Read "English and Greek Dancing" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The fondness for dancing in English women is the reaction of their reserved / manners. It is the only way in which they can throw themselves forth in / natural liberty. We have no adequate conception of the perfection of the / ancient tragic dance. The pleasure which the Greeks received from it had / for its basis Difference and the more unfit the vehicle, the more lively / was the curiosity and intense the delight at seeing the difficulty / overcome.
The ancients certainly seem to have understood some principles in acoustics / which we have lost, or, at least, they applied them better. They contrived / to convey the voice distinctly in their huge theatres by means of pipes, / which created no echo or confusion. Our theatres -- Drury Lane and Covent / Garden -- are fit for nothing: they are too large for acting, and too small / for a bull-fight.