Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

RUSSIAN DANCING.253

light, gold, flowers, reflection, illusion, and the giddy movement of the crowd, which crowd itself seemed multiplied to infinity. Every actor in the scene was equal to ten, so greatly did the mirrors aid the effect. I thav never seen any thing more beautiful than this crystal palace; but the ball was like other balls, and did not answer to the gorgeous decorations of the edifice. I was surprised that this nation of dancers did not devise something new to perform on the boards of a theatre so different from all others where people meet to dance and to fatigue themselves, under the pretext of enjoyment. I should like to have seen the quadrilles and the ballets of other theatres. It strikes me that in the middle ages, the gratifications of the imagination had a greater influence in the diversions of courts than they have at present. In the Michael Palace the only dances that I saw were the polonaises, the waltz, and the degenerated country dances called quadrilles in the Franco-Russian. Even the mazourkas danced at Petersburg are less lively and graceful than the real dances of Warsaw. Russian gravity cannot accommodate itself to the vivacity, the whim, and the abandon of the true Polish dances.

Under the perfumed groves of the ball-room the empress reposed herself at the conclusion of every polonaise. She found there a shelter from the heat of the illuminated garden, the air of which during this summer night was as stifling as that of the interior of the palace.

I found leisure during the fete to draw a comparison in my own mind between France and Russia, on a subject regarding which my observations were