Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-14
Graceful / EXERCISES
-Tss
ALI Tended to Add New Grace
to Form.
NEGLECTED SMALL ARTS
SUITABLE DRESS FOR ATHLETIC
SPORTS.
Developing Willowy Forms Looked On
as Pleasure as Well as
SMALL ARTS

of the fingers is Diana's newest diversion
1t will give her health grace and strength,
she Is told, so she has taken up the new
culture with whole-hearted enthusiasm. At
first only one balloon is kept in motion, but
so expert does one become that two, or
even three balloons, are kept in motion at
once and tossed hither and thither. 1t is
the liveliest kind Of exercise and makes
the lips and cheeks glow and the eyes
shine, and, what is of most Importance, it
brings into play nearly every muscle OF
the body.
The first principle Of this culture is to
render exercise as beneficial as possible, by
making it attractive to the mind. That
mind must be occupied we'll as the body
is one of the tenets Of the new culture.
When exercising the arms, for example, it
is much more interesting to toss balloons
about or to initiate the motions of the
sower, the reaper, the chopper of wood,
than simply to strike out to the right or
left, without any special intention.
With imaginary thread fastened in each
corner Of the room, Diana or Penelope
weaveS a spiders web, stepping back and
forth and in and out. This also is an exer-
else for the arms as well as the shoulders,
neck and back.
Or the circling Of the windmilIs arms is
initiated. With arms extended and raised
in horizontal position, the high priestess
of the art sways her body forward to the
right slowly and steadily, then far down.
ward to the left, following the motion of
ships walking beam.
The only apparatus used is the balloon
no Indian clubs, wands, dumb-bells, strlk-
ing bags or chest weights. Every move
ment starts out with correct pose, which
demands head erect hips well back, chest
forward, the shoulder blades nearly touch
ing, and the weight of the body well for
ward on the balls of the feet.
The system is based largely the Greek
methods, which, as every one knows pro-
duced the finest models of the human form
ever developed. Psyche physical culture is
the name given to the system, and 1t was
evolved by woman, who will tell you that
in purely psycho-physcsl exercises, the
soul is bridled and saddled, as one might
say, and bears the body out OF the actual
imagination, plumes its wings, and leads
the procession like. Siegfrieds magic bird"
The Wrong Idea.
Prejudice has existed against physical
culture because in many cases it has been
made the aim in life, to the neglect Of the
mind. This has led to the feeling that in
order to be spiritually minded one must
be weak and delicate. These are mistaken
ideas. which archaeological culture seeks
to correct. E.. rs
Weaving webs and tossing balloons about
are exercises especially adapted to those
who carry a greater weight Of flesh than
Of years. The exercise necessarily throws
the head up, gives a swaying willowy
movement to the body and develops hun
dred graceful and healthy attitudes.
According to this psycho-physical culture
ideal Of beauty, a woman should be 3 feet
) inches in height, and weigh from 100 to
1Go pounds. 1t is somewhat Junoesque pro-
portions in which devotees of this culture
delight The waist should measure 81 or
80 inches. Here is food for reflection for
the woman fond of a wasp-iike line. The
bust must measure 10 inches more than the
waist; the hips 3 inches more than the
bust, the neck twice as much as the wrist,
the calf OF the leg must be inches larger
in circumference than the arm just below
the shoulder, and the foot exceed the
length of the hand by inches,
The symbol of the members of the pscho-
physical band is a badge of red, blue and
yellow ribbon knotted together; ring, too,
phire set in a triangle on a band of gold.
Each color has its meaning; red is embIe-
matte of the body, Of life, Of heat, of the
creative power, of divine love; blue SYM
boiizes the mind, constancy and fidelity and
expresses the armament: while yellow is
emblematic of the soul, symbolizng the tri-
umph of spirit over matter.
Many women prominent in New York So
ciety have taken up this new way of de-
velopiug grace and, willowy forms. They at
tend the lectures with their children and
practice the various movements at their
homes. Mrs Whitelaw Reid and daughter
Miss Eleanor Hewitt and Miss Dorothy
Roosevelt are among the number. In Lon
don this form of training of mind and mus
Gle has also taken hold of society, many IT,
tied women spending some time daily in fol-
lowing the motion of a ships walking BEAM
the circling of windmills arms; they also
toss balloons and weave webs. The Wis
Habberton is one devotee and Mrs
Joseph Chamberlain Is another; also Sir
Douglas Forsyth's daughter, Miss Ethel
Forsyth.
Between You and Me.
One of the neglected small arts is the art
OF being graceful. If you are observing you
will be able to count on your fingers of one
hand and have finger or two left over
the really graceful women whom you know
Girls are taught to dance, to ride, to bowl |
to play tennis and other active accomplish
ments, but how many of them can enter or |
leave room gracefully One would suppose |
that so much exercise would make a girl
graceful, but it does not.
Many a fashionable mother laments the |
awkward movements of her daughter and |
the ungraceful way in which she crosses a
ROOM but they seem not yet to have learned |
how to remedy the defect A pretty face
almost counts for nothing if the shoulders |
are round and the gait slovenly, while a |
plain face is forgotten if the owner carries |
herself erect and walks we'll
one or the plalneSt women ever saw had |
a beautiful figure and carried herself with |
so much grace and dignity that it was al |
most impossible not to turn round in the |
street and lookIat her In fact the man |
she married first saw her in the street, and. |
admiring her figure and the way she car |
ried herself, managed to be introduced to |
her and withoutlosing any time asked her |
to be his wife
The human body is not like iron casting !
rigid and fixed like a mold, but rather like |
the sculptors clay, that may be nodded into |
forms Of beauty, and strength or may be de- |
formed and spoiled.
Viewed in profile, the back ought to have |
four gentle curves, but the nape of the neck, !
the spine at theCwaist and the heels should |
be in a perpendicular lime.
The frame and habits in children are NIL |
abe and il they get twisted into tho rigbt |