The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-06-25
Saqui, the Rope Walker.

The most famous rope-dancer of re
cent times was undoubtedly Nine. Saqui
and her long career would seem to show
that if the practice of rope-dancine
brings some of its profession to sudden
end, it must in itself be far from un.
healthy. We may fairly infer that in
her case it was conducive to longevity
for she had already made her reputation
at the end of the eighteenth century,
and was still dancing less than twenty
years ago, when she had attained the
age of 76. According to some authori-
ties Nine. Saqui was born of French
parents. Her father. Jean Baptiste Lai-
anne, was himself distinguished aero
bat, and he introduced his daughter to
the public at a very early age in melo-
drama on the subject Of "Genevieve de
Brabant," the part of Genevieve's child
being confded to the debutante. 1t was
as dancer on the ordinary boards that
the youthful Saqui made her first appear
ance in public; but she soon aspired to
higher things, and after the troupe of
the 'sgrandes danscuses du roi" had
been broken up at the time of the revolu-
ton, she took a regular course of lessons
in rope-dancing from friend of the fam
lily, who OWNED the bent of her genius.
The counsellor and instructor who dis
covered and fostered her talent for bal
ancing herself on the tight-rope was, or
had been, medical student, who. to
escape the tediousness of lectures, had
turned acrobat; and it was through his
earnest representations that the parents
of the future rope-dancing celebrity
were prevailed upon to allow their daugh-
ter to quit the regular stage for less
dignifed arena.
The child practiced with ardor, and
was soon able to maintain herself firm
and erect upon the rope without the as
sistance of the balancing-pole. Her
debut was attended with the most bril-
liant success, and for upward of half a
century this prima donna of the dancing
art travelled from capital to capital, ap-
plauded and feted wherever she per-
formed. There was no town in France,
no country in Europe, which she did not
visit. After time she established a
theater of her own in Paris. The EN-
peror Napoleon, who appreciated her
talent, and was personally much pleased
with her, named her ''first acrobat of
Franco title which SO pleased her
that she had it inscribed on the wagon
containing her costumes and apparatus
by which her travelling coach was fol-
lowed. Napoleon used to engage her for
all public fetes, and frequently invited
her to, perform at his own private enter
tainments. She was the spoiled child,
moreover, of all the princes and dukes,
all the marshals and generals of the en-
pire; and she was as great favorite
with the people as with the members of
the imperial court No italian singer,
even in our own day, enjoyed such
popularity as fell to the lot of Nine.
Saqui.
For some time her star seems to have
faded, or perhaps she retired on the i'm
mense sums of money which her per-
formances had brought her in. How
ever that may have been, circumstances
forced her in 1851 to reappear when she
made her tour in Spain, in Algeria, and
in the principal towns of France. In
1852 she went to Paris and gave series
of performances at the Hippodrome. The
next year she made sensational ascent
of the tight-rope in the Champ de Mars,
and the Hippodrome was the scene of a
final performance for her benefit in 1861,
when, at the age of 76, she went through
q series of funambulistic exercises and
fantasias, which few, if any, of her
rivals could have equalled. Some four
years afterward, when she had already
completed her eightieth year, this light
and most aerial b0llesine died.-PaU
Mall Gazette.