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Show 124 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE. better judgment of the moderns, who have made an appropriate division of each department. Les sept chefs devant The'bes, Hercule furieux, Ajax, PAdultere de Mars et de Venus, Paris, and a few other Ballets of the ancients, are but weak and imperfect sketches when compared with Te'limaque, Psyche",Prom4thie,Niobe', Les Amours de Ve"nus, Ulysse, Almaviva et Rosine, Cle'o-pdtre, Zephyre et Flore, tifc. all modern productions, in which taste, genius, and reason are happily combined to charm the eyes and interest the heart. With us, it is only young men that devote themselves to dancing and Pantomime, whilst those of more advanced years, who possess both talents and experience, apply themselves to composition. Lucian says, that the stature of a pantomimic actor must be neither very tall nor extremely short; his limbs neither too strong nor too slight. He wishes his person to be as nearly as possible of the proportions of the statue of Polycletes8. But as this masterpiece of sculpture has not been transmitted to us, we must take as a substitute that of Antinous. A performer of this height and muscular construction may undertake a number of different characters, since his physical powers are adapted to all branches of the art. An easy remedy for trifling defects is found in the manner of dressing and acting. Our ballets have the advantage of being performed by a greater number of persons. Each mime or dancer takes that part which best suits his peculiar figure and talent. It is the duty of a Ballet-master to look into these particulars, and judiciously to distribute and appropriate the parts. The various characters of youth, manhood, and old age should be filled by different actors, whose stature and features resemble, in some degree, the idea we have of such |
