the greatest ease of expertnefs and dexterity, conftitute the merit of this kind of Dancing. The foul itself should be seen

in every motion of the body, and exprefs fomething naturally noble, and even heroic. Every ftep fhould have its beauty.

"The painter draws, or ought to draw his copy, the actor his action, and the statuary his model, all from the truth of nature. They are all respectively profeffors of imitative arts, and the Dancer may well prefume to take rank among them, fince the imitation of nature is not lefs his duty than theirs; with this difference, that they have some advantages of which the Dancer is deftitute. The painter has time to fettle and correct his attitudes, but the Dancer must be exactly bound to the time of the mufic. The actor has the assistance of fpeech, and the ftatuary has all the time requifite to model his work. The Dancer's effect is not only that of a moment, but he must every moment represent a fucceffion of motions and attitudes, adapted to his character, whether his fubject be heroic or paftoral, or in whatever kind of Dancing he exhibits himself. He is, by the expreffivenefs of his dumb hew, to fupplement the want of speech, and that with clearnefs; that whatever he aims at representing may be instantaneously apprehended by the spectator, who must not be perplexed with hammering out to himself the meaning of one tep, while the Dancer shall have already begun another,

"In the Half-ferious ftyle we obferve vigor, lightness, agility, brilliant fprings, with a steadiness and command of the body. It is the beft kind of Dancing for expreffing the more general theatrical fubjects. It alfo pleafes more generally.

"The grand pathetic of the serious ftyle of Dancing is not what every one enters into. But all are pleased with a brilliant execution, in a quick motion of the legs, and the high springs of the body. A Paftoral Dance, represented in all the pantomime art, will be commonly preferred to the more ferious ftyle, though this laft requires, doubtlefs, the greatest excellence; but it is an excellence of which few but the connoiffeurs are judges, who are rarely numerous enough to encourage the compofer of Dances to form them entirely in. that ftyle. All that he can do is to take a great part of his attitudes from the ferious ftyle, but to give them another turn and air in the compofition, that he may avoid confounding the two different ftyles of Serious and Half-ferious. For this laft it is impoffible to have too much agility and brifknefs.

"The

"The Comic Dancer is not tied up to the fame rules and obfervations, which are neceffary to the Serious and Halfferious ftyles. He is not fo much obliged to ftudy what may be called nature in high life. The rural sports and exercises; the geftures of various mechanics or artificers will fupply him with ideas for the execution of characters in this branch. The more his motions, fteps, and attitudes are taken from nature, the more they will be fure to please.

"The Comic Dance has for its object the exciting mirth; whereas, on the contrary, the Serious ftyle aims more at foothing and captivating by the harmony and juftnefs of its movements; by the grace and dignity of its steps; by the pathos of the execution.

"The Comic ftyle, however its aim may be laughter, requires tafte, delicacy, and invention; and that the mirth it creates should not even be without wit. This depends not only upon the execution, but on the choice of the fubject. It is not enough to value one's felf upon a close imitation of nature, if the fubject chofen for imitation is not worth imitating, or improper to reprefent; that is to fay, either trivial, indifferent, confequently uninterefting, or disgustful and unpleafing. The one tires, the other fhocks. Even in the loweft claffes of life, the compofer must feize only what is the fittest to give fatisfaction, and omit whatever can excite difagreeable ideas. It is from the animal joy of mechanics or peasants in their ceffations from labour, or from their celebration of feftivals, that the artist will felect his matter of compofition; not from any circumftances of unjoyous poverty, or loathfome distress. He muft cull the flowers of life, not prefent the roots with the foil and dirt fticking to

them.

"Even contrafting characters, which are fo feldom attempted on the stage in theatrical Dances, might not have a bad effect; whereas most of the figures in them are fymmetrically coupled. Of the first I once faw in Germany a ftriking inftance; an inftance that served to confirm that affinity between the arts which renders them so ferviceable to one another.

"Paffing through the Electorate of Cologne, I obferved a number of perfons of all ages, affembled on a convenient fpot, and difpofed, in couples, in order for dancing; but fo odly paired, that the moft ugly old man had for his partner the most beautiful and youngeft girl in the company: while,

on

on the contrary, the moft decrepid, deformed old woman, was led by the moft handfome and vigorous youth. Inquiring the reason of so strange a group of figures, I was told that it was the humour of an eminent painter, who was preparing a picture for the gallery at Duffeldorp, the fubject of which was to be this contraft; and that in order to take his draught from nature, he had given a treat to this ruftic company, in the defign of exhibiting at one view, the floridnefs of youth contrafted to the weakness and infirmities of old age, in a moral light, of expofing the impropriety of those matches, in which the objection of a difparity of years fhould not be duly respected.

"I have mentioned this purely to point out a new resource of invention, that may throw a pleasing variety into the compofition of Dances, and fave them from too conftant a symmetry, or uniformity, either of drefs or figure, in the pairing the Dancers; by which I am as far from meaning that that fymmetry fhould be always neglected, as that it should be always obferved.

"The Comic Dance having then the diverfion of the fpectator, in the way of laughing, for its object, fhould preferve a moderately buffoon fimplicity, and the Dancer aided by a natural genius, but especially by throwing as much nature as poffible into his execution, may promife himself to amuse and please the spectator; even though he should not be very deep in the grounds of his art, provided he has a good ear, and fome pretty or brilliant fteps to vary the Dance. The fpectators require no more.

"As to the Grotefque ftyle of Dance, the effect of it chiefly depends on the leaps and height of the springs. There is more of bodily ftrength required in it than even of agility and flight. It is more calculated to furprize the eye than to entertain it. It has fomething of the Tumbler's or WireDancer's merit of difficulty and danger, rather than of art. But the worst of it is that this vigour and agility lafts no longer than the season of youth, or rather decreafe in proportion as age advances; and, by this means, leave thofe, who trufted folely to that vigour and agility, deprived of their effential merit whereas fuch as fhall have joined to that vigour and agility a proper ftudy of the principles of their art, that talent will still remain as a resource for them. Commonly thofe Dancers who have, from nature, eminently those gifts which enable them to fhine in the grotesque branch,

do

do not chufe to give themselves the trouble of going to the bottom of their art, and acquiring its perfection. Content with their bodily powers, and with the applause their performances actually do receive from the public, they look no further, and remain in ignorance of the rest of their duty. Against this diffipation then, which keeps them always superficial, they cannot be too much, for their own advantage, admonished. They will not otherwife get at the truth of their art, like him who qualifies himself for making a figure in the Serious and Half-ferious ftyles, which also contribute to diffuse a grace over every other kind of Dancing, however different from them.

"But though the Grotefque may be a caricature of nature, it is never to lose fight of it. It must ever bear a due relation to the objects of which it attempts to exhibit the imitation, however exaggerated. But in this it is for genius to direct the artist. And it is very certain that this kind of Dancing, well executed, affords to the public great entertainment in the way of what may be called broad mirth, efpecially where the figure of the Grotefque Dancer, his geftures, drefs, and the decorations, all contribute to the creation of the laugh. He muft alfo avoid any thing ftudied or affected in his action. Every thing muft appear as natural as poffible, even amidst the grimaces, contortions, and extravagancies of the character."

From these accounts of the different ftyles of Dancing we fuppofe our Readers will form no unfavourable opinion of Mr. Gallini's abilities in his art. He appears to have studied it with great attention, and in all the parts of it he very judiciously refers to nature, as the fountain of the graces. He frequently exhorts the artist in particular not to content himfelf with mediocrity, but to labour for fuch an excellence in his art as may both diftinguifh him from the croud, and afford him a lefs precarious dependence. This admonition he enforces by the following ftory:

"A celebrated female Dancer in Italy, defigning to perform at a certain capital, wrote to her correfpondent there to provide her an apartment fuitable to the genteel figure fhe had always made in life. On her arrival, her acquaintance.feeing the had brought nothing with her, but her own perfon and two fervants, afked her when the expected her baggage? She answered, with a fmile, If you will come to-morrow morning and breakfast with me, you, and whoever you will

• bring

bring with you, fhall fee it; and I promise you it is worth your feeing, being a fort of merchandize that is very much in fashion.'

Curiofity carried a number early to the rendezvous, where, after an elegant breakfast, she danced before them in a moft furprizingly charming manner.

Thefe, faid fhe, (pointing to her legs) are all the bag⚫gage I have left; the Alps have fwallowed up all the reft.' The truth was, fhe had been really robbed of her baggage in her journey, and the merchandize on which the now depended, was her talent at Dancing.' Nor was she deceived, for her inimitable performance, joined to the vivacity with which the bore her misfortunes, in the spirit of the old Philofopher, who valued himself upon carrying his all about him, made her many friends, whofe generous compaffion foon enabled her to appear in her former state."

In treating of Pantomimes, our Author has greatly availed himself of a French Differtation.on the art of Dancing, by M. Cahufac. Of the expreffive powers of the antient Pantomimes, he gives us the following extraordinary account: "It may appear incredible (fays he) that on the theatre of Athens, the Dance of the Eumenides, or Furies, had fo expreffive a character as to ftrike the fpectators with irrefiftible terror. The Areopagus itself fhuddered with horror and affright; men grown old in the profeffion of arms, trembled ; the multitude ran out; women with child miscarried; people imagined they faw in earneft thofe barbarous Deities, commiffioned with the vengeance of Heaven, purfue and punish the crimes of the earth.

"This paffage of History is furnished by the fame Authors, who tell us, that Sophocles was a genius; that nothing could withstand the eloquence of Demofthenes; that Themistocles was a hero; that Socrates was the wisest of men; and it was in the time of the most famous of the Greeks, that even upon thofe highly-privileged fouls, in fight of irreproachable witneffes, the Art of Dancing produced such great effects.

"At Rome, in the best days of this art, all the fentiments which the Dancers expreffed, had each a character of truth, fo great a power, fuch pathetic energy, that the multitude was more than once feen hurried away by the illufion, and mechanically to take part in the different emotions prefented to them by the animated picture with which they were struck.