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Show 194 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE. be ridiculous to the utmost; the dancer would be imprisoned in his apparel, and deprived of the means of displaying the simplest movements. Or, could it be expected that any performer in the part of an ancient knight, should attempt to expose himself in a dance, habited in boots and spurs, military gloves, mantle and scarf? It may be admitted that the court dress of those times was chivalric and picturesque, but were it preserved by dancers in all its severe formalities, it would be found impracticably heavy. Would any one require of us to execute well struck positions, clothed in the furred robes of Russia, or the thick stuff gowns of Poland, accompanied by caps and boots of a fashion almost barbarous? Truth and nature cannot appear simply as such at the theatre. A certain resemblance to these can be always preserved, but still remember to display so much only, as is pleasing and decorous. Adorn the original model, and reject what is faulty in it. In Italy, and particularly at the great theatre of Milan, the most scrupulous attention is paid to the peculiarities of costume in their Ballets. With them nothing is of greater moment than the dressing a piece. Every habit is constructed after authentic monuments of art; and nothing is left unessayed by the management to complete the theatrical illusion. It were indeed sometimes to be wished that Italian artists would not copy with so severe an exactness those costumes, the form of which restrains the easy movements of the body, and prevents a freedom of pantomimic action ; for in such a case the Ballet-master should certainly sacrifice something to the graces. In France, excepting at the Opera of Paris, every one has to find his own dresses ; and he arranges them, consequently, according to the imperfect ideas he may have formed of peculiar styles in costume. Hence it happens |
