July, 1912 
mation, or the cry of a single char- 
acter is often effective; singing can 
also be introduced to advantage, but 
when long speeches or dialogues oc- 
cur where there is little or no action 
the audience grows restless and re- 
members that the board seats are 
hard and the sun hot. Too much 
preliminary action for an unimpor- 
tant result, such as a prolonged search 
for wood with which to make a fire, 
is also tiring to the audience strung 
up to the witnessing of large events. 
But let one picture follow another in 
quick succession, yet absolutely with- 
out hurry, and the people, actors and 
audience alike are carried along 
lightly by the sweep of events until 
the end of the pageant comes all too 
soon. 
A successful pageant is well grouped. 
That is, when groups are formed they 
present a picture whose composition 
is good, and herein is found the need 
of an artist’s eye, not necessarily that 
of a professional, but of one who 
understands composition. To the audience the stage is al- 
ways a picture, however its groups of actors may shift and 
change, and though a group happens to be far in the back- 
ground and is apparently unimportant, it should form a 
tableau pleasing in itself and one which falls naturally into 
place in the general composition. 
Dress plays an important part in the pageant. To be 
successful the historical pageant must be correctly costumed 
and the actors attired strictly in the style of the period rep- 
resented where the representation is to be literal. When 
allegory is employed the costume should be symbolical and 
fashioned to suit the subject, indicating at a glance the idea 
embodied, just as the costume of the Goddess of Liberty 
proclaims the freedom of a nation. 
One of the most attractive features of this out-of-door 
performance is the dancing. It lightens and relieves the 
historical pageant as comedy lightens tragedy in some of 
the greatest of our plays, and it is seldom omitted in a suc- 
cessful pageant even when the story does not strictly call 
for it. 
Way up in the hill country of Vermont the six little vil- 
lages of Thetford lately combined to produce a pageant 
commemorative of the one hundred and fiftieth birthday 
of the township, and this historical pageant was made very 
beautiful by the dances. The history of Thetford in its prin- 
cipal events was told down to the present day, but the story 
commenced at the period before history began, when the 
place was inhabited only by spirits of nature; a most poet- 
ical opening for the story of sterner facts that followed. 
The natural scene which the audience confronted was ‘‘a 
typical fold of the green hills, a narrow stretch of intervale 
and the curving line of the Connecticut River.” ‘The pa- 
geant opened with the appearance of the Nature Spirits. 
Clothed in shimmering costumes of pale green, pale blue, 
and silver tinsel, the water sprites immerged from the foli- 
age on the river banks as if arising from the water below; 
then from the background came the spirits of the intervale, 
rushing forward in the dance as though blown by the wind. 
These were dressed in light, floating draperies of warm, 
soft, pastel tints; yellows, pinks, rose and violet, represent- 
ing the fruits and flowers of the valley. Finally, coming 
down the hill far at the back, swaying and bending in the 
dance as the trees sway and bend in the breeze, were seen 
the mountain nymphs, dressed in greens and browns and 
AMERICAN HOMES 
GARDENS 
AND 
. ge on 3 
FA 3 t ola 4 > Fe 
For the costuming of the Thetford Pageant, attics, old cedar chests and hair trunks of the com- 
bined six villages were ransacked and verily the result was a remarkable collection 
bearing aloft in both hands sheaves of living green branches. 
When these three groups met and mingled in a dramatic 
dance, gracefully fantastic, the effect was indescribably 
lovely and the composition and blending of colors a triumph 
to the director and leader. Often the scene, with its dancing 
figures, reminded one of a painting by Corot, and when at 
times little butterflies fluttered among the dancers and 
groups of flowers sprung up in the background there seemed 
nothing lacking that would add to its beauty. 
The symbolic dance was introduced at intervals through- 
out the pageant. At one time the flaming spirit of war 
appeared, gleaming, naked sword in hand, and in a weird 
and cruel dance, announced the episode of the Civil War. 
Again the awakening of sleeping Thetford by Pageantry 
was represented in a dramatic dance, two characters only 
taking part, Thetford and Pageantry. 
Apart from symbolical dances were the dance of the 
American Indians and later the old-time country dance, the 
Indian dance forming a connecting link between the fan- 
tastic undulating evolutions of the Nature Spirits and the 
prosaic pigeon-wings of the before-the-war period. 
For the costuming of the Thetford pageant, attics, old 
cedar chests and hair trunks of the combined six villages 
+ %; 
Sas 
Te | little tots 
representing butterflies 
