Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-14
THE QUEST qF BEAUTY
Bernhardtesque Poses and
Ways to Acquire.
GRACEFUL 0UTLIN Els
KEYNOTE OF ALL. IS THE FLAT
BACK.
Bewildering Processes, but the Result
Makes PLANT
Figure.
GRACEFUL oUTLINE S

with a wonder Of grace and movement--this
| is her chief desire
The exercises are wholly Bernhardtesque;
| indeed, the society woman who hrst intro-
duced them to her set learned them from
| the great Sarah herself. She visited ner IN
Paris; she saw Bernhard twirl and wrlthe
and sway, spring from the ground IKE d
| cat, shake herself as though she were
made Of sawdust, and bend from the waist
like rag.
'She looked like flower stem, so grace
| full SO willowy a body that every move
| ment, every turn made me exclalm Win
delight" said this woman, when explaining
the beauties of Sarahs system to group
of eager friends.
Bernhard, as every one knows, has no
| bust. no hips, no calves, but these tnings
don't count when woman can De panthei-
like and bewildering in every movement.
The costume in which she attfres he1ssh
for her athletics is Of flesh pink slik-soLt,
amiable silk, that follows the ngure anu
makes artistic folds and wrinkles. Inc coiot
makes the actress face young, like girrs,
and it is beautiful with her red halr. VAIN
ing about the room on the white FUR rugs
with her silk-stockinged feet she Is PIC
ture.
She first filings open the long French win.
dows and breathes in deep, full breaths Oh
air. GU
This is the beginning of things. She fills
her lungs over and over again, breathing
from her stomach Her chest, like elastic,
expands and contracts astoundlnSly, "ilie
her back is as willowy as a spear OF grass;
When she breathes her feet are placed
closely together, her knees held stralsht,
her body thrown back and her ABDOMEN
drawn in.
After she had finished her breathing ex-
ercise the actress flung herself down on one
of the white rugs, limp, plant, utterly re-
| 10 In She shook her hdnQS
and arms as If they were dead inanl1nate
things, that some other force than her own
was manipulating.
The First Moves.
In a. few minutes she sprang up ana
seized a cane or wand. The first posi-
ton was to hold the wand back of the fig
ure, with the arms stretched taut and
firm. It was then raised over the head
and brought over in front, without once
bending the elbows, feat impossible to
perform without long practice but bern
hardt's arms came over her heao as
straight as one would hold the arms at
the side. ,
Next the wand was held high over the
head and slowly and steadily brought down
to the floor in front without penang the
knees, thing even more olihcuit 70 oo
than the other.
Then the wand was held to the floor at
one end and raised over the back with the
other, which swung the trunk around SIDE
wise, but did not move the feet and knees.
Only the wonderful Sarah can do such
things as these, a truly marvellous feat to
perform. tc.-
After this the wand was dropped for
few minutes and general shaking OF the
limbs was gone ..lrough with. Then the
actress flung herself down limp and nfeless
on the fur rug. g-s 49,.
It was only for five minutes, and then the
long 1.-THE figure was up again, and the last
1 vi md
She held the wand stretched at arms
length, she sprang forward, she flung her
body backward, sidewise, one leg forward,
one leg back; she sprang from the ground
like a cat, she knelt low, she tW1rled ana
writhed and swayed.
Another Turn.
When 1t was over Sarah vanished, and
after perhaps a half hour returned. She
was in white-long, 1.-THE, serpentine-and
then one could appreciate her exercises
and understand how they could make her
| what she is-the perfection of grace.
Cannot any woman do as much for her
figure?
Without even DOMINIC gymnasium cos
tune, let her take wand or a cane and
go through some Of these exercises.
Let her use the cane which she carries
when she goes out for a promenade.
Miss Alice Roosevelt set the fashion, by
ton is struck hard by the new fad, which
may be turned to good account.
While waiting for your companion to join
you, take the cane and hold 1t as though
sighting q gun. This is called the trigger
movement, and is good for the fat straight
back which every woman wants.
Wand weighing is another exercise. Hold
the wand or cane horizontally in front of
the bodyS and then swing 1t upward to the
right into a vertical position. The right
arm remains stretched, while the left is
bent.
Wand Weighing.
Starting from this position of the wand
on the right-hand side, this same weighing
movement to the left Is next taken, with
the left arm stretched. But first the cane
Is again held horizontally in front of the
body, and then swung to the left, without
any interruption Of the movement. while
the right arm is bent. Then follows the
weighing of the cane-so called-to the
right and to the left-back and forth.
The hips shoulders and body must not
be moved during these exercises.
If a wand Is used instead of cane, 1t
should be of a length corresponding to the
height of the person exercising, and of a
thickness of from three-fourths to one and
one-eighth inches. Broomsticks or shade
rollers may be used ON occasion instead Of
q wand.
After using cane or wand for these ath-
H.
do this is to have a stick about six feet
long, with deep notches at regular intervals.
TAKE a large stone or weight of about five
hounds. and bind 1t with a piece Of stout
wire. SO as to let one end of the wire pro-
iect in the form of a hook.
Loading the Stick.
To load the stick hook the stone to one
of the notches; every inch further out in
creases the weight by several pounds.
Grasp the stick at one end. stretching
ont the arm and stick like rapier at home
thrust. Draw the arm back. keeping the
stick rigidly horizontal. Make the hand
touch the chin: thrust out again, draw back,
and SO on tilP the arm moves rapidly on a
steady fulcrum. -
II is hard work to keep the stick shori-
zontal. but the very effort called forth to
do az is worth all it costs in the gain to the
figure.
from shoulder blades and give the long,
flowing outline which so charms in picture
-'' 49, useful Suggestions.
The Indispensable for the toilet table
are first a good. pure soap. Buy only the
best. Glycerine, combined with rose water,