r the
ballet; and some years ago Sir Augustus Harris expressed a similar opinion
when he was asked wherein lay the reason of the decadence of the modern
ballet. Noverre brought to a high degree of perfection the art of
presenting a story by means of pantomime, and he never allowed dancing
which was not the direct expression of a particular attitude of mind. Apart
from Noverre, the greatest ballet-master was undoubtedly Gaetano Apolline
Balthazare Vestris (_q.v._), who modestly called himself _le dieu de la
danse_, and was, indeed, the finest male dancer that Europe ever produced.
Gluck composed _Iphigenie en Aulide_ in conjunction with Vestris. In 1750
the two greatest dancers of the day performed together in Paris in a
ballet-opera called _Leandre et Hero_; the dancers were Vestris and Madame
Camargo (_q.v._), who introduced short skirts in the ballet.

The word "balette" was first used in the English language by Dryden in
1667, and the first descriptive ballet seen in London was _The Tavern
Bilkers_, which was played at Drury Lane in 1702. Since then the ballet in
England has been purely exotic and has merely followed on the lines of
French developments. The palmy days of the ballet in England were in the
first half of the 19th century, when a royal revenue was spent on the
maintenance of this fashionable attraction. Some famous dancers of this
period were Carlotta Grisi, Mdlle Taglioni (who is said to have turned the
heads of an entire generation), Fanny Elssler, Mdlle Cerito, Miss P.
Horton, Miss Lucile Grahn and Mdlle Carolina Rosati. In later years Kate
Vaughan was a remarkably graceful dancer of a new type in England, and, in
Sir Augustus Harris's opinion, she did much to elevate the modern art. She
was the first to make skirt-dancing popular, although that achievement will
not be regarded as an unmixed benefit by every student of the art.
Skirt-dancing, in itself a beautiful exhibition, is a departure from true
dancing in the sense that the steps are of little importance in it; and we
have seen its development extend to a mere exhibition of whirling draperies
under many-coloured lime-lights. The best known of Miss Vaughan's disciples
and imitators (each of whom has contributed something to the art on her own
account) were Miss Sylvia Grey and Miss Letty Lind. Of the older and
classical school of ballet-dancing Adeline Genee became in London the
finest exponent. But ballet-dancing, affected by a tendency in modern