The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-08-25
ROUND ABOUT GOTHAM.
Attest FADS AND FOLK IN THE
GREAT METROPOLIS.

special Correspondence Of the TimcsJ
NEW YORK. August PA broad
opera.boufFe smile is Pickering over
the faces Of the dramatic manaSe r. al,
over the country. IL has Illuminated
their genial features for several dal p
nast ana # IS yet i'm Us infancy. Tor IL
nronises presently 10 break INTO healty
and unroarious gulIaw. This mldsun'
mer hilarity has been eXclled ny 'no
/ intelligence recently wired from M
90 that an English capitalist synalC''o
has opened negotiations win Ne7s'S'
Henderson & McNicker. OF tne opei"
House with a view of robbing I'M,
American public OF its choicest morsei
Of amusement, by the formation oil u
ballet trust.
So revolutionary and iconociasiic q
programme has naturally excited tne
| 1veiest feelings in the bosom not only
Of the headed brigade. VINO eve +
since the DAVIS of Nesfris and lagliohl
have worshlpped the billet. out oil inc
Younger generation amusement oFet'
"a well. English syndicale'. ID lhls age
of trusts. have already succeeded in
controlling our sugar ana salt. BE nave
even seen them tamTer with our lager
without "a murmur. but all American
humauiiy- rises In anguished reYol. al
the bare suggestion %. corner I'D those
dear old. Anticipated. perennial pant
ed.aud-w igged darlugs-the goGdesses
Of the ballet.
OF late years the Casino stage has
been the parade ground in th7 city OF
the ANGELS i'm abbreviated skifts ana
gauze wings. Manager Charles A. Bar
ton probably handled more cofyphres
than any other man i'm the United Slaics.
and lac has the most delicate regard for
everything that can prouette on toes.
lie smiled when asked about the inn
pending snOistion OF the ballet by me
British horde. Tie sid.
There is no American ballet. and
consequently | don see how there can
be trust. The truth IL. our American
dancers are mere iigurantes and they
rank below the chorus. Now. abroad
il is wholly different. The ballet has
| become "a cult ami its eNp)u' nts have
real talent. They command five times
the salary of an American ballet-glrl
indeed. if our best dancers were 90 go
10 Europe. they would have no STOW
beside the trained foreign ballet.
what is the reason We cannot nave
an American ballet - was asked.
I'VE can in time. doubtless. was
the reply. But the ballet. or the art
that makes the true ballet. rs inherited
and handed down from generation 90
generation. Young eifis as soon as
they can walk are put iu training. and
before they are grown their limbs are
supple. LISA lifetime profession over
there, and an art besides. Vow YOU see
how it is that We cannot have ballet
to colpete with that which You fluid
broad. It would be unreasonable to
xpect 1t.
What about all the efforts that have
been made TO create % dlstlncuvrly
American ballet; ~
"All aboruye, for the same reason.
Ballet. like opera, is national tmt
and acduirement You cannot force DO
in people who have not been trained
t0it. Now an the real ballet "a eut we
have ever seen here since Ell-ler S time
has been imported NaplesOn bad o.
bring his ballet with him. of course be
could hll in with unlmp0raut figures
on this side The same applies To other
impresariOi who use the ballet i'm their
performances. Mons. BiOeyun WE'LL
he is certainly a ballet master of fine
requirements. but even he with AN the
advantages his method possesses canG0t
turn out single American dancer vino
4 D. e.
foreign school.
How many ballet girls are In this
country p
"Probably thousand. They have no
union nor anything like an Orgauizl-
ton. A trust is impossible for the roa-
son that ia the present condition of the
atrical management there i5 too much
rivalry. and each manager has to stand
alone and do the best he can. Their 40
fractions are all different. and tiey
have NJ thing IN common except the de-
sire 10 make money. what in the name
of goodness would syndicate want
with a lot Of girls who cannot daucas
Yet American girls are admitted Co.
be the bestand most graceful. walizers ia
the world.
Those are the exceptions. repelt,
we are not dancing nation. H. Will
take years OF training and culture 90
accomplish any results that viii place
our dancers in the same category as
those who have the ballet ash tradi-
ton. long cherished arr.
There is q ballet trust needed. how
ever. added Mr.. Blrl0n laughing. "It
is a trust 10 take the tendertst care of
the poor fOriOrn. supeIannualed Ameri-
can ballet-girl ror there is hardly "a
dancer on the American stage % day
who is not practically superaunuated.
Klralfy's ballet ought 90 be- ron-ioned
on for sheer old age. ] would get ihe
sympathetic capitalist, enlisted in this
generous scheme, aud then see what
the next generation viii DO toward
supply ing us with something ike true
American ballet
You are little severe on the poor
hguranfe. are you not. Mr. Barton =
why, no don Z think I've exag-
gerated a bit. On, assure y0u. m I'D
earnest about that kind of trust. I'll
join IL IL somebody organizes it.
The proposition 10 form "a Ballet
Trust. said Manager b. -. Stevens. If
Palmer s Theatre, where the McCauii
Opera Company is disporting in 'clC-
yer, us a novelty and seems tune
absurd. in view OF the fact that there is
no American ballet talent TO speak OF.
This country has never produced sim
gle noted dancer since the DAYS OF
Columbus. We have had the best
talent of Europe here, though. and
American audiences have gone wild
over the delightful gyrations Of Elsler.
Sohlbe and Bonfanti. The trouble with
native ballet is that none OF those who
enter the profession do 50 young
enough. Girls of twenty and over.
and even mature women. get the idea
that they can dance into fame. but the
training IN childhood, which is the
rule iu Europe is painfully absent here.
and the result is a ballet that is very
poor make shift for the real article.
No: there cannot be trust on this
side OF the Atlantic. IL would be dead
failure as a speculation, no matter how
much capital and energy were behind
it. Such sDectacles as An Baba' and
The Black Crook have always 10 de-
pend upon imported talent to carry
them to success. Our girls. while they