Evening star., 1898-12-31

piece Mr.. Hoyt clings to his favorite
| initial, "A. The first act is already COM
| pleted and work is progressing on the sec
ond. Joseph Coyne has been engaged to
originate the principal comedy role, and
William DeVere and Louise Cunning are
| already seIected for prominent parts. w.
! III. Currte, who will hereafter devote his
| time largely TO executive work for Hoyt *
Mckee, has retired, temporarily at least,
| from "A Day and a Night to give his
/ attention to preparation for the new pro-
/ duction. 1t is understood, furthermore,
that Mr.. Mckee is carefully studying the
| list of availables for important femi-
= nine character. 1t is announced that the
| first performance of "A Dog in the man
| ger will take place at the Park Theater,
! Boston, on March 20, when it will have a
spring run.
| There is no secret in good dancing. Like
singing, acting and all other things in the
| theatrical profession, it is a gift, coming
straight from heaven into the heart of the
| body. There is no teacher who can make
/ a girl dance well, if the instinct is not in
| her Among the many premier danseuse
who have been seen in this country during
| late years, none has ever been more fortu-
! nate in gaining the love and sympathy of
! the average auditor in a more enthusiastic
| manner than that brilliant little dancer
known on the bills as La Petite Adelaide.
| She has been seen here on numerous occa-
| sions. notably in The Lady Slavey," THE
| Passing Show, I'm Gay New York and
| "A Reign of Error 1t goes without say
| ing that little Adelaide confesses to sixteen
years. -Four years of encores OF the wings,
| OF the dressing room. of travelling from
| town to town, have not robbed her of all
! the early childish freshness and beauty
that made her so attractive. Four years
| to her had been as ten in the lives of hap
! pier children. She is now a star dancer of
| experience. graceful, quick and clever. and
She probably commands a larger salary
| than any one else in her line of work. with
| perhaps one exception. Yet she confesses
| that she does not know just how she ar
| rived at her present position. II can re-
| member a child dancing on the side
walks of Troy she said. Il can re-
| member people stopping in the street to
| look at me as | capered about the piano.
| organs and calling me the child sprite'
| remember going to the dancing school, and
it was there that the first suggestion was
made that l should take to the stage.
| forget who ii was, probably one of the
| teachers. There was a good deal of de-
| bate about il at home. Some of the family
| We're awfully religious and talked about
| Satan and the ways of the devil and all
| that, but mother had set her heart on the
thing, and it ended in our coming to New
York Some one had told us about Mrs
Kruger Jacques Kruger's wife), and went
TO her to be taught. Mrs. Kruger had me
Tor nearly TWO years before she died, and
| then L went to Fransioli. When you first
go to the teacher you are made to hold
/ long pole high above your head to the full
Iength OF your arms, and in that position
! stand on the tips of your toes as long as
You can bear the strain. And when you We
gotten over that and can stay on your toes
Tor nVe or ten minutes without feeling that
tney are going to break, You begin to twid-
Ole along the room, first one yard then two
or three, until at last you've got the toe
business with perfect ease and accuracy
It's told in two lines. but it takes nearly
SIX months to learn. The next thing to get
Is the back swng-so' Here little Ade-
laide illustrates bends her body over back
har . N,.,l-.
mead and her face turned little toward
you, in the way characteristic of all the
portraits of dancers through the genera
tfons from the days of Taglioni Yes"
continues the damsel strengthening herself
again, that is pretty hard to get perfect
and can only be accomplished when the
muscles of the neck and back have been
inolded 10 1t: Plrouetting is first and last
the most difficult of all the steps in ballet
dancing. L don't know anything about step
dancing: mine is all ballet work When
you've mastered the prouette you've about
gotten over your main difficulty The weight
OF the body in a pirouette is all on one
lolnt-the Joint of the big toe. When you've
mad to twIrl upon those toes for fifteen or
twenty times-I never tried-you begin to
realize the awful physical or mental strain
L cannot do the pirouette more than five or
SIX times. To do it more than that and not
IAN down is almost impossible. It's an ac-
cident II you get through all right / do
the business well as ANYBODY That's
simply sweeping around the stage on tin
toe IN complete circle. I've got the toe
BUSINESS down to a nicety, but / cannot do
tne plrouette yet to my own satisfaction.
My great strength a dancer lies in my
quickness and grace, at least that's what
all my managers say, and they ought to
know. They tell me L can do more steps
IN closer space, and do them better and
cleaner, than any one in the business
There arc three or four different kinds of
kicks. What does it mean when / make
my left toe whisper into my ear? Why
mats the latest Improvement of the back
KICK Like this, do you mean?' Here lit
tie Adelaide illustrates that peculiar back
ward Jerk of the right leg introduced into
this country by a Gayety dancer, and which
never yet failed of its effect upon an audi
ence There's the high kick, which. when
properly done is the most difficult of all"
she says. There's the hitch, or drop kick
1t Is done by a slight drop of the left leg
ana quick double twirl of the feet into the
air. l generally finish dance in that way
What is the most dangerous step? The
pirouette-it makes you dizzy. Falling
down isn't easy unless the stage is slippery.
Have l ever fallen? Yes, always at Mil
Waukee; never dance there again. Never
at Chicago-Chicago's my mascot To keep
up the level of good dancing one must ex-
eTcise and practice every day. Never a
day passes but / practice the back bend
and do the split. This is necessary to keen
the limbs supple. The bicycle is good for
those who can stand the strain. Above all
things, Ge must avoid drinking or eating
things which promote fat"
All of the success that he has attained on
the stage William H. Crane lays to hard
work and study. The actors father was
born in Connecticut and all that he gave
his son was an ability to work and a de-
termination to stick to it.
And stick to it Mr.. Crane has done all cf
his life, and he is today one of the most in
defatigable men in the profession. There
are few young men seeking footlight re-
wards nowadays who would suffer the in
conveniences and be willing to put up with
those things which Crane had to contend
with as youth. 1t was chance that
placed the young man in the profession.
AS child he had a deep bass voice, and
one of his ambitions was to go upon the
stsge. When Mrs. Holman, who managed
a small company of children which gave
operas. pantomimes and farces, visited Bos-