The morning times., 1896-02-02
clas$es For
Poise and Pose

IL Is frou u-frou boudoir-a drcsn.
in white and gold, with low, luxurious
divans, chairs IN which one can almost
barry ones self. mirrors reaching from
floor 10 ceiling. and va rious odd decora-
tive concciis, that The W. lking class meets.
The professor, who. by The way, is a
woman, Iirss discovers what her pupils
particular crime against grace may be.
| orders off their corsrts, aud makes them
all don loose dresses.
Mrs. John jacob Asior is considered the
prize pupil or the pose aud poise class.
She carries herself superbly. but there is
the suggestion OF a swinging motion TO
her gait, which the professor Is striving
10 overcome.
Mrs. Ast"r has unique way OF stand
ing, which first came In evidence last
autumn at The horse show. Invariably
when she s,nps to speak with a friend
she resls her hard upon her hip; it isn't
altogether a graceful pose, in fact it could
only be forgiven in an As,or, but not only
is the pose coudoned. it Is copied, and has
became quite the smart thing.
Miss Gcrtrude Vanderbilt is another
member of the class which is learning
grace of movement. She is a charming
daucer, and II she practices her walking
lcssnns faithfully VIII IN time become
prize pedestrian.
First, the neophyte is taught TO stand
correctly, as tue whole secret of grace is
poise. Once this is acquired, a woman can
not be awkward. One must stand SO that
the weight falls upon the ball of the foot
and the loins; The heels must remain free.
The next step is to make the pupil stand
nerfectly Still on a straight line, so that the
inside OF the bah of the foot touches
mark made on the floor. Then these
.rpity maids ard matrons, all ''toring the
mark" sway their bodies back ard forth
without moving he feet or losing balance
This Is a much more difficult feat than
one might imagine. the human body hay
ing been SO long accustomed to topping
through life that the power OF balancing
is utterly lost.
The pointing exercise follows: This
strengthens the instep and develops the
nip action. The maiden is taught to draw
circles with the points of her toes and TO
kick to develop the muscular power.
Training the muscles OF the back and
waist comes next on the program. Neither
is this an easy movement. for having de
pended wholly upon the corset. an un-
trained waist has little strength of its own.
1t coilapses the moment you try to put
any strain on It,
The first movement is much like a fencing
exercise. One stands with one foot ad-
vanced in an attitude OF attack.
The backward sway. WHEN first intro
duced. is greeted with numerous obs and
abs aud II really cannot do that"
Il is quite simplr. however. like many
other things when you once know how.
As all these damsels nod and sway and
bow it makes one quite dizzy to gaze
upon them. But the exercise is the best
in the world for giving n supple waist and
making the shoulders graceful and movable
II also helps the throat and head.
The last exercise in acquiring poise-we
have not yet come III the walking lessons
proper-is most difficult to learn. When
woman achieves it and is able 10 sto"p
suddenly and sweep the floor with one
hand. while the other Is waved triumphant
ly aloft. she need have no further fears nf
being stiff-waisted ur wouden-shouldered.
The first position: One foot behind the
other and all the weight on the front and
right foot then the other foot is raised
so that the toe alone touches the ground.
This is not done with the muscles of the
foot, but with those of the thigh.