Art of Stage Dancing — Chapter 38: The Dance and the Drama
[Illustration] The art of acting as it has been known for thousands of years, derives from the dance, and is a direct evolution from the representation of the emotions as portrayed by the primitive dancers.
Joy, anger, love, jealousy, hatred, revenge, triumph and defeat were all interpreted in the Grecian dances of the period antedating the introduction of the speaking actors, who told in words and gestures the stories that had formerly been conveyed through the dance.
The victorious warriors returned from battle danced to show how they had fought and destroyed the enemy.
The hunter described in a dance how he had slain wild animals.
The traveller who had visited what to him were distant lands, told of the strange people he had met by imitating them while he danced.
Gradually there was evolved the addition of spoken words supplementing the action, accompanied by appropriate gestures and facial expression.
Man had discovered his ability to become for the moment another person, and to interpret certain emotions more vividly than through the medium of the dance.
The stage became the opportunity not only for the representation of elemental forces and actions, but also for the principal creations of the imagination.
While the slowly developing drama departed widely from the limitations of its origin, there has, nevertheless, remained an association with the dance that will continue for all time.
Especially is this true of the lighter branch of the drama, comedy, and the modern combination known as musical comedy or comic opera.
In the popular stage entertainments of the day dancing forms an important feature of a large percentage of all productions that appear in the leading theatres.
In many of the classical plays, by great dramatists, that are annually chosen for revivals, the dance appears, and the actor or actress who cannot dance misses many opportunities for profitable engagements.
There has always been a kinship between the dance and the legitimate drama, and many prominent stars began their apprenticeship for the stage in the ranks of musical comedy or as vaudeville dancers.
With few exceptions it will be found that the men and women who have achieved success on the stage are enthusiastic devotees of dancing, and they will agree that to those intending to make acting their life work a thorough training in the art of the dance is an essential part of their education.
[Illustration: NW] PERSONALITY IN THE DANCE
