Felix Cherniavsky - Correspondence with Dance Collection Danse 2

Added 19th Mar 2022 by Beth Dobson (Archives and Programming Assistant, DCD) / Last update 19th Mar 2022

Maud Allan 1283b 51 2008-2-71.jpg
Maud Allan 1283b 51 2008-2-71.jpg
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Felix Cherniavsky - Correspondence with Dance Collection Danse 2

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Maud Allan Research Collection
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a sorry . Yet for his oath's sake and for their sakes which sat with him , he would not reject her . " And immediately the King sent a executioner and commanded his head to be brought ; and he went and beheaded him in the prison . " And brought his head in a charger and gave it to the dam sel , and the damsel gave it to her mother . " Buoyed up by the excitement of the mother she places the gory trophy in the hands of the vengeance glutted mother . Then she flees on naked feet back to her own apartments and stands aghast as she views her blood - dabbled hands - dyed pur ple with the blood of holy John , the Mystic , the Voice de nouncing uncleanness and shame . This was the Dance of " Salome . " And as she stood motionless , with the whole scene vivid before her imagination , there came to her the Vision of " Sa lome . " As in a dream she lives again through the mad moments of excitements when she danced in the Hall of Herod while his lords and captains bathed her with the breath of their fierce admiration . Again , too , she sees that strange expression in the eyes of her royal stepfather as he hoarsely vows her half of his kingdom if her desires stretch so far . Then slowly there forms before her the pallid , sublime face of the Baptist . It seems to be at her feet . Moved by an irresistible force she stoops and lifts it by the black curls . Every fibre of her youthful body is quivering : a sensation hitherto unknown to her . She rever ently lays down the severed head , and then in a whirl of sud den madness she commences to dance around it . Soon exhaustion breaks the spell . " Salome , " princess of Galilee , lies prone on the gray cold marble . a a gusts of sudden impulse . These gorgeous apartments have been set apart for the use of the Princess " Salome . " The young daughter of Herodias , and granddaughter of the late procurator ; she was , therefore , closely related to Herod . Into this velvet life there must have come a sudden re minder that sorrows can intrude even into the palace . She caught a half stifled impression that the position of herself and her mother was being made the subject of vitriolic gossip on the part of the Jewish population , and no doubt she wit nessed some of those almost demoniac fits of fury exhibited by her mother when the news came that John , chaste prophet of the Most High God , was stalking through the city de nouncing the wife of Herod as sinful and accurst ; that her mother and new stepfather were living in defiance of what this burning young prophet ( for John was not much more than a youth ) called the " law of God . " His voice , likened by the people to a silver trumpet , rang out even in the court yards of the palace : " O accurst woman of sin ... thy white and tender flesh shall burn in Tophet ... while Herod shall be cast down even from the golden throne of Galilee and Perea . " How , all the dim whisperings of the affrighted servants and the guarded gossip of her bower maidens must have per plexed the pure mind of " Salome , " the young virgin innocent . Then there came the night when it was the whim of Herod to " make a supper to his lords , high captains and chief estates of Galilee . " And suddenly the gong that hung over the much guarded apartments of " Salome " reverberated with its clanging summons : " Salome " must come and dance before the king and his wine flushed lords and captains . For hers was the strange gift - the gift of dancing , brought from Egypt by those settlers whom she claimed as ancestors . It had been her pride to dance , her mother's pleasure and the joy of her dead father . Herod has told his guests of the dancing of " Salome . " He has painted her art in the language of true Oriental exaggera tion . Woe to her if she shame his words . To the blare of insolent music she springs into the great hall . Blind to the circle of inflamed eyes that devour her pure young beauty , she sees only her mother uplifted on a glitter ing throne by the side of Herod , the dread Tetrarch . And so she dances , while silence falls upon the barbarian guests as with twinkiing feet and ingenious witcheries she gives them of her art . Then at last she lies panting in obeisance at the foot of the throne , while the music dies in a last sobbing wail . The great Ruler , with parched tongue and dull eyes , leans , forward and makes the tremendous promise in the moment of his gratification : " Ask , Salome , my Flower of the Forest - ask what thou wilt , yea , even to the half of my kingdom . " , Awed by the strange look in the eyes of the King and stunned by his astounding offer she takes refuge in her mother's bosom . " What shall I ask ? " she whispers . And the wife , tormented and distempered with hatred of the Baptist , whose clarion de nouncations of her sin are now ringing out over the waters of Jordan , answers without hesitation : " Ask for the head of John the Baptist upon a charger . " And so the young dancer bends again before the feet of the King and utters her request : " I will that thou shalt give me the head of John the Baptist upon a dish . " What follows is mirrored in the poignant words of the his torian , Mark the Evangelist : " And the King was exceeding SIDEBAR : Celia Franca , founder and Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Canada , choreographed The Dance of Sa lome for BBC Television using an original score by James Har tley . She performed the work in the first performances of the National Ballet in Toronto in 1951. It was based on Wilde's Salome : Jokanaan has been imprisoned for having pronounced Herod's marriage unlawful . Salome's amorous advances having been repulsed by the Prophet , she demands his head of the King as payment for her Dance of the Seven Veils . We Adams ' and Celia are not really on speaking terms . However , if someone would like to ask her about her Sa lome , we would be happy to provide an address . LETTERS : Felix Cherniavsky requests we correct the state ment from No.1 : Certainly she was far more gifted than Isadora Duncan . Cherniavsky makes the point that : " I have no inter est in directly comparing her ( Maud ) with Duncan , simply be cause I am unqualified to do so . I maintain , rather , that as her training and the testimony of her peers demonstrate , musi cally she was far more gifted . " Other letters came from Jean Clark of Winnipeg and Lawrence Lefebvre , Calgary . We will quote excerpts next time . Please let us hear your thoughts and opinions , etc. ... Lawrence and Miriam Adams DANCE COLLECTION DANSE 145 George Street Toronto M5A 2M6 Canada