Art, music, balance, movement, and beautiful costumes!... Its origin... and what have we of it?
Our talk of the "ballet" is a talk of the interplay of authentic art with descriptive music and grace of movement — it is a talk of the polishing of beauty in woman, soul and body!
Stories... the ballet tells them in the splendor of its bearing. Is it the story of love, or of hate? The story of life, or of death, that the feminine body relates? Now it sways forward questioning, now it advances beckoning; joy is drawn upon its face, and then in a moment it shrinks back retreating — and with what stirring twist does it fold in upon itself??
The civilized peoples look upon the ballet as the first classical theatrical dance, and of old they pressed to spread it and perfect it in their societies, counting it one of the forms of high cultivation. Yet ballet is almost a luxury of the elite, for the abundance of its material demands — beautiful and varied costumes beyond the reach even of the middle class, and long years of training that consume a fistful of money!
In France ballet was born and grew up. From France issued most of the principal steps, or "movements," now known in the world, and
it spread especially in Parisian circles, where theaters abound, where atmosphere and purpose agree, and where women's talk is of wine, music, and love!
The word "ballet" may perhaps go back to the word "ballon," since the ballerina, or ballet dancer, is distinguished by lightness and suppleness... But the ballerina goes beyond these two qualities, to a delicate sensibility and the power to express lofty musical meanings — in yearning release, or gentle disdain, or an upsurge of pride and loftiness... besides the utmost skill in keeping perfect balance. How much understanding and feeling, then, must the ballet dancer store up within herself, to be capable of total absorption in acting her part, turned away from everything around her...
If music has its effect through hearing, and painting and sculpture theirs through sight, ballet has its wondrous power to stir the feelings through hearing and sight and all the senses. What a concord of senses, what an ease of soul, works upon the beholder!! It is as if the ballerina, when she enters the stage rising on the tips of her toes to perform her part, ascends into a second world! There she is, putting forth all her powers — bodily and spiritual — to put on her role and live it wholly... And what an arduous task that is, upon my life! Thousands of girls yearn to scale the peaks of glory and fame, but only a gifted few among them reach the summits.
What have we in Lebanon?
Not long ago — I mean at the dawn of the second quarter of this century — ballet found its way to our Arab East, and Egypt was the first to embrace it. In Lebanon, the first credit for spreading it and smoothing its way goes to Madame Silvi, who for the last ten years has never ceased polishing the artistic gifts in our girls, until one may boast, repeating a saying of hers: thanks to the efforts of years, we now have a cluster of those whom we may rightly call "brilliant ones"! Among them the Misses Nadia and May Saikali, Salwa Aoun, and Valerie Sarruf.
On more than one yearly occasion Madame Silvi's pupils, who approach a hundred, give displays, bringing out with skill and finish masterpieces of music and the stage, such as: "Swan Lake," "The Sleeping Princess," "Suzanne," and "Madame Butterfly."
And one of us asks: where is the theater, here in Lebanon, to bring out these talents in a practical way? The truth is that there still lie before these girls years of training and testing before they win a distinguished place that can be turned to account — and this is not done here, but in Europe, in the institutes of specialization — and some of them intend to storm this door and visit France or England. And who knows what brilliant future awaits them??
Miss Valerie Sarruf
In a pose of opening-out, gazing toward a hope...