Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/102



T is probable that very few foreigners ever learn to appreciate Japanese dancing. One reason for their want of sympathy is that they approach the study with prejudiced minds. Their conception of dancing is that it must be either musical gymnastics deriving their charm from harmony of sound and motion and pleasurable chiefly to the performer, or a spectacular display, like the Occidental ballet, representing large combinations of graceful movements, enhanced by splendid scenery and accessories of painting and sculpture. But in Japan dancing has primarily a mimetic purpose. With rare exceptions, the dance represents some historical incident, some mythical legend, some scene from the realm of folk-lore or superstition. The technique is elaborate, and although the motions never suggest muscular effort or display abnormal contortions, it is nevertheless certain that physical training of the most rigorous character cannot be dispensed with, and that the very ease of the seemingly