The Portland daily press., 1867-07-24
Miscellany.
About BALLET Girls.

Olive Logan has an Article in the Galaxy
for August, on ballet girls and others. The
article is entitled ''The Leg Business and is
severe eXcoriation OF some of the professors
of the naked drama. We make few ex-
tracts: W. - 20 3 / -AsA
For the dancers of the legitimate ballet L
who know them as a class weIl-have
thorough respect. They are a Woodworking,
nl-paid body OF women, not inirequently the
sole support OF entire families, and their NOR
al characters are not one whit affected hv
their line of business. The admitting public
who sees the pretty picture they make On the
stage, little knows the physical fatigue which
these poor girls encounter in return for few
dollars week salary from the manager, and
an illiberal Judgment at the hands of the au-
dience. Few men work so hard as the ballet
eirl-the coryphee, who by halfpast eight
O'Clock In the morning, is at the theater, clad
in gauze and silk webbing, practicing pir-
QUOTES, entrechats, the toe-torture, and other
inquisitorial exercises. | have seen these
girls practice from nine o'clock in the MORN
ing until halfpast twelve, almost without
cessation, then take a hurried lunch, SOME
times eating it while standing shivaring in
their thin clothing in draughty space be-
hind the flats" only TO BEGIN their labor
again at half-past one, and to continue till
hive. This is for the matinee performance at
halt-past seven that of the NIGHT commences
finishing perhaps at eleven. Then come, I'M
dressing, redressing, folding and laying away,
their stage paraphernalia; for, even if not
naturally tidy (and tidiness is the rule with
them-the exceptions rare )-these girls must
for economy's sake, be careful of their cloth
ing. And SO, long after midnight, the tired
creatures, often laden with heavy bundles.
creep listiessiy into street cars to be stared at
by rude men, or, still worse, drag home
through the deserted streets, alone and M
protected, at the risk of being mistaken for
traviatas of the lowest grade g
That pose into which she now throws herself
with such abandon is. not vile panderine to-
the tastes OF those giegling men in the orches-
tra-stalls, but is an effort which, to her idea is
as loving a tribute to beloved art as paint
ers dearest penci-touch is to him. / have
seen these women burst into tears on leaving
the stage because they had observed men
laughing among themselves, rolling their ewes
about, and evidently making unworthy com
ments on the pretty creatures before them.
whose whole soul and whose whole body, too,
was Tor the hour lovingly given over to Terp-
slchore 1T is they who are bad said Made
molselle b. TO me the other night, cit is not
we." ... n..ls IA KID IA, III - =
Miss Logan gives note from one who
makes "pads" for the "artists'' who have pllys-
zeal lmpei ections. These pads are made in
Philadelphia. we quote: ~ $500 ~
Such little inaccuracies as knocL-knees and
boN-legs, trif1ng errata in Natures ORIGINAL
edition, remarkable Tor their frequency in The
human family, especially in those misguided
members of it who have rashly che sen the
stage as vocation, are nimbly rectified bythe
pad-professor. saw letter from one of
these the other day, which may be worth pro-
dueing here for the sake OF It's ludicrousness.
That it is a genuine document, pledge my
word 1t ran thus: li i.al7a f.5.T
u PHILADELPHIA-1fd Them fites is
finished your nees will be all o K when Won
when you get them on. Bad tigers is all
plaid out now they viii caust 8 dollars.