Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-03-22
THE BALLET GIRL.
WHAT BosToN's ORNAMENTAL EDu.
CATION DOES FOR THE STAGE.

WHAT BosToN's ORNAMENTAL EDu-
CATION DOES FOR THE STAGE.
How Ladies' of the Ballet are Recruited
from tho Shops-Demoralizing Elects
OF Life Before the Footlights-Just
for tho Fun.
Boston is the greatest market in this coun-
try for a certain sort Of stage supplies. All
tbs managers come here to obtain recruits
for their companies The stock of raw mate
rial for such purposes hereabout is practically
unlimited and of very unusual quality
fact which is due chiefly to the prevalence in
all classes Of the community Of ornamental
education. The modern Athens like its pro
totype of DID, has many schools which are
devoted wholly to the instruction OF students
Of both sexes in musical and dramatic art.
To these academies and conservatories flock
pupils from all over the United States, who
seek the kind of training best calculated to
fit them for theatrical employment. Many
of them are glad TO get some incidental ex-
psrience Of practical nature by taking part
as supernumeraries now and then on the
local boards. The most available are picked
up by travelling shows, and in this manner
mako their first entrance into the professional
ranks.
Outside Of the schools, too are found num-
bers Of young men and women with fair
voices and some knowledge of music, who
are mora or less serviceable in ehoruses.
Most Of these singers are honest bread win
ners, who are glad to add tribe to their
earnings by warbling on occasions when they
are needed to fill out the ensemble Of some
exceptionally elaborate stage production
Vastly outnumberiug them are the girls who
toll in the shops by day, and at night appear
whenever they can procure q chance-as
Amazons, fairies and the like, at the thea
tres.
LADIES OF THE BALLET.
Women who do this sort Of work are tech
nically known as 'lsdies Of the ballet"
They do not dance; neither do they sing.
Their duty is simply to walk about the stage
as they are told and look pretty. Such labor
is quito within the capacity OF the average
ribbon counter darn.el, who, upon thus tax
ing up the occupation % an amateur, be-
comes what is known as an extra girl"
Whenever play or spectacle requiring num-
bers arrives in town she presents herself
without delay at the ofacs Of the stage man
ager. That Indispensable functionary looks
her over, and, il she is fairly plump and well
favored, very likely accepts her services.
For her time during rehe.rsals she gets moth
ing. Her pay begins the opening night Of
the piece and continues SO long as it runs at
the rate Of IS or IS a week. Compared with
shop wages this Is ample remuneration;
added to the results of her daily toll it is pos
tive wealth.
Most Of the extra" young women In Ros-
ton are employed in the dry goods and other
shops. Some are waiter girls in the restau-
rants. A few serve in the day time as artists
models. These last are considered very de-
sirable by tho managers. As a rule, they
have good figures and are comely to look
upon. Accustomed as they are TO posing,
nude or otherwise, before the life classes at
the art schools, they entertain no prudisb
scruples about appearing IN tights. The
legitimate career Of female model hero is a
brief one After she has att;tudinised few
times in each Of the studios she is regarded as
too "ssalen for further usefulness and, finding
herself deprived Of this means Of support. she
Is only too glad to secure an occasional dra-
matte engagement, eking out q livelihood by
sitting in photographers steliers for seduc-
tive cigarette and other advertising pictures
This business, by the way, is carried on upon
an enormous scale by local manufacturers Of
sun pictures who send millions of such photo
graphs all over the country every year.
THE STAGE TRANSFORMATION
By little judicious coaxing the modest
beginner is induced to put on the appropriate
toys The embarrassment Of it soon wears
of, and after two or three performances she
begins to thoroughly enjoy the ogling of the
m.shers and bald headed men in the front
rows. No woman can resist the fascination
of being admired. 1t is the only pleasure Of
which she can never have a surfeit.
But "Cindereli., thus transformed, is
very apt to be Of no use any more for Or
binary purposes. She is demorali7ed by the
glitter and excitsn1ent Of the stage. The
work Is easy and the pay-while it lasts-is
more than she can earn by the hardest toll in
the shop. The drudgery by which she has
hitherto been accustomed to live is now
odious to her. She neglects the ''store" to
hang about the theatre, and pretty soon she
is discharged by the firm. So long, however,
as her engagement lasts, she can afford to do
nothing but play. Idleness brings more
temptations, and the chances are that she
will not escape them all. She becomes in
fatuated with the life. Her name is put
down upon the stage managers books as one
of the extra" girls who, as semi-profession-
ais, are always ready to be called on for
service 1t is not likely that she will ever
rise any higher. With plenty Of cheap finery
and few admirers, she Is content to initiate
the vernal butterfly, living on from day to
day without thought Of the future Eventu-
ally she grows passee and drops out Of sight.
Such, at any rate, is the fate Of many
young woman whom the glare Of the foot
lights has once attracted
Theirs Is quite number Of semi-professional
extra girls in Boston. Each theatre has
list Of fifty or so, with q complete physical
description attached to every name. When
they are wanted they are sent for. The
work is, Of course, exceedingly precarious.
Sometimes months will elapse with nothing
to do. Then big show comes along and
calls out not only all the regulars but also a
great many of the irrsgulars from the shops,
who are very willing to "act" for pocket
money and the fun Of tho thing. Scarce any
combination fetches many super
hither. They are easily obtained
here at short notice, In any quantity that
may Be desired. 1t goes without saying that
visiting spectacles and operas must always
bring full dancing ballots with them At
pinch, however, perhaps a dozen available
coryphees may be picked up at any time in
this city.-Rene Bache in New Orleans Plea