The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-05
LONGEVITY OF BALLET DANCERS.
some of the Most Famous Have Lived to
he s~eptuagenarians and Octogenarians.

From the New York Sun.
The longevity Of the ballet dancers
evidently has a more substantial
dation than the jokes of the humorists
who have found so much to amuse them
i'm the persistency with which the pre-
mieres cling to their profession. A
European statistician has been devot-
ing himself to a study of the eminent
in hat art, and his Investigations seem
to establish the fact that they are an
unusually long-lived lot. The famous
Carlotta Grisi is living now at the &
of a, and one Of the ballet dancers at
the Opera in Paris Is 20. But he is a
man. Amalia Ferraris is still teach
inng at the age of 70 in Paris, and
seems likely to continue that work for
some time to come. Fannie Elssler was
"A when she died, and Taglioni had
passed her soth year. Rosita Mauri,
the popular premiere at the Opera In
Paris. is over 90. and has begun to talk
of retiring.
Some of the more famous dancer of
earlier times, commencing with the first
of the profession. succeeded in reaching
the following ripe ages
Pecourt. IS; La Camargo. so: No
verre. SO; Vestrls. the elder, 70; La
Guimard, SO: Gardel, So; Nestris, the
Junior, 50: MaziIier, II: Blasts. 20; Per
rot, SO. LIE Cerito. one of the greatest
favorites of the day in Paris. and much
ADMIRED once III InlS country, Is lNlnR
In retirement in Paris at the age of IS.
The oldest in this list was Noverre.
who stood among the greatest in the
art during the middle of the eighteenth
century.
Compared with these veterans our
own Bonfanti, who Is teaching now in
this city, seems in the first flush of her
powers. The only ballet dancers who
come to this country in these days are
not likely ITO be long remembered.
There are very few of them, and those
we see are not eminent. Nor are they
much appreciated. The practical dis
appearance OF the old-fashioned spec
tacular plays has resulted in the pass
ing OF the premiere. After these pieces
ceased to have their interest for New
Workers. they remained popular ION
the road" and there were always sew
eral of these companies travelling
about and presenting one or two we'll
trained European dancers. But they
have also come to an end, and with
them the tarletan spirited pirouetters
dropped finally out of sight.
The ballet at the opera house has al
ways been a makeshift. and since NAL
vina Cavalazzi danced here few, II any,
OF the premieres nave been artists of
reputation. She returned TO London,
continued to appear as a pantomimist
after sickness prevented her from
dancing. and is to-day a teacher of
dancing in London. Several of her
pupils came TO New York with Colonel
Mapleson two years ago. The only
dancers Of reputation left here now are
women who came when the ballet. as
an adjunct to the spectacle. was popu-
lar. and that was long enough & to
entitle some of them to a place In the
statistician's list, II they had ever been
famous enough. Those that are known
here and mentioned nor the veter-
ans danced in this country NAM years
ago at a time In which the solo dancer,
as an interlude to plays and operet-
tas. was as highly appreciated as she
was In Europe. But that was in the
early days of New York's history as IN
amusement center.