File:Physical culture (1908) (14782832005).jpg

Identifier: physicalculture201908macf (find matches)
Title: Physical culture
Year: 1899 (1890s)
Authors: MacFadden, Bernarr Aldolphus, 1858-
Subjects: Physical education and training
Publisher: New York : Physical Culture Publishing Co.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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follow in the track of the conventional theatrical danseuse, but confines her exhibi-tions to reproductions of the classic forms of dancing of which she is such an able and enthu-siastic advocate. I understand that she has been recently requested to illustrate her ideasof what is best in dancing at the White House, in Washington.—Bernarr Macfadden. IN those dayswhen the simul-taneous culti-vation of thebody and mind wasa part of the na-tional policy of an-cient Greece, andwhen in conse-quence, art and thehuman form alikeattained a degreeof excellence thathas never beenequalled in laterstages of theworlds allegedprogress, dancingwas held to bethe legitimatesister of music andpoetry, to quotethe words of afamous writer onthe subject. Thisfor the reason thatwhile it made pos-sible vivid expres-sions of feeling,thought and emo-tion, at the sametime, it gave whole-some and exhilara-ting exercise to theperson engaged insuch expressions.In other words, itwas in itself, theembodiment of th:
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Terpsichore, Goddess of Dancing sound mind con-trolling the grace-ful and intellectualactions of a soundbody. As BlissCarman puts it,The classic dan-cer used motion asa poet uses words,as a musician usestones, as a painteruses colors. It wasno wonder then,that the ancientslooked upon danc-ing with a sort ofreverence that isunknown to usmoderns. This,too, explains why,in classic Greece,the dance was notmerely an inter-lude of, or an ac-companiment t o,the drama, but areal and importantpart of the latter.In fact, the ancientplaywrights heldthat there weresituations, touse a dramaticphrase, whichcould be much bet-ter interpreted bydancing than bywords or othermeans. 497 498 PHYSICAL CULTURE 1 If - 4t From Painting, Dance of the Bacchantes/ But I think that old Greece valueddancing chiefly because it was bothbeautiful and begot beauty. For theunderlying belief of the people of theclassic ages was, that anything whichtended to health, tended to beauty also.Dancing as then understood and pr

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