The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1897-12-17
BALLET REHEARSAL.
Comic Effect of Nondescript Costume
Worn by Dancers.

Worn by Dancers.
To me the interesting thing, however,
was not the piece-I am not a judge Of
ballets-but the ballet world, as it were,
seen on the other side. | confess that
the profession of ballet dancing has al
ways held an Irresistible interest for me.
l have always felt an ardent longing to
make the acquaintance of a premiere
danseuse: to ask her about her life; to
find out whether she danced because she
had a vocation for it, as other people
write or paint or play because they can
| not help it; whether she loved it; whether
she took herself seriously, as other artists
| when she was at home; and if the tips
of her toes looked like other people S
when bare.
This innocent curiosity have now been
able to satisfy. | have also learned that
ballet dancers. when they rehearse, wear
Il nondescript costume that is most anus
ing. consisting Of white trousers gathered
at the knee, over which are their fluffy
tarlatan skirts, and on top the ordinary
waists Of their dresses. The effect is
| something like that of those Nuremberg
paper dolls in three parts, over which we
| used to scream so with laughter as chill
dren in putting incongruous heads and
skirts on the same body. \ serious-look-
ing plaid blouse finished ip what might
have been powderpuff of tarlatan. A
tailor-made jacket of light cloth, worn
| with blue stock. looked oddly enough
above the fluffy white petticoats Half
the girls wore cheap little shirtwaists,
| as plain as those of an American school
girl. They all looked young and simple,
ing thoroughly good time Those who
were not on the stage sat seriously in
| the boxes and knitted or crocheted
The premiere danseuse ha;; Z cold, and
wore her ordinary street dress. She was
a slim Italian girl of II, with great Ital-
ian eyes and soft brown hair, who partly
supports her mother ON her somewhat
| questioned as Il perfectly honest and vir-
| tuous life. One reads the details of it in
her simple black dress, evidently made at
! home without the slightest thought of
coquetry and a last years green velvet
hat, trimmed with cocks feathers that
| time had caused to droop somewhat
mournfuly. She smiled and dimpIed as
a little later, as the band of coryphees re-
hearsed over and over again the intricacies
of the 'chain Dance and all the other
dances. i'll response to sign from the all
thor she and Don Juan, in the person of
Il slender French girl with short curly
blonde hair came and joined us in our
loge.
| The "star" told us that she loved to
dance better than to do anything else in
the world. She was born loving it; but
unlike little Morleena kenwigs or any IF
those infant phenomena of whom we read
who execute the most astonishing pas
| when their feet have scarcely learned to
walk alone, she only began her artistic
training. at the age of II. At Is she
made her debut as premiere in a
| grand ballet in Florence. She was not at
all afraid. The more people there were,
and the more she had to do, the happier
she was in dancing. They said she was
successful because she always smiled. She
smiled because she loved it.-Katharine
De Forest in Harpers Bazaar