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Show THEORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 93 CHAPTER IX. THE PRECEPTOR. New Method of Instruction. A dancer, after having been educated at the best schools, must trust to his execution for the attainment of the first rank. H e that knows the theory only of the art, can never be a perfect guide. A man should be a first rate dancer before he pretends to the title of a master 13; otherwise he cannot teach but in a common-place and mechanical manner; nothing will be positive in his lessons, and his demonstrations must be always uncertain and without force. Incapable of imparting the true principles of a good execution, he affords his pupil no means of gaining success and distinction. A dancer coming from the misguiding hands of such a professor, cannot possibly be perfect, he has not imbibed the true spirit of the art, and his performance is invariably cool, inexpressive, and devoid of grace. He presents the spectator with a picture incorrectly drawn, feebly coloured, without any gradations of light and shade, and, therefore, wanting effect. If then he does not possess those qualities, no less essential in dancing than in painting, it is in vain for him to hope to please and interest the beholder. I have, however, seen instances of dancers bred up at a good school, who, from some circumstance or other, not being able to attain pre-eminence on the stage, have set themselves to teaching, and furnished our theatres with excellent dancers. But the number of such profes- |