lest, and therefore, the most
natural. Since he is sure of his rhythms, in every other dancer as
well as himself, he is certain of his ensemble, and is likewise sure
there will be no dead spots either in the scenario or in the
presentation. His production is not a show for the amusement of the
onlooker; it is a pageant for the edification of his own soul. Each
man is therefore concerned with the staging of the idea, because it is
his own spiritual drama in a state of enaction, and each is in his own
way manager of the scene, and of the duos, trios, and ensembles, or
whatever form the dances may require. It is therefore of a piece with
his conception of nature and the struggle for realism is not
necessary, since he is at all times the natural actor, the natural
expresser of the indications and suggestions derived from the great
theme of nature which occupies his mind, and body, and soul. His
acting is invented by himself for purposes of his own, and it is
nature that gives him the sign and symbol for the expression of life
as a synthesis. He is a genius in plastic expression, and every
movement of his is sure to register in the unity of the theme, because
he himself is a powerful unit of the group in which he may be
performing. He is esthetically a responsible factor, since it concerns
him as part of the great idea. He is leading soloist and auxiliary in
one. He is the significant instrument in the orchestration of the
theme at hand, and knows his body will respond to every requirement of
phrasing. You will find the infants, of two and three years of age
even, responding in terms of play to the exacting rhythms of the
dance, just as with orientals it was the children often who wove the
loveliest patterns in their rugs.

In the instance of the buffalo dance of the Tesuque Indians, contrary
to what might be expected or would popularly be conceived, there is
not riotry of color, but the costumes are toned rather in the sombre
hues of the animal in question, and after the tone of the dark flanks
of the mountains crested and avalanched with snows, looking more like
buffaloes buried knee deep in white drifts than anything else one may
think of. They bring you the sense of the power of the buffalo
personality, the formidable beast that once stampeded the prairies
around them, solemnized with austere gesturing, enveloping him with
stateliness, and the silence of the winter that surrounds themselves.
Three men, two of them imper