534 D A N C- E. 
rob lift, aftive, and well-difpofed for all the exercifes of 
war. 2. The domeftic dances, which had for their ob¬ 
ject an agreeable and innocent relaxation, and amufement. 
3. The mediatorial dances, which were in ufe in expi¬ 
ations and facrifices. Of military dances there were two 
forts : the gymnopedique dance, or the dance of children; 
and the enoplian, or armed dance. The Spartans had in¬ 
vented the firft for an early excitation of the courage of 
their children, and to lead them on infeniibly to the ex- 
ercife of the armed dance. This dance ufed to be exe¬ 
cuted in the public place. It was compofed of two 
choirs ; the one of grown men, the other of children ; 
whence, being chiefly defigned for the latter, it took its 
name. They were both of them in a ftate of nudity. 
The choir of the children regulated their motions by 
thofe of the men, and all dancedat the fame time, frnging 
the poems of Thales, Aleman, and Dionyfodotus. The 
enoplian or pyrrhic was danced by young men armed 
cap-a-pee, who executed, to the found of the flute, all 
the proper movements either for attack or for defence. 
It was compofed of four parts : the firft, the podifm, or 
footing ; which confifted in a quick fhifting motion of the 
feet, fuch as was neceffary for'overtaking a flying enemy, 
or for getting away from him when an overmatch. The 
fecond part was the xiphifm : this wasa kind of (ham-fight, 
in which the dancers imitated all the motions of comba¬ 
tants ; aiming a ftroke, darting a javelin, or dexteroufly 
dodging, parrying, or avoiding a blow or thruft. The 
third part, called the komos, confifted in very high leaps 
or vaultings, which the dancers frequently repeated, for 
the better ufing themfelves occafionally to leap over a 
ditch, or fpring over a wall. The tctracomos was the 
fourth and laft part: this was a fquare figure, executed 
by flow and majeftic movements ; but it is uncertain whe¬ 
ther this wasevery where executed in the fame manner. 
Of the dances for amufement and recreation, fome were 
but Amply gambols, or fportive exercifes, which had no 
character of imitation, and of which the greater part exift 
to this day. The others were more complex, more agree¬ 
able, figured, and were always accompanied with (inging. 
Among the firft or Ample ones wasthe afcoliafmts ; which 
confifted in jumpingwith one foot only, on bladders filled 
with air or wine, and rubbed on the outfide with oil. 
The dypodium was jumped with both feet clofe. The 
kybejlejis was what is called in this country the fomerfet. 
Of the fecond kind was that called the wine-prefs , of which 
there is a defeription in Longinus, and the Ionian dances : 
thefe laft, in the original of their inftitution, had nothing 
but what was decent and modeft; but, in time, their 
movements came to be fo depraved, as to be employed 
in exprefling nothing but voluptuoufnefs, and even the 
grofleft obfeenity. 
Among the ancients there were no feftivals nor religious 
alfemblies but what were accompanied with fongs and 
dances. It was not held poflible to celebrate any myftery, 
or to be initiated, without the intervention of thefe two 
arts. In fliort, they were looked upon to be fo eflential 
in thefe kinds of ceremonies, that to exprefs the crime 
ot fuch as were guilty of revealing the facred myfteries, 
they employed the word kheiJLz, “to be out of the dance.” 
The mod ancient of thefe religious dances is the Bacchic ; 
which was not only confecrated to Bacchus, but to all 
the deities whofe feftival was celebrated with a kind of 
enthufiafm. The moft grave and majeftic was the hypor- 
chematic; it was executed to the lyre, and accompanied 
with the voice. At his return from Crete, Thefeus in- 
flituted a dance at which he himfelf aflifted at the head 
ot a numerous and fplendid band of youths, round the 
altar of Apollo. The dance was compofed of three 
parts; the Jlropke, the antijlrcpke, and the Jlaticnary. In 
the ftrophe, the movements were from the right to the 
-left; in the antiftrophe, from the left to the right. In 
•the ftationary, they danced before the altar; fo that the 
stationary did not mean an abfolute paufe or reft, but only 
more flow or grave movement. Plutarch is perfuaded, 
4 
that in this dance there is a profound myftery. I-Te thinks, 
that by the ftrophe is indicated the motion of the world 
from eaft to weft; by the antiftrophe, the motion of the 
planets from the weft to the eaft ; and by the ftationary, 
the (lability of the earth. To this dance Thefeus gave 
the name of gcranos , or “ the crane becaufe the figures 
which characterized it bore a refemblance to thole de- 
feribed by cranes in their flight. 
Of the BALLET, oit OPERA-DANCE. 
The Greeks were the firft who united the dance to 
their tragedies and comedies; not indeed as making part 
of thofe Spectacles, but merely as an acceflary. The 
Romans, as ufual, copied after the Greeks; but in the 
reign of Auguftus they left their inftruftors far behind 
them. Two very extraordinary men, Pylades and Ba- 
thylus, were the firft: to introduce among the Romans 
what the French call the ballet d’adion, wherein the per¬ 
former is both adtor and dancer. Pylades undertook the 
hard talk of reprefenting, with the afliftance of the dance 
alone, ftrong and pathetic Atuations. He fucceeded per¬ 
haps beyond his own expectation, and may be called the 
father of that ftyle of dancing which is known to us by 
the name of grave or J'cricus pantomime. Bathylus an Alex¬ 
andrian, and a freedman of Mecenas, took upon himfelf 
to reprefent fuch fubjedts as required a certain livelinefs 
and agility. By their (tudy, application, and the defire 
to eftabli(h a lading reputation, they difplayed to the 
greatefi: advantage all the refources which the art of 
dancing could fupply. Thefe, like two phenomena, at 
length difappeared, and the art gradually funk into ob- 
feurity, and became even entirely forgotten on the accef- 
Aon of Trajan to the empire. 
Thus buried with the other arts in entire oblivion, 
dancing remained uncultivated till about the fifteenth 
century, when ballets were revived in Italy at a magni¬ 
ficent entertainment given by a nobleman of Lombardy 
at Tortona on account of the marriage between Galeas 
duke of Milan and Ifabella of Arragon. Every refource 
that poetry, mufic, dancing, and machinery, could fup¬ 
ply, was employed and exhaufted on the occafion. The 
defeription given of fo fuperb an entertainment drew 
upon it the admiration of all Europe, and excited the 
emulation offeveral men of genius, who improved the 
hint to introduce among their countrymen a kind of fpec- 
tacle equally pleafing and novel. It would feem that a£ 
firft the women had no (hare in the public or theatrical 
dance; at lead we do not fee them mentioned in the va¬ 
rious entertainments given at the opera in Paris till the 
21 ft of January 1681, when the then dauphinefs, the 
princefs of Conti, and fome other ladies of the firft dif- 
tinCtion in the court of Louis XIV. performed a ballet 
with the opera called Le Triomphe de l'Amour. This union 
of the two fexes ferved to enliven and render the fpec- 
tacle more pleafing and more brilliant than it ever was 
at any other period. It was received with fo much ap- 
plaufe, that, on the 16th of May following, when the 
fame opera was added in Paris at the theatre of the palais 
royal, it was thought indifpenfable for the fuccefs of 
that kind of entertainment to introduce female dancers. 
They have continued ever fince to be the principal fup- 
port of the opera. 
The art of compofing ballet-dances, which are now fo 
much admired, was for many years in a ftate of infancy, 
till monfieur Noverre dept forth and gave it that degree 
of perfection which it feems impoflible to exceed. This 
celebrated performer, in a work lately publiflied, has 
with great elegance and ingenuity delineated the nature. 
objedts, and powers, of dancing, enumerated the proper 
requifites to give it effedfl, and (hewn how much it may 
be ennobled by an acquaintance with the kindred arts. 
Ballet-mafters, fays this author, fliould confult the pro¬ 
ductions of the mod eminent painters. This would 
bring them nearer to nature, and induce them to avoid, 
as often as poflible, that fymmetry of figures, which, by 
repeating 
