Those nations among the ancients, which encouraged dancing, did it upon
the principle, that it led to an agility of body, and a quickness of
motion, that would be useful in military evolutions and exploits. Hence
swiftness of foot was considered to be an epithet, as honourable as any
that could be given to a warrior.
The moderns, on the other hand, encourage dancing, or at least defend it
upon different principles. They consider it as producing a handsome
carriage of the body; as leading to a graceful and harmonious use of
the limbs; and as begetting an erectness of position, not more
favourable to the look of a person than to his health.
That dancing produces dispositions of this sort cannot be denied, though
certainly not to the extent which many have imagined. Painters, who
study nature the most, and are the best judges of the appearance of the
human frame, are of opinion, that modern dancing does not produce
natural figures or at least such as they would choose for their
respective compositions. The military exercise has quite as great a
share as dancing in the production of these dispositions. And there are
certainly men, who were never taught either the military exercise or
dancing, whose deportment is harmonious and graceful.
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