Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-05
THE DANCING BEAUTY
A Sage Disquisition on What Becomes
of the Ballet Girls.
THEY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO DIE.
Vivacious Talk Of One Who Knows the
Lights and Shadows.
GLIMPSES BEHIND STAGE TINSEL

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prevalent among a certain class of old
timers having a maximum OF cheek and a
minimum of hair that the ballet girl never
dies, never ceases to be "girl," and never
quits dancing. They are led to this conclu-
sion from the close observation of years in
the front rows at the physical drama. But
then this is biased judgment. Certain 1t
is that nobody ever saw dead ballet girl.
But who, except those who have been In the
army, where mules were sometimes killed,
ever saw a dead mule? What becomes of
mules? Do they gradually grow old and
wIther away at breath?
1t is true, there is no parallel between q
ballet dancer and mule beyond the fact
that both are we'll known as eccentric
kickers and as tough as joey B. II the in
ducement of assured perennial youth were
not sufficient this fact of never ceasing to
exist in the garish atmosphere of the foot
lights is enough to attract the rising female
generation. 1t is the fate of woman hood in
in the ordinary walks of life to marry and
become old. II they do not marry they are
soon old anyhow, and are neglected, ii
not despised, lot.
SHE'S ALWAYS ADMIRED.
Not so the ballet girl. She may be mar
ried or not-and she frequently is the
mother of family of young kickers-she
may be Is or 30, or anywhere along between
those interesting e1tremes-she always has
her share of admirersA If fairly cookbook
ing she has many of them. Why, men will
COZ foo frr1 ,TnhA or%o
wives, at the shrine OF the ballet girl is
one of those mysterious things to be decided
after this life. But it is a fact that they
the ballet girl herself. Who has not, for
that matter, at some period of his life,
fingered wistfully in the shadow of the
stage door?
The ballet girl may be said to remind us
of mule in another respect-she is born
and not made. No woman grown was ever
nodded over into ballet girl. She may
become famous actress-she may be made
into a lay figure for the spectacular, get
job as chorus girl, or have a thinking
part in a modern farce comedy-become
ballet girl. neverl You might as well talk
of taking brakesman off the railroad and
turning him into a contortionist.
ONE BEAUTY STORY.
my mother was a dancer before me-"
said one charming young ballet girl the
other evening. She referred to the fact
with a sigh. She mad done matinee and
evening turn at Palmer's in the cred
Hussar" and was just polishing off lunch
of broiled chicken and beer. Her appetite
is enough to throw shade of sickly green
over the worn out men-of-the-worid who
can scarcely eat single square meal day.
"I began dancing when 1 was a mere
child. Ny mother was dancing with the
grown-up ballet as I am now. / danced in
children's parts. You might say I was a
born dancer for my mother had been filling
an engagement, which she resumed as soon
as possible.
''Yes, mother is living now. but not
dancing" she laughingly retorted in
answer to the stereotyped joke. $50 that
disposes of at least one branch. of the popu-
lar superstition. She is too stout. One Of
the evils of the many we have to contend
with is the early tendency to stoutness.
When you first saw me I was a slender slip
of II; now look at mei'
She has undeniably broadened and thick
ened during these six years, though the
change improves her personal appearance. :
STOPS AT TwENTY-THREE.
"If keep on growing stouter shall have
to diet myself, and that will break my heart.
I'm now 23-don't give it away. wish to
remain %, see?'
"What becomes of the girls? Oh, some
are with the Kiralfys. Emma's with some
show in the West; Kate is married, so is
Sophy, and"
''No, no; what becomes of them fnally?"
"Why, dear mel how 90 I know? Die,
and go to Heaven? Not if there's dancing
there, hope. 1t is quite enough to be
ballet girl here all your liiel Nearly all of
the girls knew when a child dancer are
still alive and kicking. In fact, don't ac-
tuaIly know if any oil them are dead. They
are about all in the business, too"
"Yes, they have good manv offers of mar
riage. Some marry, but they nearly all get
back to the stage. The girls can't stand the
yoke very well, you see. The quietude of mar
ried lie would soon kill most oil them. We get
aw ul tired of this, but from the experiences
of those who have quit the stage to marry, 1
should say there are worse things. If mar
riage is the thing it's cracked up to be, why
do they all come back? Answer me thatp'
MATRIMONIAL PHILOSOPHY.
Her black eyes fairly snapped. She had
evidently been considering the matrimonial
problem on her own account. The next OBJ
seryatlon of this philosophical maiden made
that certain.
"The trouble is that the kind of a man
would have is the kind who will probably
never ask me to marry him, and the kind
who does ask wouldn't have. That's it
up to date Having been born and bred to
this business. I scarcely know how would
manage to live any other way, But, dear
ME There are two sides to this matter.
Look at the kind of men we meet What
sort of husband is man likely to make
who gets wild over the ballet? Why not
give us credit for some womanhood; with
'ome tastes. good desires, feelings, ambition,
The same as IS accorded other girls who u ust
are spoken of contemptuously as only ballet
girls, are made of better stuff than most
women OF good society. Now, do wish
you would say good word for u.s." plead
ngly. "There is rarely anything printed
about US except slurs, insinuations and con-
;emptuous sneers about our calling. Not
hat it really makes any difference, because
t doesn't. Only it would be refreshing to
.ead something different"
THE SALARY PART OF IT.
'The ballet business with the Red
Hussar' is easy or u.s." went on the ballet
,irl; 81 mean compared with our work with
he Kiral Us. There is no danger of grow
ng over stout with the Kiralfys. When
he brothers were at the outs and fighting
zach other they used to bid for us to keep us
.way from one another. But they made us
work hard, for the ballet was always the
principal feature. Good dancers in any con-
,iderable number are hard to get in this
country, and two big spectacular shows like
he ballet at the Madison Square Garden
md Nero uses up nearly all the material.
That is the reason you see in the front
,o,rlr a N of the "a me pirla