Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-07-28
AMONG HIGH KICKERS.
PECULIAR METHODS OF TEACHING
FANCY STAGE DANCING.
School Girls in Nadjy Toga-How the
Muscles and Joints are
Limbered Up.

nous among the theatrical profession as an
instructress in stage dancing, and endless
| numbers of bright and clever condolences
who delight audiences by their graceful
| terpsichorean feats to-day owe the perfect
| ness of their art to this clever little wo-
man, whom, for convenience, we will call
| by her stage name, Nine. Alvini. She
was once a danseuse herself, and all the
theater-goers will remember the cleverness
of the woman. A feminine reporter of
one of the enterprising dailies gives the
| following account Of the exercisessat Nine.
| Alvinfs school:
| accepted an invitation from the
madame the other day to witness a class of
her pupils at work, and it struck me that
a description of my visit and the sights l
witnessed would make an interesting
morsel of literary food for the delectation
of the general public. l arrived at the
| house half an hour before the time set
for the two-hours' session to open, and sat
in the modestly furnished little parlor
chatting with the madame, who now and
then excused herself to answer ring at
the door bell and to admit one of her
pupils. Finally, after the last one had been
admitted, | accompanied the instructress
to large room on the third story, fitted
up for a classroom.
The room was devoid of furniture, but
for the presence of piano, one chair and
a wooden structure about three feet high,
resembling IN appearance mason's horse.
| Two rugs hung on ropes suspended from
| the ceiling, and about the walls were va
rious arrangements and apparatus usually
| found in gymnasiums. The floor was made
of parquet flooring, and ordinary tread
upon it resounded like the vibrations of
drum head. ! could hear the chattering
of female voices in an adjoining room and
the little woman explained that her class
was preparing for their work by donning
loose and cumberless uniform. | seated
myself in the one solitary chair by the
front window, and the madame left me
alone for moment while she, too, pre-
pared for the ordeal
Presently she returned clad in black
Nadjy tights, short accordion-plaited
skirt, black bodice cut exceedingly decol-
lete, high-heeled shoes and a bewitching
smile. Her appearance recalled the days
when an audience would have gone in
|
such a rig. l remarked the quick change,
! but she relieved my astonishment by say
ing that she chad them on all the time"
| Going to the door, she called the class, and
from the inner room there appeared twelve
beautiful girls, ranging in age from II to
%. Their symmetrical forms were incased
in costumes after the fashion of the
madame. They did not seem to notice me
any more than if / had not been in the
room, but | took them in from head to foot,
and although a woman myself, | could not
but admire the twelve pairs of well-flled
hose presented to my view. The shapely,
well-molded limbs in variegated hose, pro-
| truding from beneath as many differently
colored skirts, fitted before me like a con-
tinual kaleidoscope. Their merry laughter
aud smiling faces, their happy disposition
and the hearty manner in which they en-
tered into their work delighted me beyond
expression, and | was on the verge of ask
ing for suit of the toga in order to par
| ticipate in their seeming abandon, when
the madame called, Attention" A wrin-
| kled old dame appeared, and seating her
! self at the piano struck up lively air.
Four of the girls who formed the most ad-
vanced class took the floor and faced the
instructress. At certain point in the
music they all began 10 dance, the four
pupils keeping their eyes fastened intently
on the madame, whose pretty limbs and
tiny feet tripped the light fantastic in SIM
pie and graceful gyrations
1t was not the clumsy dance of bevy
of ill-trained chorus girls, but the fancy
dance that has its exponents in Lefty
Lind and Sylvia Gray, Minnie Palmer
and hosts of Others For fully FIVE min
utes this quartet of feminine beauty fol-
lowed their instructress in most graceful
series of pirouettes, glides, unique toe and
limb movements, and concluded with COM
mendable efforts to kick holes in the high
ceiling. | was charmed, and could not
resist applauding, which seemed to please
the girls and the madame as WELL While
the madame was resting the remaining
eight girls, who had been looking on, be-
gan series of exercises on the gymnasium
| paraphernalia. One little maid Jumped
up and caught the rings, and after skim
ming the cat" as the schedule calls it,
several times, backward and forward, put
one foot through one of the rings, and
holding on to the other rope with her
hands, made frantic efforts to touch the
floor with the other foot. This the mad
anne explained to me was one of the meth
DDS of practice for high kicking Another
method was being exemplifed by two
girls who were at work on the "horse."
They stood at each end OF the animal. with
the left foot on the floor, while with but
apparently little effort they threw their
right leg IN the air so that the foot passed
over the structure and landed beside the
other one. The left limb was then ele-
waited and swung in the same way.
The most effective method to relax the
muscles for this line of dancing was being
practiced by youthful little aspirant in a
remote corner of the room. She had one
foot fastened in loop of rope, the end
OF which was passed over pulley block in
the ceiling. The other foot was fiat on
the floor, with the toe slipped under a
small strap firmly secured there. The
other end of the rope was in her hands
and the little miss was tugglng away, and
at each pull the little foot in the loop
gradually raised until the two legs formed
an angie of nearly ninety degrees. She
had been at this practice for several weeks
and intended to pursue it until she could
without the aid of 'streteher," kick over
slx-foot elevation. l spoke to the ma
Dame about the danger of such violent
methods, but she assured me that such
feats are acquired by gradual practice
and IN this way the muscles become more
phable and are capable of greater stretches
Another aspirant rested on her armpits
between two horizontal poles, and was
kicking away at furious rate, limbering
up her knee joints and swaying her body
to and fro to acquire a graceful movement
OF the hip joints. Occasionally she would
swing her legs back far enough so that her
toes would catch on the bars and then
bend her body down in the shape of let
ter "U."
After few minutes of this practice the
second class was called up and another
form of dancing INDUCED in. A short re-
cess was taken, and then each of the girls
in turn stepped to the middle of the floor
and was taught step after step of fancy
song and dance. This is the hardest strain
upon the instructor, for every minute or
two she stops the pupil and dances the
step herself, and the pupil initiates her till
she gets it perfect.
The session was finally concluded, and
the girls returned to their rooms again to
don their street attire. | remained with
the madame a few moments, and finally
y