In 1697 De la Motte introduced more changes into the ballet, chiefly in the direction of more interesting subjects, and about the same time comic ballets were invented by but no. important alterations were made till the advent of Jean Georges Noverre in 1749. The dancers wore masks, huge wigs and headdresses and hoops. The mask finally disappeared in 1773. Hitherto the fermi, of the ballet had remained practically unchanged, each act being performed, by different dancers, and generally in different styles of dancing. kctverre invented the ballet d'actiOn, and revived the art of pantomime. Dancing now had dramatic meaning and the most intricate plots were represented 'by panto mime alone. The principles of Noverre were carried to great perfection by Vincenzo Galleotti in Copenhagen, and by his successor, Bournon vine. Under the Directory a form of grand ballet was revived, in which patriotic songs were a feature.
The history' of the ballet since Noverre's time is a: history of dancers rather than of dancing. In England, this class of entertain ment was never more than' an exotic, and has practically no history. The word baleite is first' used in English by Dryden (1667), and the earliest attempt at a descriptive ballet seems to have been 'The Tavern Bilkers,) played at Drury Lane in 1702. Within the last few years
ass impertant revival of the ballet has place in Italy, where the famous ((Excelsior," by the Chevalier Luigi Manzotti, Messalina, Amor, etc.;have 'furnished magnificent examples of the ballet traction.
Skirt-daneing, sd called on account of the voluminous skirts made of sheer or flimsy ma terial, which are worn by the dancers and play• so important a part in their dances, has beconie a science and a popular attraction on the stage. The dancers, by the clever manipulation of their draperies. and assisted by fight effects, assume such farms: as flowers; the rose, calla lily, pan sies, piriks; butterflies of different colors and flags of various oationalitiert; all to the accom paniment of music. Among the most noted skirt dancers were Amelia Glover, Loie Fuller, the inventor of the serpentine dance, Papinta and Anna HekL In 1911 the aneroid and anima? dances began by the introduction of the turkey trot in San Francisco. Variations of it known as Primly bear, Texas Tommy, and others, soon followed and spread rapidly over Europe and America. Even more popular was the Argen tine tango in an expurgated limn. Consult Caffin. 'Dancing and Ditact/ES of Today' (New York 1912) and Flitch 'Modern Dancing and Dancers', (London 1912),