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Show 198 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE. CHAPTER XVIII. ON FRENCH COMPOSERS AND MIMES, OR BALLET PERFORMERS. L'ame veut etre imue, et sentir est son sort. . L'inaction, pour elle, est une lente mort, Et cette activity, partage de son fetre, A u feu des passions, elle le doit peut etre. DULARD. GENERALLY speaking, French Composers, or Ballet-masters, neglect in their productions to preserve the interest of the action. They are defective both in variety and incident ; thus, weak and void of theatrical effect, it is impossible they can please long. As it has been already observed, action, passion, and intrigue are always looked for on the stage, and without these the attention can be neither fixed nor pleased. The French composers should model their scenes upon the most celebrated works of the great masters, and particularly upon those important compositions that adorn the drama. These writers deal too much in the mytholo-gic style; they seem determined to repeat, without intermission, the same tales and descriptions contained in ancient fiction, and in the Metamorphoses. This renders |