The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-03
HOW CLEO LOOKS AND ACTS
NGULLRITY AND APPARENT INNO-
CENCE HER CHIEF POINTS.
she Dances BADLY for n Premier. but Not 20
BADLY for n FiEurnnte, which she Always
was Untt she Cnrno Here-Booka Bottor
or tho stage Than On-Not . Success.

she Dances BADLY for n Premier. but Not 30
BADLY for n FiEurante, which she Always
was Unttt she Cnmo Here-Bookn Hottor
OF tho stage Than On-Not q success.
Just what Mile. Cleo do Merodo Of Paris
thinks Of New York is not to DO told from her
imperturbablc face. As her face 10 In material
things antique, she cultivates tho exprcssionless
face of a stone statue. She still picks her way
through the streets to Roster & Bials with a
look Of bland contentmcnt. There Is, indeed,
somc doubt as to Mile. de Microbes ability to
look anything but contentcd. Indeed, 1t would
BIO a surprise to learn that che could feel my
thing but contented. Lucky disponsation that
is for her. II the dancer could feel miserable,
what would have been her sensations last Tues
day when she learned what one part OF New
York thought OF her. She must have known 1t
before that. Tho smoky and gassy air OF n
music hall transmits the feeling Of a hasco as
surely as the wire carries the telegram.
Little Cleo must have known the moment her
gauzo skirts disappeared from view that New
York was amusod-rathcr alphabetically and
pitylngly amused-over what Paris had declared
to DO very beautiful. Indeed, the history Of i'm
ported celebrities presents no case Of collapse
so complete as that of tho lgurante from the
ballet Of the Opera who did her little best for
tho amusement Of a foreign crowd and made
herself very ridiculous while she was about 1t.
ID SiCo bblli elhlICb, hhu ONCI III hChu
there apparently rests no other cloud than tho
smoke which is blown up from the supercilious
auditorium. For q week she was spread in daily
black and white over the yellow sheets. and
their stillness now must puzzle her as much as
the silence which follows her appearances In the
theatre every night. While they were not pho
tographing her. they were interviewing her and
putting into her mouth very proposterous COM
b~inations Of profound wisdom and silly men.
dacity. Cleo has nothing to say.
"She says 1t modestly. girlishly. and charm.
ingly. but it is nothing" So while tho two news
papers kept her before the camera her manager
tore his hair. She had the time once to put on
her little ballet skirt and twirl q bit on the
stage. 1t was astonishing that such q little
woman should have galumphed about with the
weight Of lead in her feet. There was a council
Of war. Cleo was handed over to the yellow
journals for the rest of the week and the debut
was postponed. Time had to be taken to
became evident that months would probably
fail to d vulpc ANYTHING that she really could do
well. She could smile swcetly while reporters
asked her questions. But even a music hall
Finally 1t was decided that she shouli do what
It had taken her slight years to learn IN a Paris
day night, to- the grief Of her managers and the
Embarrassment OF tho spectators. Her feeble
exhibition that night was pathetic, enough to
personal sympathy for her.
1t was not until the fourth tableau of q very
resplcndent London ballet that she made her
appearance. Then. dressed in a stiff white
~tarletan skirt, she came into view from :he left.
of a harp. danced once across the scene. She was
SO utterly different from anything the audience
There was nothing famboyant or decidedly
striking about the young woman that came sud.
Gssts mtH el no more rn than and tWo and sA WENT e. E!f' Her len
figure was girlish. her neck long, her bosom fat,
and her knees badly out Of drawing Judged by
Patience" who sang:
You hold yourself like this;
You hold yourself TX that
Both angular and nat.
Cleo was both of these. Her shoulder blades
servers. The delicacy OF her prettiness. which
her ordinary behind the footlights. The glossy
bandeaur shone in the light. but tho glow in
her hair looked almost. black. Her dress was
unusual. The ordinary ballet corsage ends like
bodice. which seemed to be Of some Knitted ma.
terial, WAS drawn down over her stomach and
o BITE ,se h hhs f Sa. ssou sf in ts ssn middi H0 Of e she 1ne a .o94
In front not at the customary waist line. but far
GUS, awkward, stiff look of her figure. But it
helped the odd. medieval look which the prim
hair gave her. and strengthened the impression
that she WAS a saint from a stained glass win.
dow who had by some process of anticipation
gone to her mar.yrdom in n ballet skirt. The
were a horse instead OF a pretty little girl, would
be described as knee sprung" But nobody
80 %0q bea ,nifh 81 as spS EiIe. c aeo' 'S %ayS be A t G IS as
clear to say that at the knees her legs looked
like an open pocketknife that would close only a
Mile. Cleo was nervous. and she had every
reason to be. For the first time in her, life she
was a solo dancer, a premiere, with nobody else
to assist her. She had never before danced
without at least four other girls accompanying
n The ltnna a. III aha ril ~ n NnnHnv rtThf
were ali prepared and rehearscd for her debut
as an American star; She has spent eight years
has learned All that its instructors can ever
teach her, This comparatively long preparation
the beginners are Falled at the Opera,
age AZ IS or Il. II they have any particular
grace or temperament. they become first dancers
are ar tho loo o eood G to- F FeS sUInsM IN ire e aaa Ghih ' a6S
there Is no place among the principals for them.
II they remain merely fgmrGntfs and develop
draw their little salaries until somebody
else grows up from the school who is either
broughams and country villas on their savings.
vinciaI ihcStres. where they exhibit their wholly
conventional and academic requirements. They
have, learned the technique or their business.
but they have never been able 10 vitalize ii with
the power OF especial grace or tenpcrament. II
ncntly with the .fDurantes.
In the rear ranks has Cleo remained until last
Monday night, when for the first time in her
life she became a premiere. 1t would b. only
just. persons have said, to Judge her dancing
II that Is indeed TO be iudgeh-not from what
the yellow, journals have claimed for her.
but from the. simple pretcnsions which she
makes herself. She is n little third or
fourth rate dancer suddenly pushed forward
as a great attraction with only her notoriety
back OF her. She is put into 4 false position not
by her own preten lions. but through the adver-
tisement and claims OF hor managers. She
should be looked upon, then. not as u great
dancer. but as what she really ls-a very ordi.
nary one in n place she cannot possibly III.
Even then. it e difficult to find any praise for
the hallef for eight years and then dance as
badly rs she does II Is hard to conceive. The
embarrassment Of her unprecedented promi-
nence must have interfered with her efficiency.
But with every circumstance In her favor, Mile.
Cloo's dancing T. very little better than tho
ballots would DO expected to do II she
wanted TO keep her Job. Her poses had
very deficient In assurance. Her beauty
there was one charm about her which nobody
could have failed to see. She was thoroughly
ranna1 Har ia nrinn Nvna not 0nnA hnt IA ,,,