Abstract

The Dance: The "Problems" of the Ballet
Burke, Kenneth | March 20, 1935 issue

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Foremost among the processes of vicarious atonement is the ballet. The decadence arises from the fact that the great disproportion between exertions of the performer and the languishing of the audience makes naturally for the spectacular kind of art, the Roman circus. The author demands something like a good murder trial. One would look on in comfort while criminals are thrown to lions. Unless feats are extreme, one withholds sovereign approval. As a rule, one is more likely to consider it a feat when someone hurls himself violently through the air than when a delicate movement of the body from one balanced position to another is accomplished with calm felicity.

See Also:

BALLET; DANCE; PERFORMING arts; CULTURAL industries; MURDER; CRIMINALS
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