, 1888-05-02
A "eeNoeR's" CONFESSIONS.


Tells of Her Profession.
The other day l called on a bender, a
lady. not a gentleman. who is we'll known
as a most serpentine contortionist. !
wished to ask Mile. Vonare q few qucs-
tions about her art. with a view OF throw
ing some light on the training of little
boys and girls for the profession. The
lady was sitting before the fire with her
sister. who has abandoned bending her
self. and exhibits a troupe of highly edu
Gated poodles. A huge wicker basket con.
tained her dress and other stage habits
From its depths she produced a bundle Of
photographs Of herself. tied and knotted
into all name of curious folds.
That is the business of a bender. The
body is thrown into a score of unnatural
postures, which appear to the audience to
be achieved by dislocating every joint in
the human frame. and to be effected al
great risk to limb and life. Artists are
generally enthusiastic about their callings,
and must say that Miss Vonare declared
h would rather be a bender han q
queen or something to that effect. She be
gan at 4. at 81 she was before the public,
and remains a bender still. My father
saw a contortionist one night on the stage,
and he asked himself why he should not
teach me, aged 4. l was put into train
ing at once, and enjoyed the fun, as a
child will enjoy anything new. Was |
beatenI was / starvod7 No. ! seemed to
take to it like n little duck takes to
water. You see, We were a family OF
athletes, and. besides. l was a daughter
and not an apprentice. II the father is
the trainer he may not spare the rod, but
he is cruel only to be kind. My expert.
ence Is that less rod and more kindness Is
the best plan Father used to bride us
into doing the different tricks. To be sue.
cessful means years of hard work, prac
tice and performance / am 10 now, and
my performance keeps me in capital train
ing.
In the business of contortion the first
lesson is the backward bend, first with
the arms, and then without. You stand
on 4 long mattress. so that there Is no
danger. and at first your teacher controls
your movements with a belt. 1t is much
the same with other forms of acrobatio
work, and the cruelty often takes the-form
Of taking away the mattress. which
creates q sort of panic in the pupils mind
~ TIC llhs Itdlll LIlcd his DtSJ ulu lhlleU,
he is so terrified that he Is almost certain
to fail unless he has a great deal of pluck.
If he has only been sulking. 1t may bring
him to his bearings. OF course, children
are often stubborn, and try the patience
Of the teacher to its utmost limit.
The art of contortion," continued Miss
Vonare, lis learned by degrees. First the
backward bend, hen the 'dislocation,'
then the splits and so IN. What we
call '%closeness' distinguishes the best
bending. To the audience bending seems
most difficult. l experience no discomfort
or inconvenience / was a puny child.
You see me now" The lady bender WINS
certainly most healthy and cheerful, stout
In body and ruddy in complexion, and she
strongly maintains that all women would
be greatly benefited If they took to bend
ing, "lt is quite a mistake to think that
we put our limbs out of joint, or that we
suffer from the curious nature Of our per.
formance. OF course. after one or more
difficult positions one may suffer a little
rain, but 1t goes in no time. In some at
titudes | canNonly remain for twenty sec
onds, as the breathing becomes difficult.
But these are trifiing Inconvenience. l
practice a few minutes every day to keep
myself loose here In my room, and that is
about oil need do."-Pall Mall Gazette.