Before concluding it is almost imperative to say something about the
naked foot dancers, followers of Isidora Duncan. Some critics and a
certain public have welcomed them; but is it not "sham antique"? It
does not remind one of the really classic. Moreover, the naked foot
should be of antique beauty, which in most of these cases it is not.
Advertisements tell us that these dance are interpretations of classic
music--Chopin, Weber, Brahms, etc.; they are not really
interpretations, but distractions! We can hardly imagine that these
composers intended their work for actual dancing. One can listen and
be entranced; one sees the dancer's "interpretations" or
"translations" and the music is degraded to a series of sham classic
postures.
The idea that running about the stage in diaphanous costumes, with
conventional mimicry and arm action, is classic or beautiful is a
mistake; the term aesthetic may cover, but not redeem it. There is not
even the art of the ordinary ballet-dancer discernible in these
proceedings.
On another plane are such as the ballets in "Don Giovanni" and
"Faust.
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