The Press Junior THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1937. The Demands of Art

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22073, 22 April 1937, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Press Junior THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1937. The Demands of Art

On this page there is printed a message for readers of "The Press Junior." It was written in Russian by the leader of the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, Leon Woizikowsky, who said that he would describe in a few words his feeling for the ballet. "I am very happy to devote myself to the art . of the dance, for only in art is true beauty to be found." There are two important parts in this statement; the first is this dancer's. claim that he devotes himself to the art of dancing; and the next is his suggestion that it is true beauty that is .worth while seeking in life. For anyone who is thinking of spending a life in any kind of art these two statements, are very important and helpful. There is a warning: no one who is not prepared to give his whole time and energy to the art need hope to succeed "or be happy in it; and there is a promise: he who fully devotes himself may find a vivid and deep satisfaction, the discovery as Woizikowsky has it, of true beauty. During this ballet season many young Christchurch dancers have followed the programmes of ballets presented by a most gifted company; and some of these young people have attended rehearsals to watch the methods of experienced dancers. They have all noticed one thing: that successful art demands a very great deal of the artist. They have seen a ballerina dance a complicated and elaborate set of steps and then they have watched her panting while she received her applause. She has left the stage, made a quick change, and perhaps has dariced another difficult and strenuous dance soon afterwards. There has been no room for laziness at the performances or at the rehearsals. All is hard work, strenuous work for muscles and quick thinking for the head. The dancers have worked like this day after day for years; some have begun their work in ballet schools in their childhood, others in their 'teens; all have had to work- hard and continuously to perfect themselves in their art and to find, places in good companies. They have given all their devotion to the art; and it has given something worth while back to them, a satisfaction and a zest that is not -found in any. form of art in which the artist' does . not fully and generously live. For the ballet dancers life holds much interest. They learn their art in famous schools in Paris or London or Petrograd; perhaps they Study in Spain or Italy. And then in a touring company they visit many interesting places in the world. But all the time they work 'hard, practising their art with painstaking care. And then part of their satisfaction comes with the knowledge that they give pleasure to great numbers of people.