, 1885-11-04
LIFE OF A BALLET GIat-


Novalty Has warn on,
fsan Franiiseo News-Ieltet
The allet gal may be said to sell her
liberty entirely for "A small sam. If she
is n singer she earns $40 or s12 n week
generally 81, and her work is as fol
lows / ohcarsals are called at 10 sharp
every morning. when she must sing
i'll or well-until . or , in the afternoon,
bringing her lunch in her hand. She
then goes home tired cut-possibly somo
distance from the theatre. Arrived,
there is always something to be done
some dress to alter to a good fit, lace to
wash. ribbons to iron, stockings to
mend, or tights to dye-if it's not one
thing, it's another. These little matters
take mp her time till supper, which is
scarcely down her throat when she must
rush OF 10 her work, from which all the
pleasures has long since departed. The
girls dress in crowded, close rooms, and
as every one Is for herself, there is a
general scrimmage, often u hight, for
place.
The performance closes at II, and it
is II. sometimes l o'clock, ere her poor
tired limbs are safely resting in her bed
from which she must rise early to 90
again lHlOuEn llt N1AHt DlDBIIlnllt
day in and day out, night in and night
out not even Sundays is always exempt
from rehearsal, and never from evening
performance. If the ballet girl is ten
minutes she is fined : bits; if she is too
i'll to attend a performance, she ~forfeits
81; il she finds a substitute, she must
pay her her own salary. and hui tho
ballet girl is bound, body and soul, to
the theatre day and night, for $40 a
week, ladies. Ten dollars a week for
the life of a fresh young creature, who
can never take a holiday, never feel
free to roam in the country by pleasant
paths, enjoying her youth and life. Ten
dollars "A week, while the star, if u
brilliant one, takes 81, 600 a night. Tho
irony of the situation might tempt one
to laugh, If il were not such a terrible
thing to think how a girls life can be
sold so cheap.
But there is the ballet girl of the
drama-the pages of the 'legitimate'-
the silent actresses who walk in and out
in the society play-the half nude Great
ures who do impossible marches and
wonderful military figures with such
precision and grace-girls who practice
hour after hour with heavy guns in
their hands, and are ready to drop long
before night ZONES on, when every face
must look its brightest, and the people
before the footlights clap and bravo
and think how fine it all is to be so
clever and dress up in smart attire. Do
you recken up how many of these poor
girls are blushing with shame at the ex-
posture of the forms that God and So
ciety have decreed shall be robed in
long and modest garmentsl | guess
not. Nor will you possibly credit the
fact that the ballet girl belonging to
this class gets only s. TO 81 a week and
found in the tawdry, shabby cos
tunes, which are hateful in the eyes of
those who wear them. But this is not
the only misery encountered by the bal
let girl;
She's only a ballet girl, " says the
star, who passes her by without notice, or
a scornful glance. She's only a bal
let girl, " say the w~orkingmen about the
theatre, and therefore may not even
have a Miss placed before her name.
Smith, you're wanted in tho left wing. "
II say, Mag, the managers on to you
for being late, - is the mode of speech
addressed to the recipient of 81 per
week. Look at the pretty girl, who,
with her head high in the air, looks so
fresh and bright, for a few weeks en-
5oying the novelty, look at her as the
color fades slowly from the young
faco-a worn, unhappy look taking the
place of the smiles that made it so at
tractive-look at her, idly leaning
against anything when not going
through her part, faded, sad, old be-
fore her time-a forlorn looking Great
ure in her shabby morning attire, a gal
vani1ed puppet in her tinsel and satin.