The New York herald., 1873-05-19
MARIE TAGLIONI.


How Queens OF the Ballet May BE Good
and Grow Oid-From the Footlights TO
the Dancing SchoOl-A Back Glance OF
Thirty Years.
To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:-
telegraphic nash and we were told talsely) of
Marie Taglioni's death. "ls 1t possiber' ~
thought she died long ago." "A very great dan.
seuse.n "Well, well; SO they go. Who next9"
Such were the brief comments over the dinner
table, and quickly the last bribery at Albany efaced
all thought or probably, the most exquisite dan
seuse that ever lived. did not marvel at this in
difYerence, Tor Taglloni is but name in America.
No veteran theatregoer enthusiastically recalls the
divine grace that made her dancing the very
poetry OF motion, yet 1t was on indifference that
grated harshly upon one who knows her to be the
best OF women ana who Is proud to call her friend.
And If lay o pansy at her rhythmic feet 1t is to
inspire in others respect for great artist, who IS
an honor to woranhood. s'sDo you know have
heard that Tagieni is In Londonsn said woman
Of society early in the Winter Of 1871. "She used
to be very intimate with Lady Morgan, at whose
house met her frequently. She was charming, and
shall renew the acquaintance" So to Bond street
my friend went rforthusth, and from Mitchell, the
Queens bookseller, who is an c0urunt OF every
thing, fs% the last novel read by Victoria to the
arrival e last artist she obtained the necessary
inlormesja. A few evenings later was invited to
dinner ~ at this friends house. On entering
the drawing room l recognized all but one OF the
guests. On low chair sat rehned-looking woman
OF sixty-hve, dressed in black velvet and lace,
whose dominant characteristic seemed to be unob-
trusiveness, and who in consequence would at oil
times and IN all places be unobserved unless by the
rare few in search Of ladies'. 'My dear" whispered
the hostess, "that Is the great Tagioni. Come
you must be presented;' and leading me to the
woman OF whom had read so much then and
there made her acquaintance. l was In o daZed
frame Of mind; for to associate age ana gray hairs
with danseuse Is 30 utterly homogeneous as to
appear Impossible. Perpetual youth seems to be
the prerogative Of the heroines Of the ballet In
the mind Of an imaginative public to trip the light
fantastic toe means to be always under thirty al
ways 1.-the, always standing with one foot in the
air, always wearing a seraphic smile upon q yet
more serarAc countenance. The eternal fitness
Of things torbids danseuses to be ever fat and
forty. You and the imaginative public indulge In
the deluson that they do not die after the prosaic
manner OF mortals who walk on their heels, but
before age lays his tyrant hand upon them they
perform their favorite pas in the most seductive
manner, and then, with farewell wave Of
inviting arms, vanish "into thin air." Fancy dan
seuse with headache, or COIN, or gout, or olive
est celebrity OF the ballet, aged slxty-five and q
grandmother 1t was shock to my nervous sys-
tenn for at least ten minutes 1t was another shock
to see her IN long dress and an chair, instead
OF beholding her through an opera glass, arrayed
in tulle and revolving around the idiOtic man in
tights, whose highest aspiration IN life Is to spin
one leg like teetotum. At last regained my
dinary composure, and putting aside Terpsichorean
dreams, was able to look at Madame Taglioni ra-
tionally. Winning IN manner with the courtly air
OF lady Of the old school-a school that we should
do our best to revive-she at once excited respect
and regard; respect because Of her graceful
womanliness, regard because OF sympathetic tenn
permanent. OF medium height, slight in figure, she
gave the impression OF q healthy well-preserved
woman, whose lease OF life would not expire for
fifteen or twenty years. felt persuaded that La
Taglioni could never have been beautiful
either in face or figure; but felt
equally persuaded Of the fascination and
genius of her art We all know that
beauty has never been the strongest magnet in
attracting either individuals or the public It is
an incomprehensible magnetism that holds us
willing slaves at the feet oftriends genius with
out which Venus would lure but for day, and
Apollo sing to empty benches after one short
season. La Taglionis face is round rather than
oval, there are few wrinkles in the corners OF her
pleasant, placid gray eyes, none at all on her
smooth forehead. Her hair, worn in plaits at the
side, and covered with black lace at the back of
the head, is dark iron gray; her teeth are good,
and the expression OF her delicately shaped mouth
denoted benevolence and amability. Her voice is
ssft and low, and there was something pretty in
her attempts to speak English with a gentleman
who was enthusiastic in telling her how he adored
her thirty years ago, when he was boy, and how
wild he became over that famous pas de qaatre-
Tagloni, Cerito Carlotta Grisi and Lucille Grahn-
about which the operate world Will never cease to
talk.
''You-air-very-goot" ;" replied La Taglioni, with
the sweetest Of smiles and French accent. I-have-
not speak -Anglish-s since twenty-five year
ven-I-was-here-be- An mon Dieu q.el
dommage que uous ne parlez pas Fyancais Ma
clere, dites ce monsieur que ie suts desesperee."
Monsieur was much more desperate than
Madame at the imposslbllty OF living over again
those palmy days Of the ballet in the presence of
his mature goddess and retired TO a corner where
in the ear Of youthful countrvman, he relieved
his pent up feelings In superlatve English.
"You think that man mad, perhaps said an
elderly aristocrat, who never was known to praise
anything. 81 assure you that the art of dancing
has lived and died with Taglioni. You
can have no conception OF the wonderful
poetry that woman put INTO every motion
OF her body OF the intellect visible in her feet.
ballet with Tagiion in IL the subtlest OF verse
Inere were meaning anu feeling In everything she
alu. Never was there anything like II before her
day, never has there been anything like 1t since.
peleve the world will never her like again.
"lou are right,r chimed In q dowager. .Danc-
Ing to-day Is lost art. French saltaton lie a nui
saDce. where Is the beauty OF tours de JOrce2
gymnastics
True, true echoed a venerable connosseur
an an IL tne midst OF that genuine hymn OF praise La
Iaglioni sat quietly conversinp in French with a
uisIln9uisheu English actress who also could re-
memper tnat night IN lS47 when she danced for the
last time In London. " ~
And why had La Taglioni returned as an old wo.
man to The scene OF her former conquests All
to villa on the Lake Of Como There abe had
lived peacefully; there lived her only daughter to
whom, on Der marriage with Russian prince. the
mother gave half her hardly-earned fortnne
There she would have remained hnt Sor ~.