pump Room."

BALLS UNDER BEAU NASH

393

Nash directed that the balls should begin at six and end at eleven ; this he
was able to effect by his authority over the music. He opened each ball by
taking out two persons of the highest distinction present to dance a Minuet ;
when the Minuet was ended, the lady returned to her seat, and Nash brought
the gentleman a new partner ; this ceremony was observed with every
succeeding couple, every gentleman being obliged to dance with two ladies.

TUB COMfOITS OP IATH

After Tboous Kuwlandson

The Minuet-dancing generally lasted about two hours, and when this was
over, the Country Dances began ; ladies of quality, according to their rank,
standing up first. An hour later on, generally about nine o'clock, a short
interval was allowed for rest, and for the gentlemen to help their partners to
tea. When this was over, the dancing continued till eleven, and, as soon as
the clock had struck, Nash came into the room and ordered the music to
stop by holding up, his finger. The dances were, of course, discontinued, and,
some time being allowed for the company to grow cool, the ladies were
handed to their chairs, nor were those who walked in any danger of being
insulted by the chairmen.

994 A HISTORY OF DANCING

Thus Nash at last arrived at absolute monarchy, and this period of
empire represented the palmy days of Bath.

In the interval between the days of Beau Nash, and the publication of
Anstey's New Bath Guide, that vivacious picture of Georgian manners
and customs (before the appearance of Bunbury's Long Minuet as Danced
at Bath, and Rowlandson's Comforts of Bath), two regents had followed
the Beau, and yet another two were contending for the sweets of office.
The contest for the Mastership of Ceremonies waxed so fierce that in
1769 the subscribers were fain to beseech both candidates to withdraw, and
be contented to forego the sway of empire in consideration of an annual ball
or two, as a gratuity to soothe their retirement.

Captain Wade, nephew of the celebrated General Wade, was then
distinguished by the appointment, and, at a special ball, this son of Mars,
very handsomely attired as Master of the Ceremonies, was presented with a
glittering badge of office. Captain Wade shortly retired, and another
Arbiter succeeded to the medallion of the old Rooms. Meanwhile, the
balls of the New Assembly were swayed by that elegant and refined
personage, William Dawson, M.C., who had his special train of admirers,
and was made as resplendent in regalia as his rival at the Old Rooms.

Great reputations — to say nothing of profits — have been achieved by
those who aspired to lead the popular amusements, especially when the
nature of the entertainments were of a lively or frisky order. The name of
Madame Comely, the contriver of those dancing Festinos which gained an
equivocal celebrity in the eighteenth century, is an instance of the notoriety
which was easily made in this walk of trading on the love of pleasure,
characterising the frivolous portion of mankind.

Every one of fashion had heard of Madame Comely, and all those who
loved gaiety, and disregarded expense in procuring it, had revelled in the
" violent delights " this enterprising entrepreneuse and providore had cun-
ningly spread to attract the gay world to her vivacious entertainments.

It was known that she was connected with the Opera, and that she had
commenced a career, which subsequently made a considerable noise in the
fashionable world, as a singer under the name of " the Pompeiati."

Taking the great Heidegger's successful administration as " Master of
the Revels " as her exemplary model, she soon contrived to preside over the

MADAME CORNELY'S MASQUERADES 39c;

diversions of the ion as the Heidegger of her day. Her taste and invention
in pleasures and decorations became proverbial. Carlisle House, in Soho
Square, fell into her hands, and was shordy transformed into a veritable
bower of bliss. The place was promptly enlarged, subscription-balls and
assemblies were established ; those rationally sober-minded relaxations
usually associated with similar entertainments were surpassed by the lengths

THE MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE AT THE PANTHEON

Alter Thomas Rowlandson

to which amusements were carried under Madame's giddy auspices, as the
High-Priestess of modish innovations. She went on building, made her
house a fairy palace, where balls and masquerades the most dazzling were
the order of the night ; masquerades which drew all the gilded youth, and
a large proportion of the elders too. At first the world was scandalised,
but both righteous and ungodly were drawn to Carlisle House. Every
one who was any one went there, and the papers were filled with lengthy
descriptions of the humours of the Carlisle House masquerades ; the names
and ingenious pleasantries of the high-born masquers, and the fashion-
able celebrities there congregating, whose titles, characters, and diverting
proceedings were duly chronicled in full.

396 A HISTORY OF DANCING

In those days masqued balls were the fashionable diversions of the best
company, and they were really amusing ; it was customary for the masquers
to sustain the characters they had assumed ; wit and invention were con-
spicuously displayed in keeping up their parts ; the loveliest women of the
Court, and the Phrynes who outrivalled them in splendour and profusion,
disported themselves in the most brilliant and ingenious costumes. Royal
personages were prominent visitors among the performers, and the peerage
was largely represented. Queens of society and stage-queens alike found a
congenial theatre for their graces, while the blooming younger generation,
and the reigning beauties whose fascinations were the topic of the time,
were there seen to the best advantage. We know that these symposia were
popular amongst men of note besides the frivolous, for were not Garrick,
and Sir Joshua Reynolds, Oliver Goldsmith, and Dr. Johnson's protege,
Boswell, with men of taste and fashion like Horace Walpole, frequently
seen at Madame Cornely's, at Ranelagh, and at Vauxhall ?

Of all the palatial structures reared for the accommodation of the dancing
world, the Pantheon, in Oxford Street, bore off the palm. This " wonder
of the time" was erected in 177 1, during the fashionable craze for public
balls and masquerades, when the coteries, clubs, assemblies, and general
resorts of the beau-monde were most in vogue. It was a rival of Madame
Cornely's Carlisle House on a more refined and magnificent scale ; more-
over, it was intended to keep the Pantheon entertainments within
respectable limits, and the first notion was to exclude all but the most select
and reputable company from its gorgeous halls.

This noble monument of architectural genius was reared by James
Wyatt, R.A. ; and on all accounts was acknowledged to surpass every
building of its kind.

The opening of this stately palace of pleasure was fixed for January 22,
1772, and was marked by an incident which survives in story, and has been
frequently treated pictorially. The high-toned exclusiveness characteristic
of Al mack's was the aim of the managers ; all ladies of light reputation were
to be excluded, and to a committee of lady-patronesses of the highest rank
in society was confided the exercise of these invidious responsibilities. The
rumours of this proposed exclusiveness gave great offence, when many fair
celebrities of the fashionable and theatrical worlds were notorious for tender

THE PANTHEON

397

flirtations, and their connections with gallant virtuosi in the ranks of the
nobility and gentry, whose admiration for the arts extended to the artistes.
Not only were the all-fascinating demi-mondaines, the Kitty Fishers, Nelly
O'Briens, Polly Kennedys, Nancy Parsons, and recruits of the too-famous frail
sisterhood to be excluded ; it was noised abroad that those irresistible actresses,
whose fame on the stage was outrivalled by the publicity of their amours,

THH QUIEN Or TBI SWORDS

After a Picture by W. Q. Orchardioo, R.A.

were to be debarred the magic halls. It was known that two famous
daughters of Thalia had secured tickets from their admirers, and, despite
prudish overseers, intended to present themselves — pretty Sophia Baddeley,
then under a singing engagement at Ranelagh.and the winsome Mrs. Abington,
the accepted Queen of Comedy. The jeunesse doree had vowed that,
whoever was excluded from the Pantheon, their favourite Sophia Baddeley
should gain admittance on the memorable opening-night. Twenty gentlemen
met at Almack's, and bound themselves to escort her, and stand by her
chair. When she arrived, and was set down at the portico (which escaped
the destructive fire in 1792, and is still standing in Oxford Street, sole

398 A HISTORY OF DANCING

remaining relic of Wyatt's first Pantheon), the escort had swelled to fifty
gentlemen of the first rank. As Mrs. Baddeley attempted to enter, the posse
of constables provided for the emergency crossed their staves, barring the
passage, and civilly but resolutely explained, their orders were to exclude
stage-players. Instructions had been given to convey the prohibition in the
least offensive manner, although, had Mrs. Baddeley's profession been unex-
ceptionable, her equivocal reputation would have been a fatal stumbling-block.
The gallant escort of champion knights unsheathed their glittering weapons,
and, at the sword's-point, sharply drove back the constables; then making an
arch with their chivalrous blades, formed an avenue adown which Mrs.
Baddeley passed proudly into the presence of all the high personages
assembled in the brilliantly illuminated Rotunda ; thus entering triumphant
to the fear and consternation of the obstructive managers, who found their
stronghold carried by a coup de main, and the enemy in possession, before
they were aware of their defeat. " But," writes Leslie, " the difficulty was
not at end. The outraged gentlemen refused to sheathe their swords or to
allow the music to proceed till the managers came forward and humbly
apologised to Mrs. Baddeley and her escort." That lady's comrade and
biographer, Mrs. Steele, also present, asserts that, when the managers had
apologised, the Duchess of Argyle and the Duchess of Ancaster stepped
forward and expressed the pleasure it gave them to receive such an ornament
to their assembly as Mrs. Baddeley. A messenger was in readiness to inform
Mrs. Abington, more timorously awaiting the denouement of this adventure,
and discreetly attending without, in readiness to receive the signal that Mrs.
Baddeley's charge at the head of her guards had been successful. She now
made her entree, and, from that eventful night, the difficult feat of attempting
to draw the line between the nice gradations in frailty were practically
relinquished, as regarded the management of the Pantheon.

An advertisement, by way of warning to the discomfited purists, appeared
in the paper, that " as it was not convenient for ladies always to carry the
certificates of their marriages about them, the subscribers were resolved, in
opposition to the managers, to protect the ladies to whom they gave their
tickets." Even the stern moralist Dr. Johnson was, with his friends of the
Literary Club, found attending the Pantheon. The admission was half-
a-guinea. Boswell ventured to suggest there was not half-a-guinea's worth

THE PANTHEON 399

of pleasure in seeing the place. Johnson replied : " But, sir, there is half-a-
guinea's worth of inferiority to other people in not having seen it."
Boswell : " I doubt whether there are many happy people here." Johnson :
" Yes, sir, there are many happy people here ; there are many people who
are watching hundreds, and who think hundreds are watching them."

Reynolds and Goldsmith were there, in character, too, at a masquerade

MASqt'KXADE AT THE rANTIIF.i'N, OXFORD 5TKKKT, 1809

After Rowlandtaa «nd Pugin

shortly after the opening. There were nearly two thousand visitors
present ; the suite of fourteen rooms one blaze of light and decorations, the
wines and supper in keeping with the rank of the better part of the company.
On this particular occasion, we are told that several of the ladies who chose
to adopt male dominoes and disguises "appeared as masculine as many of
the delicate Macaroni things we see everywhere — the ' Billy Whiffles ' of the
present age." Among the most distinguished of these "very pretty
fellows " were the Duchess of Ancastcr, Lady Melbourne, and Mrs. Darner.

4oo A HISTORY OF DANCING

There, too, were Reynolds' Devonshire friends, the Horneck family,
probably under the escort of Sir Joshua and Goldsmith ; the poet's Jessamy
Bride and Little Comedy, a charming group ; the two beautiful youthful
sisters, and their smart young brother — Goldsmith's " captain in lace," as
French dancers, all dressed in Watteau habits of the same cut and fashion ;
looking, says the Magazine chronicler, notwithstanding the sex of one of
the trio, like a group of the three Graces. The ball took place on the eve
of old Mayday, and there was, appropriately to the season, a group dressed
as the bearers and attendants of the " Milkmaids' May-day Garlands," and
as the company trooped to their chairs and coaches in the May-day dawn,
the veritable May-day milkmaids were already stirring in the streets.

By one of a succession of truly deplorable casualties, the King's Theatre
was destroyed by fire in 1789 ; the year following Drury Lane Theatre
was found to be unsafe for want of needful repairs, and the prospects of
the imported troupe of operatic artistes, with no field for their per-
formances, were, early in 1791, of the most forlorn order. Rowlandson
produced two or three graphic versions, setting forth the state of the case.
One is entitled Chaos is come again, and shows the Opera House crumbling
into decay, and in its fall bringing down the performers among the ruins,
with the quotation :

" Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast,
To soften bricks and bend the knotted oak."

Rowlandson playfully pictured the reduced state of the poor homeless
dancers, with Didelot, Vestris, Theodore, and others, accompanied by the
musicians of the Opera band, driven, all dishevelled, their already scanty
costumes worn to tatters, to take refuge on the streets, appealing to the
passers-by for assistance ; with a model of the King's Theatre, inscribed,
" Pray remember the poor dancers," carried, as shipwrecked sailors bore about
a model of their lost ship, to enlist the sympathy of the charitable.

A placard announces : " A Dance, called The Battle of the Brickbats ; to
conclude with a Grand Crush by all the Performers."

This appeal on behalf of the distressed dancers was entitled : The
Prospect before us, No. 1. Humanely inscribed to all those Trofessors of Music
and Dancing whom the cap may fit. At this trying juncture, the

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402 A HISTORY OF DANCING

managers of the Pantheon came to the rescue, and Wyatt carried out altera-
tions which converted the grand saloon of the Pantheon into a handsome
and spacious theatre, to which the Opera troupe was transferred pending the
reconstruction of Drury Lane and the completion of the new Opera House,
Haymarket. The improved state of affairs, with the ballet installed more
splendidly than ever, is pictorially set down by Rowlandson in a version
here reproduced, entitled : The Prospect before us, No. 2. Respectfully
dedicated to those Singers, Dancers, and Musical Professors who are fortu-
nately engaged with the proprietor of the King s Theatre at the Pantheon^
This appeared January, 1 79 1 . Rowlandson's drawing presents a coup d ceil
of the theatre just erected, as viewed from the stage, the Royal box in the
centre, tenanted by Majesty, and the entire house filled with the quality.
On the boards are represented M. Didelot and Mile. Theodore, principal
dancers in the ballet of Amphion and Thalia, O'Reilly presiding over the
orchestra. The opera first produced was Armida. The opening season
was vastly successful. The unlucky ballet-dancers, however, as it seemed,
were doomed to misfortune ; still worse, the Pantheon was involved. The
story is brief: "January 14, 1792. This morning, between one and two
o'clock, the painters'-room in one of the new buildings, which have been
added to the Pantheon to enlarge it sufficiently for the performance of
operas, was discovered to be on fire. Before any engines were brought to
the spot, the fire had got to such a height that all attempts to save the
building were in vain. The fire kept burning with great fury for about ten
hours, by which time the roof and part of the walls having fallen in, it was
so much subdued that all fears for the safety of the surrounding houses
were quieted."

Another Pantheon, on similar lines, was reared on the site of its
predecessor ; and similar entertainments opened its early career. A picture
of the interior, with a masquerade in full swing, was published at the time ;
the architecture by Pugin, and the figures by Rowlandson.

After various changes of fortune — from a ball-room to a bazaar, and a
picture gallery — the later Pantheon still stands, the headquarters of Messrs.
W. & A. Gilbey, the well-known wine merchants. Once filled with all the
choicest spirits of the past, its present fortunes are still associated with
convivial usages.

RANELAGH

403

At Ranelagh, in the days of its meridian glories, the nobility delighted
to take their pleasures ; Royal Dukes and Blue Ribbons figured at its balls
and ridottos; it was also famous for Aquatic Fetes, which attracted in crowds
the pleasure-loving section of the Metropolis. Here, too, Masquerades
were evidently in high favour. There is a picture of one held here in 1759,
the masquers disporting themselves in the rustic walks, rowing on the canal,

A View of the Rotunda and Gardens, sriih a representation ot the Jubilee Masquerade Ball
Circa 10 celebrate the Birthday of George, Prince of Wales (Geo. III.), 1759

and crowding the quaint Chinese buildings reared in the middle of the lake.
This version is by Canaletto, as is the view of the interior of the vast
Rotunda, erected as a ball-room. By the same artist is a general view of
the gardens surrounding the Rotunda, with the masquerade represented,
given to celebrate the Jubilee Birthday Ball, there held May 24, 1759, in
honour of George, Prince of Wales, who succeeded to the throne the
following year as George III. This version is reproduced ; it has a further
interest, as representing the general features of a masquerade in the middle
of the eighteenth century ; showing the characteristic disguises and costumes
then in popular favour ; while a frequent incident of these bals costumes, a
chosen train of dancers, disporting themselves round a maypole hung with
streamers, is illustrated in one of the principal groups.

I
404

A HISTORY OF DANCING

There is an elegant " Regatta Ball Ticket, Ranelagh, 1775," an^ another
for the " Subscription Masquerade, June 14, 1776 "; both are designed by
G. B. Cipriani, R.A., and engraved by F. Bartolozzi.

Vauxhall Gardens enjoyed a prolonged spell of popularity. Frederick,
Prince of Wales (father of George III.) honoured Vauxhall with so large a
share of his patronage, that the management was solicitous to commemorate
this favourable circumstance. The Gothic orchestra, erected in the grove,

had its dome surmounted with a plume of the
Prince of Wales' feathers, and, fronting the
orchestra, was a large pavilion of the com-
posite order, specially built for the accom-
modation of his Royal Highness. Canaletto
painted a series of pictures of Vauxhall
Gardens, which were engraved in 1753.

. The original Vauxhall was made glorious
by the enterprise of Mr. Jonathan Tyers,
who purchased the place in 1730, and opened
it with an attractive entertainment, which
he called a Ridotto al Fresco. We have
reproduced the ticket of admission issued
for the "Vauxhall Jubilee," May 1786; a
further interest is lent to this particular voucher by the fact that it bears
the autograph of Jonathan Tyers. As Leslie has pointed out, the Vauxhall
of Jonathan Tyers was a vastly different affair to the place familiar some
forty years back, then nearing its end. " Its decoration had employed the
brushes of Hogarth and Hayman, the scenic art of Lambert and De Louther-
bourg, and the chisel of Roubiliac. In its orchestra, Mrs. Billington did not
disdain to sing, nor Arne to conduct. The most brilliant beauties and
leaders of ton were not too proud to eat cold chicken and drink rack punch
and Frontiniac in its supper-boxes"; princes and peers, and "all that was
modish and gay " of both sexes, had, by their attendance, lent a high-bred
air of quality to the balls and ridottos, which, in the summer season, turned
Vauxhall Gardens into a scene of delight.

Almack's presented a contrast to most assemblies from the strictly
exclusive order of its management. Of all the charmed circles, Almack's

fft't, Vfetv

VOUCHER FOR VAUXHALL JUBILEE, I786

ALMACK'S

405

continued the most difficult of access. It has been seen that at the various
resorts whereat fashionable society at intervals elected to disport itself for
the amusement of dancing, the compny signally failed in retaining its aris-
tocratic exclusive-
ness ; duchesses and
demireps, sooner or
later, contested the
palm for rival attrac-
tions, while demi-
mondaines were rigor-
ously excluded from
Almaclc's through-
out its career.
The touchstone of
high - bred fashion
in its brilliant days,
Almack's kept its
traditions unsullied;
while people were
ready to intrigue —
or even to fight —
for admission, the
privilege of penetra-
ting within the once-
fabled portals was
jealously guarded by

an array of lady-patronesses, imperium in imperio, for the entree to Almack's
was considered a passport to the highest society of the metropolis. It was
useless to contend against the fates, and, although the husbands of these
despotic patronesses were challenged by disappointed applicants, who
resented their exclusion as a personal insult, the rigorously exclusive
legislature remained unmoved. It is related that a captain in the Guards,
to whom Lady Jersey had declined sending a ticket, sent a challenge to
Lord Jersey, requesting he would name his second, &c. " Lord Jersey
replied in a very dignified manner, saying that if all persons who did not

YAl'XMALL GABDEKS, 1S09

After Rowtaadm aad Facia

406 A HISTORY OF DANCING

receive tickets from his wife were to call him to account for want of
courtesy on her part, he should have to make up his mind to become a
target for young officers, and he therefore declined the honour of the
proposed meeting."

When the gay doings at " White's " and " Boodle's " were attracting the
attentions of the jeunesse doree, and monopolising the male society, and the
dashing ladies who led le bon ton aspired to emulate the modish amusements
of their lords, the beaux and belles found, in the person of the enterprising
Almack, a coadjutor, caterer, and chamberlain who, in astutely administer-
ing to the tastes of his generation for extravagance and the all-prevailing
excitement of gambling, had discovered a ready road to fortune, pro-
fiting by the reckless profusion of that beau monde of which he thus
became the convenient satellite.

" Almack's Club," the original of " Brooks'," was established in Pall
Mall in 1 764. While the spendthrift Macaronis of the day were gaily ruining
their fortunes under Almack's auspices at this luxurious symposium, the
founder was causing to be erected the handsome Assembly Rooms in King
Street, St. James's — later managed by Willis, another famous club proprietor
(also founder of the " Thatched House " in St. James's Street), and hence
the elegant premises erected by Almack became subsequently familiar as
" Willis's Rooms."

Almack's opened February 20, 1765, with a ball. It is" recorded the
walls and ceilings were still damp, and the Duke of Cumberland inaugurated
the festivity.

To Almack's, as a centre, came the various aristocratic coteries then
flourishing, and King Street became their accepted headquarters. "The
Ladies' Club," according to Walpole. " all goddesses," transferred their
august patronage to Almack's, bringing favour and fortune in their train.
The subscription was ten guineas ; for this was provided a weekly ball and
supper, the season lasting twelve weeks. Mrs. Boscawen informed Mrs.
Delany concerning " this Institution of lords and ladies, who first met at a
tavern, and subsequently, to satisfy Lady Pembroke's scruples, migrated to
Almack's."

" The ladies nominate and choose the gentlemen, and vice versa, so that
no lady can exclude a lady, or gentleman a gentleman,"

ALMACK'S

407

Blackballing, from the first, attested its exclusive pretensions. The Ladies
Rochford, Harrington, and Holderness met this fate, as did the Duchess of
Bedford, though subsequently admitted. The ladies retorted by black-
balling Lord March and Brook Boothby.

It appears that the lady-patronesses allowed concerts and balls to be given
at Almack's for the benefit of celebrated professors of dancing, vocalists, and
musicians, and that Bartolozzi engraved their benefit tickets ; of this order
was the card of subscription to " M. Fierville's
Ball, Almack's," here reproduced. Many choice
examples, referring to benefit performances given
at Almack's, are still in existence.

When Willis held the post of chamberlain
at the beginning of the century, Almack's
continued the quintessence of aristocratic exclu-
siveness. If the numbers of young captains who
were ready to make targets of the lordly
husbands of the lady-patronesses were over-

I I • .1 'II 1 1 .1 SVBSCIIIPTION-BALL TICKET

whelmmg, the coterte more jealously guarded the M Fjavilu., ^ Alnuck.s

portals. "Of the three hundred officers of the

Foot Guards, then as now famous for their ' select set,' no more than half-
a-dozen were honoured with vouchers of admission to this temple of the
beau monde ; the gates were defended by autocratic arbiters, whose smiles or
frowns consigned men and women to happiness or despair."

As Captain Gronow wrote in " the sixties" : " At the present time, one
can hardly conceive the importance which was attached to gaining admission
to Almack's, the seventh heaven of the fashionable world." Lady Jersey,
at the head of the lady-patronesses, is described as a theatrical tragedy
queen, reigning over these reunions " into whose sanctum sons of commerce
never come."

The lady-patronesses, leaders of fashionable ion ton in 18 14, were
Ladies Castlcreagh, Jersey, Cowper, Sefton, Willoughby de Eresby,
Countess Licvcn, and Princess Esterhazy.

The government was a pure despotism. On Gronow's authority, " the
fair ladies, who ruled supreme over this little dancing and gossiping world,
issued a solemn proclamation that no gentleman should appear at the

408

A HISTORY OF DANCING

assemblies without being dressed in knee-breeches," a white cravat and a
chapeau bras were also de rigueur ; and another rule enacted that no visitor
was admitted after half-past eleven o'clock at night. According to the
anecdotes, " the great captain who had never been beaten in the field " was
on two occasions ingloriously routed at Willis's. The Duke of Wellington

Marquis of Worcester

Lady Jersey

Clanronald Macdonald

Lady Worcester

THE FIRST QUADRILLE AT ALMACK S

Reproduced from Gronow's "Reminiscences"

presenting himself a few minutes after this hour was, by the invincible
Willis, sent down again. On another occasion, the Duke was about
to ascend the staircase of the ball-room dressed in black trousers, when the
vigilant Mr. Willis, the guardian Cerberus of the portals, stepped forward :
" Your Grace cannot be admitted in trousers " ; whereon the Duke, who had
a great respect for orders and regulations, quietly walked away.

The quintessence of aristocracy was present, and it is said three-fourths
of the nobility knocked in vain at the portals of Almack's.

In 1 8 14 the programme was made up of Contredanses, with Scotch
Reels and Jigs, said to owe their introduction to the Duchess of Gordon,
who, in the zenith of her youth and beauty, imported these national dances
from Scotland into London. The year 1 8 1 5 established a marked innova-
tion. Lady Jersey introduced the Quadrille from Paris, where it was the

INTRODUCTION OF THE QUADRILLE

400

mode, and its popular reception at Almack's at once conferred upon Quadrille
dancing the cachet of fashionable approval. The occasion of its first
introduction has been described. Lady Jersey, Lady Harriet Butler, Lady
Susan Ryder, and Miss Montgomery, with Count St. Aldegonde, Mr.
Montgomery, Mr. Harley, and Mr. Montague made up the first set seen in

GcOTiC

Count Si. Antonio
of Rutland Princeu huirha/y

BAIL AT AI.MACKs, 1815

Reproduced from Cronow'i

Sir G. Warrendcr

Count St. Aldcgundc

London. As the Hon. Mrs. Armytage has pointed out, "The figures
were intricate ; the steps, positively essential to their correct interpretation,
were manifold ; and it was quite as necessary to master the difficulties of
pas dt basque, chassez-croisez, with the regulation balance and poussette,
as it had been in the past century to grapple with the minute etiquette
of the Menuct dc la Cour or Gavotte." In those days every step was
marked with nice precision; walking through Quadrilles was a latter-day
degeneracy.

The German Waltz, we arc told, was at first coldly regarded, but, after

4io

A HISTORY OF DANCING

the Emperor Alexander, wearing his tight-fitting uniform and numerous
gorgeous decorations, had, at Almack's, exhibited his skill in twirling round

the Countess Lieven,
the opponents of
waltzing surrendered
at discretion. Among
those who are men-
tioned as accomplished
performers in the
mazy Viennese Waltz,
were Lord Palmerston
and Countess Lieven,
Princess Esterhazy
and Baron de Neu-
mann, who were
constantly partners.

In a picture of
the ball-room with
portraits of the most
conspicuous habitues
(" Illustrations of
Almack's "), the
leading personages
are the Duchess of
Somerset and her daughters in the place of honour, Lord Liverpool,
Duke of Devonshire, Lord Worcester, the Ladies Sefton, Lord Petersham,
Lord Fife, Duke of Brunswick, Lord Alvanley, Lord Sefton, and others,
among the gay throng of frequenters. Fashions, however, changed ; Almack's
became obsolete, society preferred to entertain at home, ball-giving houses
and hostesses increased ; the Subscription-balls, after ninety years of
popularity, ceased to be patronised, and Willis's as "Almack's" faded our
with "the light of other days!" By a turn of the wheel, as "Willis's
Restaurant," the high-tide of fashion has flowed back in our day, curiously
enough, largely under the auspices of White's Club. Thus history repeats
itself !

PORTRAIT OF MISS MORTON AS ARIliL

After E. T. Parris

VESTRIS IN LONDON

Jansen, the famous Maitre de Ballet Allemand, was represented April 6,
1782, in a skit by James
Gillray, entitled, "The
German Dancing Master.
The name and fame of
the practitioner, who is
represented as an eccen-
tric figure performing
on his " kit," thus sur-
vives in the caricaturist's
playfully satirical pro-
duction.

The portrait of the
German dancing-master,
famous in his day, was
followed by that of
another maitre de danse,
whose reputation is not
yet forgotten — M.
Vestris, dieu de la danse.
This quasi-historical
personage, who made a
great figure in his own
times, also formed the
subject of Gillray's
satirical pictorial shafts.

The artist has given to one of his caricatures the significant title,
Regardez-moi, singularly appropriate to the Terpsichorean genius, who
always imagined himself the focus of the eyes of Europe.

In this satire upon Gat-tan Vestris, " Vestris I" " or " Vestris le Grand,"
as he entitled himself, the maitre de danse is giving a lesson to that
huge personage Lord Cholmondeley, travestied as a great goose.

Augustc Vestris occupied the place filled by his father, familiarly
known as " old iron legs," and he, too, the second illustrious member
of the house of Vestris, begot another famous successor in the Terpsichorean

«J<4fu

A DANCER

From * Lithograph by Edward Morton after A. E. Chalon, R.A.

412

A HISTORY OF DANCING

art ; his name de-
scended to Madame
Vestris, the beautiful
grand-daughter of F.
Bartolozzi, who had
engraved portraits of
the grand maitres de
danse in the days of
their vast reputation.
George Dance —
who seems to have
recognised an omen
in his name, and has
given portraits of
dancing worthies —
made a picture of
Vestris Dancing the
Gooses tep (engraved by
F. Bartolozzi in 1 78 1).
We have seen the great
master, Regardez-moi,
represented instructing a nobleman transmogrified into a goose ; there was
evidently some association which may explain these allusions.

The taste for " operatical " and fantastic dancing under George III.'s
reign seemed to run away with society. There were the endless "midnight
masquerades " at the Pantheon, at Madame Cornely's, Carlisle House, at
the Clubs, the " S$avoir-Vivre," " Sans-souci," " S^avoir-faire," "The Pic
Nic Society," " The New Club," Soho, " Almack's," and many others
alternately frequented by persons of distinction ; there were " Ranelagh,"
" Vauxhall," and similar pleasure-gardens, equally attractive to the beau-
monde. It will be seen that at these high-toned resorts the licence of dress
and manners ran to surprising lengths, the costumes there displayed approxi-
mating to the primitive simplicity of our first parents.

In spite of the reprobations of the Church, the rage for dancing still
grew, while, under the Vestris family, the ballet increased in favour, and

MLl.E. LUC1LE GRAHN IN THE BALLKT OF EOLINE OR J.A DRYADE

After S. M. Joy

$iffiwfc':>&j--:-'.

('ontut ■ /fA/l/t.l/.

KATE \ AUGHAN AND HER SUCCESSORS

4«>

HIV. MAUI. I...VK

Ffsai a Photograph by Ihe London Sumraacopic Company

draperies plays a part quite as important
as the actual steps. She has been suc-
ceeded by a host of clever disciples
and imitators, among whom may
be mentioned the well-known favour-
ites, Miss Sylvia Gray, Miss Letty
Lind, Miss Alice Ix-thbridge, Miss
St. Cyr, Miss Mabel Love, and Miss
Topsy Sinden.

that gift in the dancing of
Miss Kate Vaughan had made
the nearest approach to elevating
the standard of the modern art
in our own day."

This graceful artiste may be
said to have inaugurated the
reign of the now all -popular
skirt-dance, in which the manipula-
tion of voluminous gossamer

Kill VALI.HAN

After m Pliotsjriph by Moan. Dowoay

ST. JAMES S. A BALL AT AL.MACK S
I3y W. He*th

CHAPTER XV

The Jig — Irish Jigs — The Hornpipe — "Dancing in Scotland — Under (Mary, Queen oj
Scots — The Reformation — Scotch Reels — Highland Flings — The G hi Hie Callum —
The Strathspey — English Country "Dances — The Cotillion of the Eighteenth
Century — The Modern "Cotillon" — Quadrilles. — The First Set, or Tarisian
Quadrille— The Lancers— The Caledonians— The Tolka—The Waltz— The
Minuet— Court 'Balls — State Balls.

iO doubt the lively Jig dates back to time immemorial ; it is a
dance measure which must have seized the imaginations of
peoples of all nations ; the Jig, Giga, Gigue, or German Geige,
was in fact cosmopolitan. One of the earliest dance tunes
of which any evidence survives dates back to 1300, and is assumed to
have been a Jig ; a dance in the past no less popular in England than
in Scotland and in Ireland, where it must be regarded as the national
dance. Shakespeare has mentioned several dances of his time ; for
instance, the Galliard, as danced at masques ; the Cinque pas (Cinqua pace
or Cinque Pass) and the Jigge. In Much Ado about Nothing there is
Beatrice's ingenious description of matrimony : " Wooing, wedding, and
repenting is as a Scotch jig, a measure, and a cinque-pace : the first suit is
hot and hasty, like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical ; the wedding,
mannerly-modest, as a measure, full of state and ancientry ; and then comes
repentance and, with his bad legs, falls into the cinqueTpace faster and faster

THE JIG

4'7

■

till he sink into his grave." At the Tudor Court, Jigs, Courantes, Galliards,
and Brawls represented the livelier dances ; it is fair to infer that Jigs
continued in favour even in Court circles, for there are Jigs christened after
successive sove-
reigns from
Charles II. to
Queen Anne. We
find Jigs figuring
in the entertain-
ments of masques
and revels, the
particular preroga-
tives of the Inns of
Court, where the
sedentary habits
of study were
agreeably lightened
by a corresponding
attention to salta-
tory movements,
and the gentlemen
learned in the law
were no less ac-
complished dancers.
In the preface to
Playford's Dancing
Master, the writer
pointedly com
mends " the sweet

and airy activity of the gentlemen of the Inns of Court, which has
crowned their grand solemnities with admiration to all spectators."
Again, we find (Grove's Dictionary) Jigs christened after the Inner Temple,
the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn.

There was a comprehensive character about the Jig ; people could merrily
foot it, play it on some musical instrument, and sing a country round at the

INSiDE OF THE RED BOLL PLAVHOU6E. 167?

418

A HISTORY OF DANCING

same time. Barclay, in his Eclogues, makes his shepherd boast of his

skill :

" I can dance the Raye, I can both pipe and sing,
If I were mcry, I can both hurle and fling."

In Shakespeare's time the term " Jig " applied equally to a sprightly dance

and a merry verse.
At the playhouse the
dancing of Jigs was
expected from the
performers. In early
days, a dancing and
singing Jig was the
regulation wind-up of
the piece ; often a sort
of impromptu, or what
passed as such, a jing-
ling rhyming tag sung
by the clown ; and
audiences were accus-
tomed to call for a
Jig as a pleasant
termination to the
show.

We give, as an
example of the
" Drolls " popular in
the time of Charles II.,
the contemporary
version of the performers at the Red Bull Playhouse, Clerkenwell, 1672,
where one of the actors, handsomely dressed in the gallant fashion of the
time, is executing a Jig to the sound of his own fiddle, as the " French
Dancing-Master."

It is to Ireland we must go for the Jig in all its vivacious activity ; the
Irish race possessing a natural taste for both music and dancing, the
national Jig has a marvellous influence over the Irish temperament. As

f IRISH JIG

After Adam IJuck

IRISH JIGS

419

Miss Owenson, in her Patriotic Sketches of Ireland, has illustrated, no alien
dance could in any way replace their own lively Jigs. The outdoor
peasant gatherings, whereat the performers seem untiring in their ardour
for the Jig, are thus described :

"The piper is always seated on the ground, with a hole dug near him,

Wn BALL. DL'STT BOB AND BLACK >.\LL

After W. Heath

Here revel they, who come the km0wtm£ rig ;

From toris of beggary and fcatly wiles
Assembled are the ummfimMm. trull, and frig

Within thy saactimoaiout pale. Sl Gibs !

Here St. Cecilia's art asserts her power,
Waking the diapason of their clacks ;

The dance and sons cajole the fleeting hour,
And love's profuse libations flow in max.

into which the contributions of the assembly are dropped. At the end of
every Jig the piper is paid by the young man who dances it, and who
endeavours to enhance the value of the gift by first bestowing it on his fair
partner. Though a penny a Jig is esteemed very good pay, yet the
gallantry or ostentation of the contributor, anxious at once to appear
generous in the eyes of his mistress, and to outstep the liberality of his
rivals, sometimes trebles the sum which the piper usually receives."

It has been stated that, so strong a hold has dancing upon the lively
Irish temperament, few gatherings take place in Ireland without this
accompaniment. At the numerous fairs, groups of youths will always be
met with, merrily footing it to the " breakdown," with many stirring
whoops and much flourishing of blackthorn shillelaghs.

An Irish "wake" takes prominence among these characteristic functions,

420

A HISTORY OF DANCING

where competition runs high in skearing dirges, in whisky-drinking, and
the prolongation of active Jigs ; the measure of respect for the lamented
deceased being testified by the individual energy of the mourners and their
ardour to exert themselves in honour of the departed.

Conspicuous among those dances which claim a distinctly native origin,

Tkomai RvvilanitioH.

THE LAST JIG, OR ADIEU TO OLD ENGLAND

With a jorum of diddle,

A lass and a fiddle.

Ne'er shall care in the heart of a tar be found.

And, while upon the hollow deck,
To the sprightly jig our feet shall bound,
Take each his charmer round the neck,
And kiss in time to the merry sound.

the Hornpipe has been described as belonging far excellence to our clime
and race. It is consistent with our national characteristics as a maritime
nation, that a native dance should be a sailors' dance. Hornpipes and Jigs
are old favourites in the service, and by no section of the community are
they danced with more sprightly springiness, joyous activity, or keener
enjoyment. As an argument for the health-promoting properties of dancing,
the Hornpipe must be accepted as a practical instance to the point. Captain
Cook, for example, proved that dancing was most useful in keeping his
sailors in good health on their voyages. When the weather was calm, and
there was consequently little employment for the sailors, he made them
dance, the Hornpipe for preference, to the music of the fiddle ; and to the

DANCING UNDER MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS 42!

healthful exertion of this exercise the great circumnavigator attributed the
freedom from illness on board his ship.

Doubtless the Hornpipe, in some form, is of antique origin, and may have
suggested itself to other nations, or have existed in past ages, as is con-
jectured with much plausibility. It was evidently equally popular in Scot-
land, where it was a fashionable measure in the eighteenth century, danced
to the tune called Flowers of Edinburgh.

Beyond the national dances which ever exert the greatest influence over
the minds and spirits of the
people, the history of dancing in
Scotland naturally coincides with
the circumstances of the country,
and especially illustrates the in-
fluence of their French connections
over the Scots, from the period
when the Scots Guards, as in the
days of Louis XI., played a
conspicuous part in the joint
histories; moreover, the Scotch,
as a nation of lovers of dancing,
readily learned everything
that there was to be acquired

from their French relations, when the two Courts, as in the regency of
Mary of Guise and the reign of Mary Queen of Scots, were thus intimately
associated. The thoughtless Mary continued her dancing diversions in the
face of tragedies, as when, on the news of the Protestant massacre at Vassy
reaching Edinburgh, the volatile queen kept up the ball at Holyrood, whereon
the righteous uprose in wrath, and bold John Knox publicly denounced the
lightsome, and, from his pulpit, clarion-voiced, condemned frivolous Queen
and courtiers, '* dancing, like the Philistines for the pleasure taken in the
destruction of God's people." Merry Scotland became for the time a grim,
earnest place, when the tide of Reformation burst as a torrent, and swept
away even innocent amusements; "promiscuous dancing," as a violation of
all moral and spiritual laws, was declared contrary to religion, and sup-
pressed, with imprisonment as the penalty.

THK rLOWING CAN

422

A HISTORY OF DANCING

Legislative enactments failed signally to eradicate a passion which was
indigenous to the people, and the stringency of these measures was
gradually relaxed. King James was a lover of dancing, and in his Book of
Sports included dancing as a lawful recreation. Spite of princes and
presbyters, the struggle long continued between the flesh and the spirit ; the
Calvinists esteemed dancing a sin ; while the Scottish natural aptitude for

dancing was un-
conquerable. A
century later the
national passion
was making way ;
in the fashionable
world dancing
assemblies grew
into favour. At
Edinburgh danc-
ing-masters came
to the front ; the
Town Council of
Glasgow, forgetting
its repressive zeal
as regards penal-
ties inflicted upon
pipers and dancers,
appointed a salaried
dancing - master
to " familiarise the
inhabitants with the art." Dancing was elsewhere regarded as " a very
necessary article of education," and an essential part of manners, good-
breeding, and gentlemanly training. Bagpipe competitions and Highland
Fling dancing became features at the national gatherings and on holidays.
Reels continued the favourites, and had the graver signification of religious
exercise at wakes and weddings, when sacred hymn tunes were used for
these measures. We all remember Wilkie's picture, even more familiar
through the engravings, of a Scotch Wedding. The Penny Wedding

THE DAN'CE

From an Engraving by F. Bartolozzi after a Drawing by Henry Bunbury

SCOTCH POPULAR DANCES

42 i

refers to the custom of the company severally contributing small sums
towards the cost of the festivity, the balance to provide a small fund
towards starting the young couple in life, an observance still kept up
amongst the fishing population.

At funerals similar customs prevailed, and these usages still continue
in distant regions.
After a death, the
company met at
these "Late Wakes,"
and dancing was kept
up all night.

At fairs, after the
business was con-
cluded, those attending
gave themselves over,
with extra exhilara-
tion, to the national
pastime. A favourite
measure, in which the
contest for superior
agility had ample
scope, was named The
Salmon Dance ; the
dancers, emulating
the vigorous leaps of
the fish, had unusual
opportunities for the
exhibition of activity,
strength of limb,

and lightness of spring. Vigour in an unusual degree characterises all
the antique measures of Scotland ; in their Morris Dances of the fifteenth
century, the masquers, by the agile movements of their bodies, produced
tunes from the 252 bells attached to their parti-coloured silken tunics, to
their ankles and their wrists, actively turning, frisking, leaping and shaking
their bells in cadence, while royalty disdained not to look on, and even

CALKDOKIAN Hill.

After A.lun Buck

424

A HISTORY OF DANCING

to disport itself in the revels. There were at Court stately Pavanes
and gleesome Courantes, Branles, Rondes and many imported dances
" counterfeiting France," due to the close family connection between the
reigning houses of the respective countries ; but to the spirit of the nation
these were but passing fashions, and base excrescences, held in little favour
by the masses, as false to the healthy traditions of Scotland. The bard
has voiced the national sentiment :

" Nac cotillon brent new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels
Put life and mettle in their heels."

Highland Flings, like the {Marquis of Huntly s Fling, and Reels like
the Reel of Tulloch, or Tullochgorum, are complicated evolutions, of
a classical and studied order ; necessitating as " essentials," according to
the directions of dancing professors, natural aptitude, united to activity,
agility of finished description, and a keenly appreciative ear for niceties of
time and metrical proportion.

The Reel is presumably of Celtic origin ; it is the Danish no less than
the Scottish national dance. The Sword Dance, common. to warlike nations,
is the survival of the military dances of the Greeks and Romans in honour
of the god of war.

The warlike dance, with its terror-striking accompaniments, has long
been practised by Highlanders under the name of Killie-Kallum or Ghillie
Cullum.

The interesting feature, both of this Pyrrhic leaping dance and of its
cousin, the Ghillie Callum (the Dirk Dance), was an imposing warlike
ballet, vigorously illustrating the evolutions of attack and defence, a more
dramatic exhibition than the modern feat of gracefully flinging and reeling
over and around a brace of claymores crossed on the ground, without
touching or displacing them.

Loud exclamations, warlike howls, waving of arms, and cracking of
fingers, are characteristic accompaniments by which the dancer stimulates
his own exertions, to the fierce skirling of pipes.

The Strathspey is another variety of the Reel, christened from the
place of its adoption, the valley of the Spey. The rhythm is slower and more

THE COUNTRY DANCE

42$

grandiose even than that of the Reel, alternating with quick motions, which
demand spirited execution. The affinity with the Ossianic heroic metre is
marked in its measure so distinctively that Burns, whose authority on music
and poetry is unquestionable, compared the stately metres of heroic poetry
to the old Strathspeys.

The Country Dance — so called — perhaps a corruption of the French

AN ELECTION BALL

After George Cruiluhuk

equivalent, Contredanse, owes its popularity to the circumstance that
it was designed on the principle of taking in as many couples as the
space would accommodate. As in the Sir Roger de Coverley, at the
commencement, the gentlemen took up their positions on one side, the
ladies ranged in a line opposite. In its figures the dancers are constantly
changing places, leading one another back and forward, up and down,
parting and uniting . again. There were numerous and varied figures
which gave an interest to this dance, the several figures being designated
by descriptive names. The music was sometimes in J -time and sometimes
in '-time ; the step smooth, and rather easy and gliding than springy.

Oliver Goldsmith loved dancing, and had himself merrily set peasants

3»

426

A HISTORY OF DANCING

of all the nationalities figuring and curveting away to the lively strains
of his flute, on his travels as a philosophic vagabond. According to
Goldsmith's testimony, " The Country Dance " belied its name. Far
from being the dance of the peasant, it was presumably an adaptation
of the Gallic Contredanse, and was affected by the quality more exclusively,
while its set figures were scholastic mysteries to the romping and robust

THE AL FRESCO DANCE ON THE GREEN IN FRONT OF THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD S COTTAGE

After Thomas Rowlandson

rustic practitioners, who revelled in the boisterous hilarity and activity of
the Jig and the Roundabout. We reproduce Rowlandson's drawing
of the al fresco dance given by his landlord on the grass plot in front of
the Vicar of Wakefield's cottage, in honour of his neighbours and his
fashionable female friends from town.

The Contredanse was probably as antique as any measure which
embraced set figures in its constitution, and, with an admixture of pre-
concerted and statelier movements, admitted a corresponding indulgence
in lively jigging, which, as in Sir Roger de Coverley, easily grew into a
hearty romp. There was setting to partners, turning partners, changing
partners, with a merry-go-round promenade, similar to the Flirtation Figure.

«-1

1 !

u 5

v--.

a |

. .s

428

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The Contredanse is said to be derived from an early authority ■ it was
by William the Conqueror introduced from Normandy into our isles ; it
was generally danced all over the Continent, as well as in the United
Kingdom, and was very popular in the days of Queen Elizabeth and her
successors. It is related that the Contredanse was revived in fashion in

A COTILLION, 1792

From an Engraving by Isaac Cruikshank, after John Nixon

France by its re-introduction, in 1745, in the fifth act of an opera-ballet
by Rameau, and so charmed the Parisians that, from the stage, it was
re-imported into the salons and re-instated in favour. It seems to have
retained its popularity in England unbroken, and, with the more courtly
Minuets and Gavottes, formed the programme of fashionable assemblies,
when stately dances declined, filling in the century anterior to the intro-
duction of modern dances. We find it constantly represented as the popular
dance par excellence ; for, unlike the exclusive etiquette of the Minuet, it
enabled every couple in the room to join its evolutions.

The antiquated Cotillion differed somewhat from the modern innovation

THE COTILLION

429

similarly christened. The "Cotillon" proper, as its name implies, was a
favourite in France ; it really derives its title from the short skirt worn by
the ladies who danced it. Probably, in contradistinction to the full-dress
toilettes distinctive of the Minuet, the original title was drawn from the
simple costume of the peasants ; at first a duet dance, it became one of the
many lively Rondes, accompanied by the song :

" Ma commere, quand jc danse,
Mon cotillon va-t-il bien ? "

In their eighteenth century Cotillions the lady dancers accordingly
appeared in
short skirts,
with their over-
dresses pictur-
esquely looped
up, as may be
observed in all
the diversified
pictures of this
popular Round.
In its ancient
form it probably
may be grouped
with the old
French Branles,

no less in request at the English Court as the Brawls, led by the sprightly
Sir Christopher Hatton.

Frequent references to the Cotillions danced at public entertainments in
the eighteenth century, and attesting their popularity, are found in the
journals and magazines of the time ; their vogue extended from country
assemblies, such as those here represented, to Court balls.

In the pictures of the al fresco entertainments given by George, Prince
of Wales, at his gorgeous palace, Carlton House, in the grounds were
represented guests of the highest fashion, who partook of this diversion.
f\t Prince Regent, the magnificent host gave a public breakfast to six

rRACTISIMG FOR PEAR OP

After Robert Crailuhank

43o

A HISTORY OF DANCING

I. DOS A DOS. ACCIDENTS IN QUADRILLE DANCING

After G. Cruikshank

hundred guests ; four bands were playing on his ample lawns, whereon nine
marquees were erected. After the repast the company danced on the lawn,

the Prince leading
the first dance with
Lady Waldegrave as
his partner. We are
informed, "All
frequently changed
partners, and grouped
into Cotillions, all
being over by six
o'clock."

The Cotillion, as
known to this gene-
ration, with its fan-
ciful interpellations
and costly gifts, is a
very different affair. The famous ball given by the Guards Brigade to
the Prince and Princess of Wales (June 26, 1863), in the vast buildings
erected for the
second International
Exhibition (1862) in
Cromwell Road, will
be remembered as
having introduced
one of the most
noticeable Cotillions
on record ; this
commenced at two
o'clock in the morn-
ing and lasted till five.
The earlier Cotil-
lions consisted of

easy figures, with such accessories as cushion, mirror, handkerchief and
chair, all ready to hand ; the leader needed to be fertile of brain, as well

2. VIS-A-VIS. ACCIDENTS IN QUADRILLE DANCING

After G. Cruikshank

J 1

11
1 1

■14

THE POLKA IN ENGLAND

433

mazy whirl." Really a pretty and spirited set, this Quadrille seems to
have sunk out of recognition. " Squares " are seemingly doomed, and
but for the famous Caledonian Ball, an annual institution of " gathering
for the clans " (formerly held at Willis's Rooms ; transferred thence to
the New Club, Covent Garden ; and later to the Whitehall Room,

lu.:>! Mhiai

Iruh Jig

Scotch Reel

Country Da&cc

Dancing Matter

uk* ; oc, sketches or cmaeactieisttc dakcikc
After G. Cnukihuk

Hotel Metropole), the pleasant " Caledonians " would be rarely heard
of ; their lively figures are already becoming subjects of ancient traditional
lore.

Among dances which have enjoyed, for a season, the first vogue must be
mentioned our old and now somewhat worn friend the Polka, which fifty years
ago turned the heads of the world, and set crowned heads, grave statesmen,
and great novelists practising its evolutions, unconscious of the absurdity of
such social trifling. Assumedly introduced to the fashionable world in " the
forties," it must have existed, as regards its measure, from early times

3«

434 A HISTORY OF DANCING

among dancing people, like the Bohemians — with their Schottische and
Volta — the nationality responsible for popularising the Polka's mazes.

The peculiar half-step, pulka, which gave its name to the revival was
found as a happy revelation, being practised by a Bohemian peasant-girl,
as alleged, discovered dancing it to her own music ; song, time, and steps,
either extemporised or borrowed from tradition. By a happy coincidence,
on the spot was Josef Neruda, observing the dancer, and noting down the
melody and steps. The people of Elbeleinitz were delighted with the
dance, and it was spontaneously christened in its cradle Pulka ; it reached
Prague in 1835, and was warmly received at Vienna ; a dancing-master of
Prague introduced the Polka, danced in the picturesque Sclavonic costumes,
on the stage of the Paris Odeon in 1840, and M. Cellarius carried le
veritable Polka into the Parisian salons, when Paris had an all-pervading
epidemic of Polka, difficult to realise in less enthusiastic times.

The "Times wrote : " Our private letters state that politics are now for
the moment suspended in public regard by the new and all-absorbing pursuit,
the polka .... which embraces in its qualities the intimacy of the waltz
with the vivacity of the Irish jig." In 1844, tne Polka was invading our
shores ; Cellarius and other masters came over to London, expressly to teach
pupils.

Soon afterwards, The Times reported " the first Drawing-room Polka as
danced at Almack's, and at the balls of the nobility and gentry of this country."
Then the Polka was described with illustrations a*nd details of five figures,
with the recommendation that those who aspired to shine should dance the
whole. " There is no stamping of heels or toes, or kicking of legs in sharp
angles forward. This may do very well at the threshold of a Bohemian
auberge, but is inadmissible in the salons of London or Paris." In the
stage versions there was an amount of emphatic stamping and high-kicking.
The comic papers made capital out of the mania, which for a time turned
all society polking, from the Palace to the Casino.

The papers were full of the Polka, to the exclusion of more important
themes. Artists and humorists turned the craze to account, pages were
devoted to representations of grotesque experiences of would-be learners.
Punch made capital out of the absurdities perpetrated. Leech drew many
skits on the subject, and for a year at least it maintained the popular

THE WALTZ IN ENGLAND

interest. A parody on Byron's Maid of Athens, ere we part, appeared in
Punch in 1844, under the title of Pretty Polk.

The Pas a" Allemande survives as a dancing phrase, expressing a move-
ment where the " gentlemen turn their partners under their arms." Before
the introduction of the Valse, as now accepted, the " poetry of motion "

THE WALTZ, iSo*. r«OM " Til* SOaiOWS OF WKSTHE* "

After Thomas Rowlandion

(it is related the Waltz only reached our ball-rooms in 18 12), there is
evidence that a German Waltzer, as it was called, was familiar in this
country ; it was known as the Waltz Allemande, and as numerous con-
temporary pictures illustrate, '* arm-movements " were perhaps more essential
than the steps. There is a picture of an Allemande (see p. 132) executed
by C. Brandoin, 1772, and a similar work by Collett about the same date ;
the figures are represented turning to a sprightly step, the lady and
gentleman alternately turning under their uplifted right arms ; this is well
illustrated in the drawing of later date, 1806, furnished by Rowlandson for
the, at that time, all-popular Sorrows of IVerlher,

436

A HISTORY OF DANCING

We reproduce a caricature by Gillray, dated 1 800, entitled Waltzer au
Mouchoir, a burlesque upon the dance at that time coming into more
prominent notice in this country; it illustrates an ingenious expedient
towards surmounting the difficulty of spanning a waist too ample for the
stretch of mere arms. This skit also goes to prove that the Waltzer

was familiar long before
the alleged date of its
adoption in England.

A more antique Al-
lemande was introduced
from mediaeval Germany,
reaching this country late
in Elizabeth's reign.
Here it was christened
Almain, and Alleman on
the Peninsula; in France
it went under the name
of Allemande franfaise.

Though in high re-
quest, from the court to
the cabaret, in every
capital of Europe, there
was a prudish opposition
to the introduction of
the Waltz, and its
naturalisation, in our own country. As described in our references to
Almack's, the "mazy Waltz" was imported there under the highest auspices;
it was reserved for an Imperial guest to convince select society that the Waitz
was fit for decent company, its opponents persisting in assertions to the
contrary. The bolder spirits at Almack's followed in the steps of the
magnificent Autocrat of All the Russias, the wives of the foreign
ambassadors at the Court of St. James's being the most accomplished of its
then exponents. The Countess de Lieven and Princess Esterhazy were
recognised as the foremost waltzers of the day, and, true to the traditions
of foreign policy, Lord Palmerston was no less expert.

WALTZER AU MOUCHOIR, 1800

By James Gillray

BIRTHDAY BALLS

4*7

There was a running fire, kept up by satirists and aggressive moralists,
against the "insidious Waltz," and the suggestive caricatures launched
against " this imp of Germany brought up in France," as its detractors
averred, pictured the sentiments of the ultra-purist section of the com-
munity, who had persuaded themselves that the introduction of the Waltz
into England was a conclusive step on the national downward path.
In spite of detraction, the Waltz has
surely become the dance par excellence.
Performed with due grace, and inspired
by the emotions drawn from those beautiful
melodies of which the Waltz enjoys the
pre-eminent monopoly, this dance is likely
to retain its foremost place.

The stately Minuet was seen to the
best advantage at the Royal birthday
balls, the bravest spectacles of the Georgian
year, held at St. James's Palace. The
dancing on these brilliant anniversaries was
of the most select order : the King and
Queen sat in State as spectators ; the
princes, according to precedence, severally
opening the ball with one of the

princesses, each couple alternately, the Prince of Wales leading off" with
the Princess Royal. Stothard has left pictures of these graceful courtly
scenes ; there is an effective version by Daniel Dodd of Queen Charlotte's
Birthnight Ball, and we have reproduced Stothard's picture of George HVs
Birthday Ball, 1782. The costumes worn on these occasions were of the
costliest description ; competition ran high to secure the most elaborate
dresses; they were ordered months beforehand, and cost hundreds of
pounds ; the male wearers ran a race of sumptuous emulation with their
fair partners in wealth of embroidery. Engravings of the dresses worn
by the principal personages appeared in the magazines. In the pictures
referred to, the Prince of Wales is shown performing the opening Minuet
with the eldest princess. There are columns of descriptions of these great
social events in contemporary journals.

TOUCH DANCE. Dl'ICS Or VOKK's OKMMM.

4?8

A HISTORY OF DANCING

The marriage of the Duke of York (George III.'s second and favourite
son) with the Princess Royal of Prussia was a dazzling event, on which
great hopes were raised. The wedding took place in Berlin, September 29,
1 79 1, with great splendour ; the old courtly usages of the Continent were
revived, and the Torch Dance, popular in France, Russia, and Germany,

formed one of the
interesting incidents.
As will be seen in
the contemporary
engraving of this
picturesque inter-
lude, tall wax-
candles had taken
the place of flaming
brands ; the actual
dance was similar to
the Allemande, and,
in old days, it was
the fun on the part
of the performers
to blow out their
neighbours' tapers while striving to protect their own. The Taper or
Torch Dance became a special feature at weddings, and the tapers carried
by the nobles were parti-coloured. As in the instance illustrated, the happy
couple, holding their waxen torches, walked the dignified measure of the
Polonaise (as at the opening of Court balls in Imperial Russia), followed by
princes, guests, ministers, and high officers, according to rank, promenading
the circuit of the apartment. The princess bowed before the King and
invited him to dance, then she danced with the princes ; and the bridegroom
went through a similar etiquette with the Queen and princesses, as at the
Royal dance of torches held at Berlin in 1821.

A similar Torch Polonaise was given at the Court of Russia on the
occasion of the Duke of Edinburgh's marriage with the daughter of the
Czar.

Much might be told of incidents which have occurred at Court balls

fheWiKMUWET: •*»«>•»

DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK

After James GUlray

pf/Sfi? JVjto«&;i«f '

COURT DANCING UNDER QUEEN VICTORIA 4j9

during the reign of George III., and the story of his successor, as Prince of
Wales, Regent, and King, is enlivened by diversified accounts of balls, given
at Carlton Palace, of gay dances, masquerades, and bah costumees at his
Marine Palace, Brighton, and subsequently at the whimsical Pavilion,
which seemed specially designed for the holding of ridottos, after the fashion
of Ranelagh and Vauxhall, the architectural eccentricities of which the
Brighton Pavilion
seemed to emulate,
together with not a
few of the distin-
guishing gaieties of
the company there
assembled.

Nor must we
linger over the
sprightly doings of
the Court of George
IV., with the re-

splendent balls
given at his palaces
when Prince Regent
and King.

The gracious young Princess Victoria, with her cousins, Prince George
of Cambridge and his sister the Princess Augusta, were particularly graceful
dancers, as was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, afterwards Prince Consort.
From 1 838, two of the State Apartments of Buckingham Palace, the Throne
and Ball Rooms respectively, were set apart for dancing ; the fine picture
gallery connected the two rooms, in each of which was an orchestra. Her
Majesty and the Court entered the ball-room before ten o'clock, the Queen
chose a partner, and opened the ball with the first Quadrille. Later in the
evening her Majesty moved to the second room, sometimes leading a
Country Dance in the small hours. After her Majesty's marriage in 1 840,
the Polka was introduced as an addition to the programme, and nearly
twenty years later the Lancers was added to the State Balls.

Of foremost interest in the annals of dancing arc the three historical

Clurlotlc

Duke of Devonshire

TIIK DKVOXSHIU MINUET

44o

A HISTORY OF DANCING

bals costumees — the Plantagenet Ball, 1 842 ; the George II. Ball (1740-50), in
1845 ; and the Charles II. Ball, inaugurated by her Majesty ; largely, it is
said, by way of encouraging native industries, and with the praiseworthy
motive of giving employment, in times of grave commercial depression, to
a vast number of deserving workpeople.

Social dancing in England in these later days of her Majesty's reign
has followed much the same line of development as that described in the
history of modern French dancing, while, like many of their French
counterparts, the " Mabilles " of London, such, for instance, as the once
famous Argyle Rooms, have disappeared after a period of inglorious
decadence.

riCKET FOR A BALL AT THE NEW CLUB, SOHO

"UC I.RAM) BOM)

From a Lithograph in the Conservatoire de U Dante Modems

INDEX

Asinctok, Mas., Queen of Comedy, 397
iEschylus dances in his own plays, 9
Aix Festival revived, 57
Alexander, Emperor, wa 1 tzing at Almack's,

410
A Hard, Mmc., 184
Allemande, 1 3 1
Almack's, 404

Almccs, Egyptian, Tunisian, Algerian, 280
Alphiton Ekchuton, Dance of the Spilt

Meal, 29
Anglo-Saxons, lovers of dancing, 382
Antiochus Epiphancs, entertainments of,

7*
Apis, dances in honour of. 2
Aristidca dances at banquet, 7
Aristodemus, a celebrated dancer, 9
Aristophanes dances in his own plays, 9
Arootit Dance, 263
Assommoir du Temple, 344
Athenian festivals dancing at, ;

Baccelli, Giovanna, 413

Bacchanalia, 36

Baddcley, Sophia, entering Pantheon, 397

Balearic Isles, dancing at religious festivals,

Ballet composers, 167

Ballet danced by ladies of Queen Elizabeth's

Court, 71
Ballet dancers, training of, 371
Ballet des Ardcnts, 64
Ballet du Carrousel, 112
Ballet of Circe, 73, 76
Ballet of Cupid and Bacchus, 11c
Ballet of Hercules in Love, 1 1 5
Ballet of the Gouty, 87
Ballet of the Prosperity of the Arms of

France, 88, in
Ballets, composition of, 369
Ballets in England, 413
Ballets of the Papacy, 81
Ballets under First Empire, 201

442

INDEX

Ballon, dancing of, 117

Balls of Second Empire, 342

Balls under Beau Nash, 394.

Barrison Sisters, 378

Basse Danse, 93, 99

Bayadere Dances, 270

Beau Nash, rule at Bath, 391

Beauchamp, inventor of choregraphic

writing, 119
Beaugrand, Lcontine, 363, 365
Beauprc, in La Dansomanie, 188
Belle qui tiens ma vie. Pavane (music),

97
Bergonzio di Botta's ballet, 65
Bernay, Mile. Berthe, 372
Bird Dance of Malagasies, 233
Birth and Power of Venus, ballet, 112
Bison Dance of the Mandans, 284
Blache, ballets by, 201
Blasis, ballets by, 203
Bocane invented by Jacques Cordier, 105
Bohan, Victor, idea of winter garden, 327
Bolero, 241

Bonaparte, interested in dancing, 200
Bourbon, Cardinal de, ballet, 79 ; masque,

74
Bourree of Auvergnc, 221
Bozacchi (French dancer), 364
Branles, 100, 354, 424
Brawls, 382, 385
Brididi (Mabille dancer), 310
Bucolic Dance, 24
Bullier (Closerie des Lilas), 336

Cachucha, 256

" Caledonians," 433

Calumet, dance of Iroquois, 236

Camargo, Mile., accounts of her dancing,

142
Cancan, 310, 313, 319
Carole, origin of the, 61, 382
Caryatis, created by Castor and Pollux, 8,

H
Casino Cadet, 332

Castanets, use of, 45

Catalan Bails, 224

Catherine de' Medici's ballets, 72

Cellarius, dancing-school in Paris, 296

Cerito, Mile., in Le Lac des Fees, 414

Chacone, 128

Charitesia, 14

Chartres, Due de, dancing Minuet and

Saraband, 122
Chateau des Fleurs, 327
Chateau-Rouge, 322
Chaumicre, 319
Cheironomia, 20

Chevigny, Mile., success in ballets, 202
Chicard (Mabille dancer), 310
Childebert proscribed religious dances, 58
Christmas Dances, 382
Cicero reproaches Gabinus for dancing, 42
Clodoche (Clodomir Ricart), 340
Closerie des Lilas. See Bullier
Cnossia, 14

Contrapas, Catalan dance, 227
Contredanse, or Country Dance, 152, 425
Coppelia, ballet, 364
Cordax (comic dance), 23
Comely, Mme., masquerades, 395, 412
Corpus Christi procession, 51, 55 .
Cotillion, 81, 354, 428
Council of Trent, ballet danced at, 81
Courante, 93, 126, 355, 382, 385, 417,

424
Court Ball on Duke of Burgundy's marriage,

120
Court Ballets, 90
Court Dances, revival of old, 353
Crane Dance, 26
Cybele teaches mortals to dance, 7

Dance of Adonis, 26
Dance of Flowers, 24
Dance of St. John, 60
Dances of African tribes, 287
Dances of Central America, 285
Dancing at Charles II. 's Court, 387
Dancing in churches and cemeteries, 49
Dancing indulgences, 58
Dancing-places in Paris, 3 I 5
Dancing saloons of the populace, 325
Danse Baladine, 93
Dantzic, origin of, 59

INDEX

44*

Dauberval, compositions of, 185

Dejeuners dansants, 293

Dervishes instituted by Mahomet, 49

Dcscente de la Courtille, 329

Desdetot, ballet of Zcphyre et Flore, 203

Didelot in Tt* Trispect btftre ut, 402

Diple (vocal dance), 22

Domitian expelled Senators for dancing, 43

Duport, dancing and composing ballets,

198
Dupre, "god of dancing," 1 19

Eglantine, Mile., 378

Elephant dancing, 77

Els Cosiers, 51

Elssler, Fanny, 414

Elyscc-Montmartre, 334

Emmclcia, 1 1, 12

Empress Eugenic, 345

F.ndymatia, II, I J

Epilcnios (dance of the winepress), 29

Equestrian ballets 77, 78

Excelsior, ballet, 367

Fandango, 238

Farandolc of Southern France, 226

Faucet, Amclic, 414

Festival of the Supreme Being, 190

Fiocrc, Mme., 363

Fioretti, Mme., 363

Folias. 260

Folies- Robert, 332

France, dancing in (Middle Ages), 62

France, religious dances in, 60

French ballet, 362

Fuller, Loie (Serpentine Dance), 379

Funeral Dances, 16

Gadttanians, 44

Gaillardc (Romanesque), 93, 9:, 3;$, 382,

385. 4' 7
Galop, 291

Game of Piquet, ballet, 1 18
Gardel, Maximilian and Pierre, ballet*, 186,

188, 189
Gavarni, 319, 340

Gavotte, 128, 152

Gavotte du Ballet du Roi (music), 135

Gavotte under Louis XVI., 1 76

Goyon, dancer, 197

Grahn, Lucile, 414

Grand Ballet d'Action, 1 54

Grand Ballet du Roi, 112

Greek and Roman mimetic dances, 24

Greek sacred dances, 1 1

Gretna Green, ballet, 364

Grille d'Egout (French dancer), 380

Grisi, Carlotta, 362, 414

Guimard, Madeleine, 171

Gymnopaedia, 11, 13

Hebrew religious dances, 4

Helen dances at festival of Diana, 7

Hermitage, dancing saloon, 321

Highland Flings, 424

Hippogynes, 26

Hora, Roumanian Round, 219

Horatii, ballet, 1 57

Horraos, 15, 34

Hornpipe, 382, 420

Horovod, 356

Horton, P. (Mrs. German Reed), 414

Hygra (dance for women), 29

Hylas playing (Edipus, 41

Hymen or Hymenaios, 29

Hyporchema (Hyporchcmc), 11, 13, 21

Iambic Dance, 14
Impatience, ballet, 1 17
Incoherent Ball, 359
Indian dances, 269
Irish JigS4l8

Jalio de Jerez, 253
Jansen, German dancing-master, 411
Jersey, Lady, introduces Quadrille, 408
Jigs named after sovereigns, 382, 387,416,

4"7
Jota Aragoncsa, 250

Jotas, t $t

Jumpers of New England, 50

444

INDEX

Karpaia (pantomimic) Dance, 19
Kollo, Dalmatian rustic dance, 216
Komastike, 20
Krinon, 22

La Dansomanie, ballet-pantomime, 187

La Farandole, ballet, 365

La Goulue (French dancer), 380

La Laitiere Polonaise, ballet, 201

La Romanesca (music), 103

La Source, ballet, 363

La Volta, 385

La Zucchi, dancer, 368

Laberius forced to dance, 43

Laborde and Cellarius, rivalry between,

299
Lady-patronesses of Almack's, 407
Lahire at the Chaumiere, 318
Lancer?, 43 1

Lany, comedy-dancer, 168, 367
Le Basque, opera-dancer, 119
Le Carnaval. Sarabande (music), 129
Le Fandango, ballet, 365
Les Acacias, 323

Les Filets de Vulcain, ballet, 201
Lion Dance, 20
Little Russian, dance, 266
Lou Gue, strolling ballet by King Rene,

55
Louis XIV. in ballets, 109
Louis XV., escapade of, 146
Ludiones, 33

Lulli composes Minuets, 131
Lupercalia, 36

Mabille, pere et fils, 306
Manzotti, ballet in Italian style, 368
Marguerite de Valois, dancing of, 71, 102,

107
Marie Antoinette at Opera Ball, 180
Markowski, 299, 304
Marseillaise at Opera, 189
Martyns, dancers, 378
Mary Queen of Scots, skill in dancing, 384,

421
Masquerades at Carlisle House, 395
Masques, 63, 385, 3S6
Mass of the Mozarabes, 70

Mauri, Mile. Rosita, 378

May-day revels, 388

Mazillier, dancer, 362

Mazurka created by Markowski, 304

Medieval dancing by women, 60

Memphitic (martial) Dance, 17, 19

Menestrier on dancing, 47

Merante, Mme. (Lina), 362

Milon, ballets by, 197

Milon in La Dansomanie, 188

Minerva dancing Pyrrhic Dance, 17

Minuet, 131, 148, 352, 354, 393^437

Mnasion, theatrical dancing, 21

Modern Greek dances, 263

Mormons' Ball, 350

Morphasmos, 23

Morris Dance, 383

Moulin de la Galette, 379

Moulin Rouge, 335

Mountain Ballet, 87

Namouna (grand ballet), 367

New Hebrides, dancing in, 234

Nini Patte-en-1'air (French dancer), 380

Niobe (grand ballet), 22

Notation for dancing, 166

Noverre, Ballets, 164

Noverre revolutionises dancing, 154

Odo, Bishop of Paris, proscribed dancing

in churches, 58
Ole danced by La Nena, 260
Orphic Dances, 16

Pantheon, rival of Carlisle House, 396,

402, 412
Pantomimic ballets, 71
Parabenai Tettara, 22
Parisian Fancy Balls, 346
Parisot, Mile., 413
Passa-calle (Passacaille), 134, 259
Passe-pied, 35;

Passe-piid en Rondeau (music), 162
Patagonidn Dance, 283
Pavane, 105, 124, 259, 352, 385, 424
Pazzamezzo (Cinque-pace), 385

INDEX

44?

Pccour, opera-dancer, 119

Pcla, Dance of Galicia, 50

Pctipa's dancing, 367

Plato, opinion of dancing, 48

Podismos, 20

Polka, 296, 299, 433

Polo, of Moorish origin, 25;

Portugal, ballet in honour of St. Ignatius

Loyola, 82
Prado, dancing saloon, 320
Pre Catalan, 332

Prevost, Mile., performing Passcpicd, 142
Pritchard (Mabille dancer), 308
Ptolcmxus dances in public, 9
Pyladcios named after Pyladcs, 23
Pyladcs and Bathyllus invent mimetic

drama, 36
Pyladcs, theatrical dancing of, 2 1
Pyrrhic (martial) Dance, 10, 17,382

QyADaiixt, 339, 408, 431, 433
Queen Elizabeth, skill in dancing, 384
Queen Pomarc (Elisc Scrgcnt), 3 1 1
Queen Victoria, Court Balls under, 439

Raxelach in Paris, 317

Ranelagh, Masquerades at, 403

Rayon d'Or (French dancer), 380

Reel*, 424

Riario, Cardinal, composing ballets, 70

Rice Dance (Japan), 229

Rice Dance in Madagascar, 233

Rosati, Carolina, in Corali, 414

Round, account of, zc8

Round in Gascony, 214

Round of Sardinian Peasants, 213

Royal Academy of Dancing founded, 1 to

Royal Birthday Balls, 437

Sack*, Mmc., teaching Lancers, 432
St. Basil on dancing, 49
St. Carlo Borromco, strolling bailer, 54
St. Ignatius Loyola, ballet in honour of,

82
St. Lcger Round, tune for Sellcnger's Round,

3»5

Saint-Leon, ballet-master, 362

Salle, Mile., expressive dancing of, 141

Salome dances before Herod, 39

Sangalli, Rita, 367

Saraband, 128, 35;

Schottische created by Markowski, 304,

434
Scotch popular dances, 422
Seguidillas, 242
Scguidillas Manchcgas, 248
Seises of Seville, 51
Scvigne", Mme. dc, dancing Passcpicd,

'34
Sikinnis (Satyric dance), 27
Sieba, ballet, 368
Socrates dances with Apasia, 7
Sophocles dances after Salamis, 9
Sorcerers' Masquerade, 86
Spain, religious dances in, 50
Spanish dances, 238, 254
Strauss and the Empress Eugenic, 345
Strolling ballets, 53
Subra, Mile, 365, 367, 378
Sword Dance, 356
Sylvia, ballet, 160, 366
Syrtos, 264

Taclioni, Marie, 204, 414

Tarantella, 265

Tascara, 258

The Muses, ballet, 116

Tkt Prtsptct btftrt us (print), 400

TModorc, Mile, in Tht Prtsprct ttfirt us,

402
Thcrmagistris, 21
Torch Dance, 438 ; (Fackcltanz) at Berlin,

356
Tordion, 94
Tricotcts, 85
Triumph of Love, ballet, 117

Vasquez, teacher of dancing, 365, 376
Vaughan, Kate, and her successors, 41 5
Vauihall Gardens, 404
Vcstris, Auguste, 169, 183, 411
Vestris, Caftan, pupil and successor of
Duprc, 167, 411

446

INDEX

Vestris, Mme., 412
Victim Balls, 195
Vieux Chcnc, Bal du, 328
Visitors at Pantheon, 398
Volte, 99, 289

Waltz, 188, 289 ; in England, 435
Waltzers, famous, 410, 436

Watteau, work inspired by theatre, 140
Wellington, Duke of, 408
Woodland Balls, 352

Xiphismos (sword dance), 21

Yeddo, ballet, 366

Zoronco (Spanish dance), 258

HLLE. CEKITO AND SIGNOR GUERRA IN THE BALLET OF " LE LAC DES FEES-'

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