The Athletes and Athletic Sports of Scotland

92 ATHLETIC SPORTS OF SCOTLAND. in Scotland that seem given onno other account than as a re­ ward for the appearance of hard work and noise, two of the worst points indancing. With many judges, evenwhen theyare ladies and gentlemen of presumably cultivated taste, no matter how badly and ungracefully a man dances, if he is extraordinarily energetic in his movements, and the emphatic thump, thump of his feet on the platform is heard with sufficiently painful distinc­ tion, he is sure of a prize. Now the more lightly a dancer touches the boards if he dances well in other respects, the better dancer he is. When the poets Virgiland SirWalter Scottwish to portray forus all that is light, easy,and graceful inmotion, the onedepicts Camilla, the other theLady of theLake asmov­ ing with steps solight that the tenderest plants scarcely bend beneath their steps; and onecan imagine Goethe'sMignon, in the famous dance scene in "Wilhelm Meister," as moving with steps so light as to be almost inaudible. Let it not be supposed that it is easy to learnto dance lightly and gracefully withouthe appearance of effort. It is only by the most unremitting and arduous practice that onecan doso. Those who saw Taglioni dance so lightly andgracefully, andwith so little apparent effort that it seemed she could not help movingso, little thought that it was the result of private practice so fatiguing that sheoften sank to the floorcompletely exhausted. Dancing is an art, and in dancing, as in other arts,the highestart is to conceal art. So judges who have solittle taste or judgment as to think that the more adancer makes the platform resound beneath his feet the better he deserves aprize, make agreat mistake; a navvy with half a foot of whisky in him at his first attempt would give the board thumpers any amount of points and a beating at that game. Making anoise with the feetis the easiest andsimplest point in dancing, and the surestsign of a bad dancer. But although to dance with such lightness, ease, and freedom as togive the idea that dancingis an easy and pleasant exercise to the dancer is the highest art in dancing, and to dance so as to give the ideathat dancing is a laborious and veryfatiguing exer-