The ‘return to nature’; Isadora Duncan--Duncan’s influence: Maud Allan; Duncan’s German followers--Modern music and the dance; the Russian naturalists; Glière’s ‘Chrisis’-- Pictorial nationalism: Ruth St. Denis--Modern Spanish dancers; ramifications of the naturalistic idea. XVII. THE NEW RUSSIAN BALLET 214 The old ballet arguments _pro_ and _con_--The new movement: Diaghileff and Fokine; the advent of Diaghileff’s company; the ballets of Diaghileff’s company; ‘Spectre of the Rose,’ ‘Cleopatra,’ _Le Pavilion d’Armide_, ‘Scheherezade’-- Nijinsky and Karsavina--Stravinsky’s ballets: ‘Petrouchka,’ ‘The Fire-Bird,’ etc.; other ballets and arrangements. XVIII. THE EURHYTHMICS OF JACQUES-DALCROZE 234 Jacques-Dalcroze and his creed; essentials of the ‘Eurhythmic’ system--Body-rhythm; the plastic expression of musical ideas; merits and shortcomings of the Dalcroze system--Speculation on the value of Eurhythmics to the dance. XIX. PLASTOMIMIC CHOREOGRAPHY 247 The defects of the new Russian and other modern schools; the new ideals; Prince Volkhonsky’s theories--Lada and choreographic symbolism--The question of appropriate music. EPILOGUE: FUTURE ASPECTS OF THE DANCE 261 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Odalisque in ‘Scheherazade’ (Russian Ballet) Frontispiece PAGE Egyptian women dancing with cymbals 21 Greek and Roman Dances as Depicted on Ancient Vases 68 Danseuses en Scène (The Ballet) 102 The Ball 150 Sylphides; a Typical Classic Ballet 156 Pavlowa 174 Duncan 200 Maud Allan 211 A Plastic Pantomime (Dalcroze Eurhythmics) 245 THE DANCE CHAPTER I THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DANCING Æsthetic basis of the dance; national character expressed in dances; ‘survival value’ of dancing; primitive dance and sexual selection; professionalism in dancing--Music and the dance; religion and the dance; historic analysis of folk-dancing and ballet. I