PAST AND PRESENT

The English Folk Dance Society which is to present old English dances for a Bostonian, audience tomorrow night exemplifies once again the present day tendency to attempt to preserve the half-forgotten practices of the past. Unfortunately, most of these movements get started too late to save many of the most interesting examples of former arts, but the present society has had the great advantage of coming into existence before folk dancing was added to the already too long list of lost arts.

This revival along with many others such as the English Madrigal Singers and the numerous societies for the restoration of buildings of architectural and historical interest, shows to what proportions the enthusiasm for the past has grown. Nor is this movement confined only to research in the work of former times. Frequently, in the last few years, organizations have been founded to preserve the characteristic art of the present time.

The Harvard Society of Contemporary Art which is to open an exhibit of some modern work Friday, is an example of this latter group. It also is an attempt to preserve a phase of artistic life which would otherwise leave only an incomplete record at best. No matter how diverse the actual mechanics of these two movements might be, and regardless of the merits of their respective fields, they represent a healthy common interest in works which individually could not be expected to be left to posterity, but collectively are tremendously interesting and pleasing.