Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-12

The eject 10 thst of a young woman being
blown about IN q blizzard Of snow. There = Q
movement, however, which means more in that
dance Wan every one would think. Il
!: ~ c.snsnsis. psrs q ia. fsct
very =, singerly. but il b 70 NJ
mind the saving clause Of the dance and With
out n would not be acceptable 70 my sudi-
ences The next dancer who catches the town
VII nave put more eloquence into that wrie.
dancing on our stages that win not dfffsr in tAs
least ron those gazed upon by sulsans - they
smoke their opium pipes and sip at sherbetG
We are on the road TO thas, and naster myssif
cs Am in TIE front rank Of the serpsntins host
She brought the thing over from Europe and
developed II Then abe had Q row With the
management at the Casino. and took her dance
to the Madison Square Theater. The Casino
ioiks easily put another woman into . duplica-
tion OF the wondrous skirts and evolutions; %
the town has two .'serpentine dsnces," a they
are called although there is nothing serpentins
about them. The town rounders, Who have
already seen and grown tired Of the plays in
~nicn the two danseuses appear. now make .
habit Of dropping In ct Just the right time 70
witness the dances of these girls.
REAL ooLoRED PEOPLE ON tn. STAGE.
IL general principle that IN imitation
can never be a good ~ an original. There are
exceptions to this rule, however, - every one
knows. For instance there il mock turtle SCUM.
which u more palatable than the genuine; thea
there 10 the wooden Indian in front of the eirsf
store, great Improvement on the real sava1e
and, last OF ALL there 10 the negro minstrel
whose limitations Of negro eecsntricities are far
more amusing than the eccentricities them
selves. Possibly the success of the Irish come
dian in roles calling for German accent should
also be instanced. But Of late years the col
ored man has In some cases gained admission
to minstrel companies, but he has got NO fur
Their. With the exception Of an occasional
brace OF pickaninnies introduced as . novelty,
and coffee or chocolate colored clog dancer
In variety show, black men and women have
been vigorously kept from appearing on the
stage with white actors- Eut on Monday night
seven colored people. three women and
four men, mado their debut at one Of the
Broadway thsaters-as an additional at
traction in so-called farce comedy
as cake walkers. There were three
couples, the men being sttired in faultless
evening dress and two Of tho ladies in neatly
fitting black silk and the third in . white silk
gown The seventh acted a. director, intro
duclng the couples and descanting upon the
peculiar merits OF the performers. Mean.
while, At the back Of the stage, grouped on
each side Of the huge cake, rich with orna-
mental icing, stood the members Of the CON-
pany, quite as much interested in the strange
scene as the audience itself.
To the music Of lively quickstep the con-
test now began. and very creditabls was it to
| all three couples, for they walked with atti.
tudes 20 erect and graceful and the motions OF
their limbs had 90 much Of the easy dignity OF
trained society men and women that tho per-
formance was greeted with loud applause. The
ta!lest OF the three men was . strikingly grace
full walker. and his slender, 1.-the and erect fig
ure, IN connection with his towering white col.
lar and expansive cuffs, reminded one very
forcibly OF the late Duke Of Clarence. One OF
the leading actors of the company acted %
Judge and the winning couple bore OF tho huge
cake amid bosterous applause, in which the
actors joined very heartily. This is, no doubt,
the beginning of a new order of things, for it ID
quite safe to predict that in the future colored
actors and actresses will take part in these
farce comedies, furnishing as they did in this
instance. some feature which will be inter-
larded In the regular performance. The black
man has native grace and dignity that will,
when properly educated, render him really
valuable acquisition.