Ballader, Balladeer

', n. A writer of ballads. Ballad-mong'er, n. An itinerant vender of ballads. Ballaghade'rin, a town of Ireland, co. Mayo, 30 m. E.N.E. of Castle bar; pop. about 1,400. Ballaghmore', a village of Ireland, near Roscrea, in Queen's co. The ruins of Mon a inch a Abbey are near this place. Ballaghy', a village of Ireland, co. London derry, 18 m. from Cole raine. Ballahac, in California, a mining camp of Sierra co., 25 m. N. of Downieville, Ballarat, a town of Victoria, S. Australia, 75 miles W.N.W. of Melbourne. It is famous for its gold-fields, unrivalled for the finene of the metal they yield. Pop . (1895) 46,036. Ballard, in Kentucky , a western county, separated from Mi ouri and Illinois by the Ohio river. It is watered by May field's Creek. Surface, undulating and wooded; several acts, each of which has several entrees. An entree, in a ballet, consists of one or several quadrilles of dancers, who, by their steps, gestures, and attitudes, represent a certain part of the action. In criticising a ballet, we must consider, first, the choice of the subject, which must have unity of action or of pa ion, and must be capable of being represented in an intelligible manner by means of mimic movements and dancing; secondly, the plan and execution of the single parts, which must have a due proportion to each other; and, finally, the music and decorations, which must supply whatever dancing cannot bring before the eye. The ballet is an invention of modern times, (the ingenious artist Baltazarini, director of music to the Queen Catharine de Medicis probably gave its form to the regular ballet,) though pantomimic dances were not unknown to the ancients. (See MIMIC, and PANTOMIME.) Noverre, a French man, brought the ballet to the greatest perfection, about 1750. -The bounds, leaps, and pirouettes of the principal performers seem rather to be surprising feats of muscular strength and agility than the actual motions of the dance. The intricate figure-dances of the auxiliary groups of coryphées, as performed in the principal theatres in Europe, are generally most picturesque and pleasing; but they become offensive to the taste when performed without any respect for morality and decency, as it is too often the case in our theatres, where the name Ballet is given to licentious dances and poses imported from the Paris i an minor theatres and pleasure-gardens. Bal'let-dancer, n. A figurante; a female dancer in a ballet. See BALLERINA.