In our ignorance of their words, of what they mean to
one another, of the very way in which they see one another, we shall
best appreciate their rarity by looking on them frankly as pictures,
which we can see with all the imperfections of a Western
misunderstanding.
V. THE PARIS MUSIC-HALL
It is not always realised by Englishmen that England is really the
country of the music-hall, the only country where it has taken firm
root and flowered elegantly. There is nothing in any part of Europe to
compare, in their own way, with the Empire and the Alhambra, either as
places luxurious in themselves or as places where a brilliant spectacle
is to be seen. It is true that, in England, the art of the ballet has
gone down; the prima ballerina assoluta is getting rare, the primo uomo
is extinct. The training of dancers as dancers leaves more and more to
be desired, but that is a defect which we share, at the present time,
with most other countries; while the beauty of the spectacle, with us,
is unique. Think of "Les Papillons" or of "Old China" at the Empire, and
then go and see a fantastic ballet at Paris, at Vienna, or at Berlin!
And it is not only in regard to the ballet, but in regard also to the
"turns," that we are ahead of all our competitors.
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