The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-20
JOY IN DANCING GIRLS
sEvrLLANos FLOCK TO SEE
 sINVoUs sENoRITAS
Weave Motion Into Poetry-Lion Fights With Bull-William B. Curtis Describes the Fierce
 Amusements Which Stir
 Spaniards' Blood.
By William B. Cnrtis.

By William B. Curtis.
 Special Correspondence of The Chicago
 Record-Herald.
 Seville, Spain.-The dance houses of &c., vile are famous, but uncomfortable. They are very different from those of Paris and other cities, having no attractions save the programme of songs and dances given in the old-fashioned way, and that constitutes their charm. But the rooms are always crowded with customers, there is no ventilation. the atmosphere is load ed with smoke and smells that for eigner cannot identify. They are pecu- liarly Sevillian. The benches and chairs are rude and stiff. the tables that are placed between them to hold the refresh- ments are not over clean, and the stage settings are primitive. Admission is free. but a small charge Is made for seats in the front of the house, and in the gallery. which is partitloned off into boxes by rough wooden rails. Everybody is expected to order wine. coffee or other refreshments. and the management gets it's money back in that way. The aristoc- racy. as you may say, occupy the front seats; the boxes are usually filled with ladies who do not like to mix with the crowd down below, while the rest of the house Is packed with an enthusiastic but severely critical audience composed of tuOSG WHO GdnnOl EdlSc 1O Ctllb tu pay for better places. From this portion of the house applause or expressions of dis satisfaction are expected. But there is no disorder. policeman may be looking on at the show, but there is no need of his presence. The Sevillians never drink too much, and when they quarrel they switch out a knife from some part of their cloth ing and use 1t effectively before anybody has a chance to interfere.
 The programme is made up of songs dances, recitations and other stunts simi- lar to those given at our own vaudeville entertainments. but the singing and danc- ing alone Is distinctive. A woman and a man or two men come forward and take seats on the stage. The man carries a big guitar and plays an accompaniment to a long ditty of love and sorrow, or some comedian may appear made up for his part and sing a topical song dealing with local affairs, or national politics
 Just now the Republican party is mak- ing an active propaganda, which the gov ernment is trying to suppress, and that furnishes plenty of themes for the music hall satirists Last night a comic band made it's first appearance. a dozen men with imitation instruments of papier mache or other materials, and dressed in | fantastic garments. They pretended to play on their horns, but made the sounds with their voices in quite a clever way. The dancing is the feature. and is pe- culiar to Seville. Half dozen young women in the old-fashioned peasant cos tune come out first in solos. then duets. and then all together, clapping eastenets and doing the figures that Carmenicita. Otero and others have made familiar to American audiences. The girls are not often pretty, but tGey are always grace full. and the dances are supposed to in- terpret some love story-the poetry of mo-, tion. The audience sits almost breath less until the number ends, when 1t en- courages the performers by cries of cor re,' ''anda" "arSer' and howls with dis approyal if they do not meet expectations. Finally the premier danseuse comes for ward. accompanied by a man dancer in holiday dress to add to the eclat. and closes the number with an exhibition of perfect grace. the genuine poetry of mo- tion. while the other performers stand or sit in the wings and accompany the gull tars with castenets and the clapping of hands in rhythm. It was from such a nIace as this thas Carmencita came. and there are performers here to-day I'm told who are quite as accomplished. They receive the smallest of salaries-only a few francs a week-but cannot be induced by golden temptation to leave these