St. Paul daily globe., 1892-05-29

goes, and the flexible, undulating skirt
dance, all are fascinating and delight
full even without the support Of the
manly arm.
To show the extent of the craze one
of the leading ballet teachers was lately
requested by two well-known women to
teach them the Ta-ra-ra .Bcom-de-ay
dance, which is the latest sensation IN
London, where the piquante Mile. Vlo-
lette huns the famous song in soft and
smoothly flowing language, and throws
her whole soul into the dance, not 10
mention considerable quantity OF
gauze and frillS and the shapelieSt OF
ankles as well. Some of the abandon
and verve of the measure may be lmag-
ined from the illustration, though the
rapid motions aud tleeting gllmpSeS OF
misty lace-veiled knee curves are more
enchanting than the continuous pose OF
the picture can reproduce.
Ballet masters of the old school pro-
nounce the skirt dance, even as executed
by Carmencita with all her Spanish
grace and fire, or by Loie Fuller with
her voluminouS draperies floating about
her, inartistic and vulgar, requiring no
genius and little skill, and employing
only rudimentary forms of the real
art of dancing. The dance is. i'll
many cases, mere high kicking
disguised ard made decorOuS in
ruffles. The dancer kicks and rushes
in few steps before the next kick.
And no one notices the steps much,
they are so afraid they will miss the
rest of the exhibition. A whole ballet
in tights and tarletan, or a procession
of cOrypheeS in tights without the
tarletan, have less fascination for the
observer than the curve of single
knee flashing Oat from the vOluminouS
folds of the skirt dancers petticOats.
Many of the skirt dancers never had
any real ballet drill, and many society
girls learn to do a very pretty skirt
dance without taking true ballet step.
Dancing is much like music. There are
seven notes in the scale, and from these
one composer creates an opera like
the "GOtterdammerung," and an
other writes the "Ta- ra = ra ]"
Jingle So in dancing there are certain
positions and movements from the
different combinations of which the
great variety of national and fancy
dances are arranged. The dancer who
has been well trained in these first
principles can, by watching dance.
copy it, because she can analyZe it, and
with her mirror on the floor she can
arrange new figures and plrouettes
There are no definite rules for the
skirt dance: it is individual and original
with those who practice it. A term Of
ten or twelve lessons usually sufbceS to
teach the amateur a pretty skirt dance,
as you teach 9 Child song by ear. but
not by note, and few amateurs go into
the more rigorous training of the regular
ballet movement The requisites for
success are natural grace, suppleness,
SlenderneSs, lightneSS of step and pOiSe,
and strength and fleXibility of motion.
The home practice consists of contOr-
tioIs. bending and turning the body,
devitaliZing and swaying the arms, and
high kicking, which is not bad exercise
when not in training for grace in dane
ing. One enthusiastic student has a
photograph of particularly blase and
indOlent dancing man pinned as high as
her head on her closet door, and seems
to take especial delight in touching the
pictured face with her slipper in men,
ory of past offenses.
Of course children learn all dances
much easier than grown people, be-
cause they lack self-consciousneSs and
are perfect imitatOrs. The girls learn
more quickly than the boys usually.
anu lHdHIpuldLO IISH HtIIO HohAiS
skirts with the prettiest of airs and
grace.
Grown people have shy. constrained
muscles and aggressive joints that rise
in rebellion against the frivOlity of
tripping the light fantastic toe after one
is twenty, and for the subOrdinatiOn
and enlightenment of those awkward
members dancing is most excellent
exercise, even though indulged in only
in the bosom of ones family or the Sc
clusiOn of ones chamber.
consists of a skirt twelve or fifteen
yards In circumference of thin, light
material, and a double petticOat, or,
rather, two petticoats gathered to the
same yoke, each of fine, thin lawn,
ruffied OH the edges with dainty open