Adventures in the Arts: Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville, and PoetsHartley, Marsden
History
Adventures in the Arts: Informal Chapters on Painters, Vaudeville, and Poets
Hartley, Marsden
Art; Literature, Modern -- History and criticism; Vaudeville
I have come on my list to Mijares and Co., in "Monkey Business." We
have the exquisite criterion always for the wire, in the perfect Bird
Millman. "Monkey Business" is a very good act, and both men do
excellent work on the taut and slack wire. "Monkey," in this case
being a man, does as beautiful a piece of work as I know of. I have
never seen a back somersault upon a high wire. I have never heard of
it before. There may be whole generations of artists gifted in this
particular stunt. You have here, nevertheless, a moment of very great
beauty in the cleanness of this man's surprising agility and sureness.
The monkey costume hinders the beauty of the thing. It should be done
with pale blue silk tights against a cherry velvet drop, or else in
deep ultramarine on an old gold background.
The acrobatic novelty called "The Legrohs" relies chiefly on its most
exceptional member, who would be complete without the other two. He is
most decidedly a virtuoso in vaudeville. Very gifted, certainly, if at
moments a little disconcerting in the flexibility and the seemingly
uncertain turns of his body. It is the old-fashioned contortionism
saved by charming acrobatic variations. This "Legroh" knows how to
make a superb pattern with his body, and the things he does with it
are done with such ease and skill as to make you forget the actual
physical effort and you are lost for the time being in the beauty of
this muscular kaleidoscopic brilliancy. You feel it is like
"puzzle--find the man" for a time, but then you follow his exquisite
changes from one design into another with genuine delight, and
appreciate his excessive grace and easy rapidity. He gives you chiefly
the impression of a dragon-fly blown in the wind of a brisk morning
over cool stretches of water. You would expect him to land on a
lily-pad any moment and smooth his wings with his needle-like legs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account