San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-12-22
The,serpen,ine Dance In PARIS

ThesSerpentine Dance In PARIS.
Paris Letter to San Francisco Argonaut.
bravo, Loie, bravO!" "Hip, hip,
hurrahW Let's have it all over
sgaipv' and other remarks of the
kind uttered In English, mingled
with the applause aud the "Bis! bisW
which burst forth alter the curtain
had fallen on the last scene OF Loie
FulIer's serpentine dance.
A week ago the name OF Miss Ful-
Ter was utterly unknown in Paris,
and now she aud her dance are the
talk of the town. She sprang into
fame at one bound; there was no lin
geriDg on the lower steps of the lad
der; she was up on the pinnacle in no
time. Twenty.four hours after she
had put her foot on the Partisan pave,
ment she was dancing at the Figaro
and q few OF their friends. The next
day she was engaged at the Folies
Bergeres, and on the following morn
ing she awOke famous. This is how
1t is in Paris. If q thing is to be a
hit you know it at once; il it hangs
fire at first, ten to one failure is the
result.
Between you and me, Loie Fuller
came straight from Berlin, but her
champions of the Figaro, well sd-
vised, suppressed the fact. II Venus
and Terpsichore, rolled into one,
hailed from the Prussian capital, her
chance of success here would be
small. So. as. 1 say, they were well
advised who announced that Loie
was q passenger by the Bretagne.
1 am told that Yvette GuiIbert is
simply furious. Hitherto she has
been the star that attracts the good
company (the Casino de Paris Is very
much the same thing as the Folie
Bergeres) to these second class places
of entertain ment, and, although they
can not be actually rivals, this singer
and dancer, in the ordinary sense of
the word, Yvette is anything but
pleased to hear of L0ie's sudden and
immense success.
AS matter of course, Miss Fuller's
appearance comes late in the
evening, after q variety entertain
ment-more or less entertaining-and
it's not until after 10 o'clock that the
house begins really to fill. The pan
tomimi of Robert Macaire excites in-
terest only in the gallery; the aero
bats are received coolly, the learned
dogs pail, the equally learned cats
provoke q yawn, even "Ta. ra.ra- Boom
de ay" fails to elecirity the expectant
house. But when the gas is lowered
and the curtain rises on the dark
ened stage you might hear pin drop;
and as Loi Fuller enters 1000 eyes at
least devour her every motion.
Here she1 in her white robe en-
broidered with serpents brilliant y lit
with electric lights, and she whirls
her skirts about her SO that they
writhe like so many snakes. Then q
pause, and here she is again, tripping
around the stage like a huge moth,
her skirts extended like wings,
changing from one exquisite tint to
another under the blaze of electric
lights. Finally, under the changeful
lights, the flos ting spirals of the robe
transform emselves into flower
forms-the curves rise aud fall every
now and then, showing q glimpse of
of the delicate female form beneath.
Yet how NJ Oldest withal! How dain-
tily the little feet trip over the carpet!
bravo, Loie! Let's have it all over
again !" they shrek from the gallery.
But the dancers eyes glance beseech.
ingly; again the curtain rises only to
show us the little Am erican prone be.
meath q pile of white drapery. Human
nature is exhausted and can do no
more. We clap our hands until they
are sore.