MOTION AND MUSIC

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 64, 17 March 1933, Page 13

MOTION AND MUSIC

EXPRESSIVE-DANCING

Entertainment as unusual as, it -was artistic' was furnished to a crowded audience at the Town Hall last night by Mr. and Mrs. Michael Martin-Harvey, quite recently members of Dame Sybil Thorndike's dramatic company,' and the Wellington Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mr. Leon de Mauny., It was not highbrow (the disclaimer and- expression of Mr. Martin-Harvey himself), but in character and quality .it -certainly.could: not be described as low-brow; : it was, rather,' a unique . demonstration of superlatively graceful and, in. some numbers, humorous dancing: In a few preliminary remarks Mr. Martm-Harvey made reference to the art,, ideals, and ideas of the late gifted Isadora Duncgn, and to barefoot dancing: l>or this purpose and-that of his equally talented wife he. selected some quite wellknown musical works for what he' called I "rhythmic interpretation." Among them may be mentioned Mendelssohn's "Spring .Song,' /Bach's Ajr for the Q. string, Schubert s 'Marche Miiitaire" ancl t "Moment -.Uusie.il, waltzes of-Brahms and Chopin, and the latter.'s Funeral Marchj also some .of ,the" movements from . Tschai- i Uowsky s •.•'Nutcracker"' '■ suite, "La i Marseillaise/ Souses1 spirited "Stars and •stripes for .Ever'," and Boecherini's' Minuet. .-■These- diverse musical numbers are^of course; familiar to the music-loving multitude and no doubt are popular with them, saying the. fastidious, elements.to be : foimd: ''in every audience. Perhaps i many among those present at the concert last night had already wrought for themselves some,; lovely mental tapestries that Mr. Martin-Harvey's dances rent'in pieces as. like a Tn;oom applied to cobwebs/ A •4<^-n^e^tD-vtbcctWbt^mme^tafCil--~ttiat: certain^ dances—the "Moment Musical": and the. Brahms and Chopin Walzes, for instance—represented "the-pattern of the I musical composition; expressed in movement." The footnote was not attached ,to the "Marche Miiitaire," "La Marseillaise, ' the Funeral March of Chopin, or the' Bach Air for the G"String. These /.were just, "rhythmically .interpreted." i.erhaps it would have been more, precise had Mr. Martin-Harvey said "expressed" rather than "interpreted." One may hear (as judges at competitions are "sometimes forced to hear) 25 consecutive playings of Chopin's Polonaise in A Flat, "aid-yet not a ; single one of them: may be • interpretative of what was in the composer's.,mind. On the other hand the interpreter who knows his business will be able to convey to a judge and jury a clear, statement of what a Chinese witness, having no English, has to say, and means to say, to the Court.. If Mr. Martin-Harvey's interpretations of what "'La Marseillaise," the "Marehe Miiitaire," the Air 'for the G String, or any other of the musical.num.-. bers he selected for treatment, were offered as (his own ideas of how they may be expressed in rhythmic movement, dance, or. gesture, well and good, for he expressed those ideas last night with consummate art. But who can faithfully "interpret" Bach in the Air for the G String or-,Miy other of his works'? Affecting and effective was Mr. MartinHarvey's representation of the parting of soul from body in the Funeral March of Chopin. He appeared clad from neck to feet in a mantle of "some beautiful fabric of a tone of blue that Raphael might have used for the robe of the Holy Mother. Then he moved out of the obscurity of the dark curtains to the centre of the stage, and described - with wonderful eloquence of action the last and losing struggle of the flesh, the triumphant emergence of the soul from its coil by a fluttering of the hands,' suggesting heavenward, flight, and the going of the soul to its own place. The body, symbolised by the blue robe; was left untenanted lying on the stage/ ■■-..■ The Nutcracker Suite gave Mr. MartinHarvey full opportunity for displaying his histrionic versatility and keen sense of humour, especially in "Dance Chinoise," after which he was clamorously recalled for a repetition. He adopted a hiking dance, also a conrady in itself, to Boecherini's popular minuet. Mr. Martin-Harvey, was strongly, supported in several numbers by his iwife, Mrs.. Hester Martin-Harvey. She also gave a number of beautiful solo dances conspicuous for their perfect grace and fairylike movement. Her first number was Mendelssohn's "Spripg Song," in which in dress and aclion she suggested having had more than a glance-acquaintance with Botticelli's "La Primavera.". The audience, quite rightly, recalled her. thrice for her lovely dancing to represent the Dragee fairy in the "Nutcracker," in which she used a large white balloon with delightful effect. In her skipping rope dance, to the tuneful and durable Sousa march mentioned above, she evoked a hurricane of applause. Before the audience was done with these brilliant dancers it cheered and shouted for them to reappear.

The Symphony Orchestra acquitted itself with 'great credit and attended in full strength. Apart from the music to the dances, it played'Jarnefeld's "Praelumium" and Nicolai's Overture to "The Merry Wives of Windsor." Madame de Mnuny not only played the Brahms and Chopin waltzes, as subjects of rhythmic movement, but gave a spirited rendering of Brahms's Scherzo (Op. 4) as a pianoforte solo.

Mr. Martin-Harvey expressed himself as deeply affected by the great reception ot his efforts and those of his partner, and complimented the orchestra on its splendid performance. He and Mrs. Martin-Harvey left for London today. Mr. A. H. Miles, speaking for the president of the Symphony Orchestra, thanked Mr and .Mrs. Martin-Harvey for their highly artistic performance.