The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-06
A BALLET DANCERS LIFE
TRIALS AND DANGERS OF a FIG
URANTE'S CAREER.


French Dancers.
From the Philadelphia Press.
PARIS, June tS.-Mme Irene Jousse,
tall plump and handsome looking French
woman of five and thirty. gave me tn
other dav some points about dancers ant
dancing at the Paris opera, where she wa
trained from childhood and rose to the ranl
of premiere slVet before her marriage aD1
consequent retirement from the stage. (
people little know how much labor md
misery goes to make up the pirouette q a
dancing girl" she said. Il was hardy Z
wears old when first sent to the class now
conducted by Nine. Dominique A child
should not begin to study dancing aftrshe
is 10. Seven is the best age. The limbs
then are at the right degree of supplenes to
take pupil over the first difficulties and
help her on to the lower 'quadrille.' which
she may not hope to win before she is at
least 10. The form then has gaind the
roundness and the flesh and muSoes the
firmness requisite to the artistic poss which
create such furore.
A DANCERS EDUCATION.
II had to get up before daybrak on the
cold, raw mornings of winter It O'clock
commenced the daily torture. While the
professor tuned his horrid wolf we put on
our class costumes. There wetood, bare
necked, with soiled petticolts of white
muslin and arms like Spindes, while our
mammas gathered around thestove knitting
stockings and chatting.
Every morning my feet we're imprisoned
In a grovebox, heel against heel and knees
turned outwards. BY TIM process my feet
accustomed themselves naturally at last to
fall into a parallel lint This is what is
called Sc tourner. After half an
hour of the groove hac to raise my foot
and place it on bar levl with my head,
which bar l was obliged to hold in hori-
zontal line with the handopposite the foot 1
was exercising. This tiny term Sc cdSSer.
After these prehminarr labors we were
obliged to go througha variety of steps
and movements.
THE teaching islong and painful. The
primary object is to bring; by sheer exer-
else, the joints of the limbs and feet to a
state of extreme agility as well as strength.
Even III the education the two great toes,
so as to make us capabb of standing and
prouetting on them. a East amount of time
and care is expended And not only must
ILLS pONcl 10 Oub IL lIluSD US keDU
up, for which purpose constant exercise is
demanded. Otherwie, the joints become
stiff, and relapse to al ordinary degree of
strength. A week of repose must be re-
deemed by two months of redoubled, inces-
SAINT toll. On this condition only can the
dancer preserve her suppleness and light
ness. To acquire. alter, skill and grace in
the movement of the dance, is a subordinate
object. One of tln most difficult parts of a
dancing girls education is to make her
smile and look gracefully at the public
There is no res for an opera dancer at
any time of her ca'eer. l have seen Mile.
Fonta, who made her debut at the opera in
1856, after four hpurs' lesson. fall exhausted
on the carpet of her room, where she was
undressed, sponget and resuscitated totally
unconscious of hei situation. The marvel
GUS bounds of the evening were obtained
only at price like this. There are some
even who, having by nature greater diff
culties to surmounF, martyrize themselves
with willingness scarcely credible.
Perhaps you arenot aware that the art
of dancing is divided into two branches
en- batlonae and en- iacquete. The bdlIonne
Is the school of Taglioni; it is lightuess
combined with grace-the dance which
seems to delight in and float on the air. The
tdcqnete is vivacityand rapidity; it is the
little sparkling steps and measures on the
point of the feet; in a word, it is what
Fanny Elssler made it,
Such a profession cannot be followed
with IMMUNITY. From the multitude of
simulated dangers, the dancer accustoms
herself to real ones Now she is suspended
20 lines OF wire; now she is seated on paste
board clouds; she disappears through traps,
she ascends through chimneys, she makes
her exit by the window. In the first act of
an old ballet, La PERI there was so
dangerous a leap that Carlotta Grisi risked
her life each time she executed it. The loss
OF moment in shifting the trap door and
the famous dancer would have dashed her
Drains out against the boarding.
HOW DANCING PAYS.
Il began my dancing career at the age Of
7, as one of the pupils, or rats, as they are
called, and went to laboring until | was 10
Al TINS age the primary education Of an
out pupil is generally terminated, the
neophyte being then sufficiently advanced
70 go up for examination.
AT this stage the rats venture on the
quadrllles, but have to pass through another
examination for the new grade. Even
when fairly launched, aspirants have still
70 practice two hours at home daily. In
aaditlon to this come the rehearsals, the
work done before the public, the morning
lessons, etc.
What pay do we get at the Paris Opera
ior such hard work? The tariff varies with
the grade of the dancer. The out pupils, or
rats, are paid at the rate of 40 cents for
each appearance; the demoiseUe de quad
rue, $50 to $40 month the corypheeS, $50
70 500; the st1ets, 800 to S120; the dancers
a. tne first rank, 1920 to $500; and the stars
20 0O to $4,000 year.
Advancement comes very slowly. 1t is
considered great thing to move up as l
Iid from the second to the first quddriJe
lue next step upwards is to the envied po-
siuIoli OF premiere coryphee, possessing the
eEpero emoluments of S72O a year. Finally,
Slver years and years of patient study, the
SaHclhg girl attains the summit of her am
Sitioil and arises into petit Slyet. which
kaVes her an individuality before the foot
|sahts. 1t took me fifteen wears to reach
.nIs eiudy height of glory and pay, the lat
yer being $1,000 per annum.
Y, stars seldom rise from the ranks. The
A4i @sI and Taglionis form class apart
some OF the women who appear today
a. spectacular pieces are 4S and so years of
-, such women are retained solely by
4, ;osoh OF the excellence of their proper
IN. inc scrawnv, or the otherwise OBJ
9.yohaDle Ugurdnte is nearly always some
Nv "o conner not yet developed or broken
i VhoSe who have gone on the stage a
to., nave risen, "a few have married, and the
esy are still ballet girls. Nestor Roqueplan,
rneh he was director Of the opera, once
opp 10 us IN the green-room list OF the
DS S. .t girls Of 1888. We learned that several
&. 1 eueih mad gone into the choruses of the
II otd,. Conlque, that one let furnished
raiIiuss' mat another had married a stock