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Show 200 TUB CODE OF TERPSICHORE. A great number of operas, by Quinault, by A. Zeno, and Metastasio, have been altered and adapted to Ballets in Italy: why then should not the same thing be done in France ? T h e pomp, parade, and magnificence peculiar to the Grand Ballet d'Action would even heighten the interest of a fine play. Let, therefore, productions of a noble and pathetic nature be sought after; a national theatre requires great and powerful representations. Several Ballets indeed have been represented at the opera of Paris composed in a style somewhat different from those usually produced : L' Enfantprodigue, Le Retour d' Ulysse, Nina, Cleopdtre, and some others of the same class, were very well received by the public; why, therefore, do not the authors of these strive to obtain new honours, by continuing in such a career? They were not even followed by imitators bold enough to continue in what had been so happily begun. The enterprise was noble and worthy of praise ; and had they proceeded steadily in the path they had discovered, success must have crowned their perseverance. The most plausible reason, I suppose, that can be advanced for such indolence or irresolution, is the defective state of their Pantomime, which is incapable of explaining sentiment, and which fails even in those necessary gestures that are employed to indicate surrounding objects; consequently, it cannot enter into detail, and its language is often obscure25. ' Pantomime failing in that class of gestures which describe sentiment, and those other natural and imitative motions not being clearly made out, the whole must become languishing and uninteresting. With such means as these, it is impossible to exhibit the intrigue of a piece; frequent interruptions by intervening scenes, which suspend the action, require the most exact explanation. Thus, not being able to obtain a clear elucidation of their ideas, French composers are obliged to |
