The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-13

Please tell me what kind of corsets
you wear. and how it is that you can
perform your difficult feats laced in as
you appear to be at the waist?" 1 asked
a premieure danseuse the other day.
MATS oui, madam was the perfectly
civil reply. And then in queer mixture
OF. French and English she proceeded to
enlighten me. 1t seems that dancers of
/ THIS class wear special corsetS, very stiff
| ana weli-boned, made to fit very close
/ over waists and hips. but leaving abund-
nat breathing space above the waist
line a tight corset is hooked around
tnem and then always drawn together
until It fully meets at the back. The hips
anu abdomen are then tightly bandaged
so at the waist and below all Is as COM
pact as 1t can be made. leaving as much
| freedom as possible. however, to the
lungs and organs above.
MademoiSelle affirmed that this very
usntness gave one a singular sense of
sprlnginess and buoyancy, that in itself
induced the desire to Dance and as the
pody Itself plays no part in their tyne of
terpsicorean art it is really only necessary
that their arms and legs should have free
play These women, however. are obliged
to keep their figure within certain pro-
portions. for though a stout and pudgy
ballet dancer is occasionally seen, she is
soon laughed off the stage
SKIRT LANCERs.
approached Loie Fuller with the ques-
ton as to what type of corset she recon-
mended for women like herself who must
keep the figure 1.-THE and pliable. La Loie
expressed herself with freedom and en-
phasis upon this point.
Perhaps a woman might do my work
and wear a corset, but / do not see how.
No, l never wear a corset or waist of
any kind. either on or off the stage
And about your diet?" / asked rather
gingerly,- for / found the fair dancer con-
siderably the reverse of slender. What
do you do in the way of diet and exercise
to keep yourself the favorite of the pub
lie as you are?"
Nothing yet" she replied. Though out
of regard to my figure 1 ought to begin
to do so. But am extremely susceptible
to all sorts of psychic influences. Noices
irritate me. 1 don't know why. Voices
me to the point of quivering, 1 don't
know why. Indeed, my nerves are so
sensitive that they need their rapid waste
repaired by the most nouriShing food. l
for the needless bread, potatoes and
sweets. AS for exercise, what 1 most need
when my work is done is rest. rest"'
INCOMPATIBLE WITH GRACE.
Miss Isabel Jones, the pretty leader of
the dance in the Giesha, says: mo.
couldn't do my work comfortably in a
corset. I wear a simple unboned waist
and so do the other girls so far as know.
In our pretty Japanese robes the figure
Is not too evident anyway and we can
poses and move so much more gracefully
with all the muscles of the body perfectly
free.
.'You can judge for yourself whether it
isn't easier to practice without corsets
when | tell you that our staple exercise
is to stand between two chairs with
hand on one and then kick with the oD-
posite leg so as to clear the other chair.
We can keep ourselves in pretty fine
physical condition just by practicing our
steps: One can hardly practice more than
a half hour at a time without straining
the muscles. The main thing in master
ing the kick is never to direct the leg
toward the 'front.' but always to the side.
None of the new school dancers try
to do their work with waists confined. 1t
would be obviously impossible. All forces.
indeed, seem to be combining to bring
forth to our race the fine, free muscular
well poised waist so marked in Grecian
types of beauty
UNCORSETED LITERATURE.
A sly peep at the literary ladies, too.
would find many of them revealing in
loose "Josephines'' while genius burns"
There is no doubt for instance, of the
presence of Mrs. Burnett's corsets while
den reached than off comes waist, corset
and petticoat and on goes the long
chemise and trailing mother hubbard of
India silk, fluffy trimmed about the neck
and shoulders from which the body of the
gown falls free and unconfined. This is
the costume in which she invariably
works.
IF you have any influence, why do you
not use il in perpetual advocacy of en-
pire gowns?" said a noted literary woman
the other day. That's what j am going
to do as soon as l finish the book l am
at present at work upon. Thanks TO row
ing at Wellesley as long ago as rs and &c
have a band of muscle about the waist
that keeps me well set up without any
artificial support. Put the most inspired
literary man of the day into a corset
and tight waist and ask him to write an
article and what do you think you would
get mol The brain can't be so fed and
nourished as to produce anything vital
when the organs of the body are cramped
and fettered. NJ. ID.