It's hard to tell whether the soldiers involved are dancing, boxing or practicing la savate -- a little bit of all three, if truth be told. They go through their drill en masse, and are quite graceful about it -- it makes me wish for a cut to a crane shot.
Of course, the crane shot had not been invented when this picture was taken and the immense piece of equipment used to take a motion picture at this stage made that impossible. Still, the structure and timing of this piece offers the viewer its own light-hearted grace. The final moment, when the chasseur in the center looks at the camera, rounds things off very nicely.
I think that this would be a good picture to show to someone who is not fascinated by movies from the beginnings of the form.
