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Show 196 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE Orestes. This might appear incredible when related of such an actor, w ho is esteemed the founder of tragic costume in France. Lavigne, the celebrated singer, who held one of the first places at the Academy of Music, played the part of Orpheus with the helmet and sword of Achilles. Thus the Thracian bard appeared in the borrowed arms of the Grecian hero. This performer also appeared before the audience as a R o m a n consul, adorned with the costume of Greece, the magnificence of which was worthy of Alcibiades himself; and certainly the severe and plain republicans of ancient R o m e never dreamt of beholding their chief in such sumptuous garments. The same Lavigne performed the shepherd in the Devin du Village, or Village Conjuror, dressed in a shirt, the bosom of which was plaited with the greatest nicety, worked and trimmed with lace. His coat was silk, decorated with satin ribands, and cut after the fashion of Geliot, the singer. His waistcoat was dimity ; while his cap or hat was carried to a point like a conjuror's, and thus this piece of extravagance was completed. Vestris danced the part of the lover, in the Ballet entitled La Fille mal-gard4e, in one of those fashionable dresses in which an exquisite would go to some ball. He played also the part of Mars beardless as a boy, and barefooted too; not being bus-kined, he might at least have appeared in simple sandals. In his Ballet of The Barber of Seville, where he sustains the character of Count Almaviva, instead of disguising himself as a farrier, according to the piece, he performed that amusing scene of the second act in an elegant officer's uniform, wearing silk stockings. The same artiste danced in the opera of Aristippe in a tunic and turban ! Melle. Georges appeared in the part of Clytemnestre wearing the same scarf and tunic she had worn in the part of Idamee. A certain critic observed upon this, that she |