August Bournonville Quotes
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It is not so much upon the number of exercises, as the care with which they are done, that progreses and skill depend.
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The Dance is an art because it demands vocation, knowledge, and ability.
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The beauty to which the Dance ought to aspire is not dependent upon taste or pleasure, but is founded on the immutable laws of Nature.
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It is a fine art because it strives for an ideal, not only in plastic but also in lyrical respect.
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The height of artistic skill is to know how to conceal the mechanical effort and strain beneath harmonious calm.
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The Dance can, with the aid of music, rise to the heights of poetry. On the other hand, through an excess of gymnastics it can also degenerate into buffoonery. So-called "difficult" feats can be executed by countless adepts, but the appearance of ease is achieved only by the chosen few.
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The beauty to which the Dance ought to aspire
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The art of Mime encompasses all the feelings of the soul. The Dance, on the other hand, is essentially an expression of joy, a desire to follow the rhythms of the music.
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The beautiful always retains the freshness of novelty, while the astonishing soon grow tiresome.
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Mannerism is not character, and affectation is the avowed enemy of grace. Every dancer ought to regard his laborious art as a link in the chain of beauty, as a useful ornament for the stage, and this, in turn, as an important element in the spiritual development of nations.
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Joy is a strength; intoxication, a weakness.
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August Bournonville
- Born: August 21, 1805
- Died: November 30, 1879
- Occupation: Ballet choreographer
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