The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1894-03-07
The Pretty Skirt Dancer is Com
PEELED to Continually Go the
Pace That Kills.
Every Muscle and Tendon ls Train
ed and Kept to the Highest
Pitch of Perfection.
CAN'T LAST LONG.

who does the rainbow act, the "split"
or the latest French solo in the terpsicho-
rean line is a complex piece Of machin-
cry, which requires a great deal OF care.
She has to be oiled up and rubbed down,
plastered over and heated to the proper
temperature and then cooled off again
until the human principles on which she
was originally constructed are entirely
lost sight Of.
Even the vigorous constitutionals and
scientific training of the champion pu-
| gilists fail to convey any idea Of the
physical education that the average
skirt dancer gets. First Of all, she has to
acquire an almost abnormal development
Of the muscular organization in order to
do the laborous dancing that constitutes
her share in entertaining and edifying
the public.
The skirt dancer has most OF the ills to
which flesh is heir to combat with. Per-
haps the most common of her ftful aches
and ailments is general arrangement
of the breathing apparatus ANY COM
fortably situated person who views her
spasmonic action from the audience can
realize why the writhing, gasping,
convulsive celebrity should be the most
short-winded creature on earth. 1t
seems marvel that some of the cords
don't snap and the whole tension sud
denly give way and let her down into an
inartistic heap in the middle Of the
stage.
But to get a comprehensive view Of
her collapse-when she does collapse
it is necessary TO take peep behind the
curtain, AT the ecstatic moment, when
the audience sees the last bow, the fare
we'll wave of the hand or retiring
CONFUSION of the hip-joint-at that
same moment the overexerted, breath
less and painting artist falls exhausted
into the arms of faithful attendant,
who bears her gently away to bottle of
brandy and one of horse IMMINENT, flaw
ored with turpentine.
Somebody's embrocation is then vigor-
ously applied and restoratives are used
in startling manner. Everything
known to sciegce in the reviving and
invigorating line is administered to the
sufferer, and her recovery is awaited
with a painful expression by all con-
cerned.
When dancer can afford the luxury
of more than one attendant, one is as
signed to 60 over the weary area Of arms
and legs with horse liniment, while the
others enjoy the exciting occupations Of
readjusting her wig, tanning her in front,
behind and on all Sides and then depos-
iting her remains on some piece Of stage
scenery until the audience has finished
applauding. These are the simple and
essentially feminine parts Of the artists
training, which are common not only to
dancers but to the whole race OF
tragediennes.
1t is when the stage dancer reaches
the seclusion OF her boarding house or
hotel apartments, however, that the
really interesting part Of her performance
begins. Eating and drinking are pro-
hibited by her code of digestive ethics,
both before and between dances, for
obvious reasons.
When the embargo is raised and the
curtain goes down the hungry celebrity
repairs to the nearest hotel or table
d'hote restaurant, and there follows the
proclivities that nature has endowed her
with. II all this occurs after a matinee
performance, the dancer next takes a
nap, the duration OF which is in inverse
ratio to the amount of ice cream and
watermelon she has eaten.
When she wakes up again with her
head cleared and her wasting tissues re-
paired, there are interesting baths,
messages and applications OF electricity.
In the electrical treatment the tender or
defective parts OF the dancers anatomy
are usually electrocuted first. Sup
posing she inherits any lung trouble, her
liver is awry or her spinal organization
improperly strung, a tingling current is
turned on and some heroic voltage is
locally and scientifically applied. Then
comes a general onslaught of electricity
over the whole body. An electric bath
in live water is quite the proper thing,
il the dancer can afford it.
There is noticeable something about
the overstimulation to which the skirt
dancer is subjected that makes this
grade Of terpsichorean temperament
an interesting psychological study. The
jealous and enterprising high kicker
invariably has a nervous constitution
that Is strung many degrees higher than
that OF the well-behaved and orderly
young woman. She is irritable, hys-
terical, spasmodic, fretful and has an
overweight sensibility and tempest
uousness OF emotional capability that
make her vicinity q dangerous one TO
all but the initiated.-New York Re
corder.
| The greatest of linimentsl Mira H. M