The Lake County times., 1906-10-10
FAMOUS BALLET DANGERS.
Stories OF La Ta&Iioni. Fanny EIsSIer
and Lola Nontez.

s&nG A1Ol4s 4kOnHeA.
1t has been asserted that the grand
ballet died with the famous Taglioni
retired in 1916. At any rate, the ballet
today is chiefly a spectacle of dress
and colored limelight Except for
very few performers, dancing as a
high art has vanished.
There is no one now TO set beside
La Taglioni, who was the queen OF the
stage. Balzac introduced her into his
novels. Even Thackeray condescended
to notice her and declared enthusias-
tically in The Newcomes" that the
young men of the day will never see
anything so graceful as Taglioni in
La Sylphide. At that time she was
the rage. StagecoacheS and great
coats We're named after her.
la Taglioni owed her charm to q
wonderful lightness and grace. Her
style was rather ideal than realistic
and voluptuous, as was then the vogue.
The hideous ballet skirt Of today she
never wore, but a skirt that reached
nearly to her ankles. 1t was one OF
the principles of her father, who taught
her all she learned of the art, that the
dancer should be modest in dress, in
movement and in expression.
Another famous master. who called
himself lie Dieu de la Danse," always
told his pupils to use all the coquetry
they could.
Vestris. who founded the famous
Vestris family, was an eighteenth cen
tury celebrity and quite remarkably
| conceited even for q dancer. There
are but three great men alive" he used
to say, myself, the Prussian Fred
erick and Voltaire." Ut is interesting
to compare Southey's remark that q
male dancer deserves to be ham
strung) That profession Of which be
was SO proud is indeed an arduous one
Vestris used to practice for about six
hours a day. A dancer must be ex'
tremely strong and supple.
4 curious story is told about Fanny
Elssler, a German dancer with coal
black hair, which illustrates the ex
treme muscular strength a dancer re
/ tlQlIGS- 9AC was u OoCAA4f IL Al4lCl &c
when she entered her cabin one day
and discovered a thief abstracting thf
! jewel case which she kept hidden un
der her pillow. Before he could attach
her she planted her foot full in hi:
chest and killed him on the spot.
It is curious that no EnglishwomaI
has ever achieved supreme success q:
a dancer 1t is possible, as foreigner:
assert. that they lack the dramatic gift
1t is certain that a lifelong devotion
and arduous apprenticeship are essen
tial to any expression through the me
dunn of dancing The rats" the be
ginners at the Paris Opera, are arti
cled for five years, and then, unless
they have danced from their cradle
they cannot hops to attain the frs
rank.
Another quality essential to the grea
dancer is infinite patience. The onl.
English dancer who ever gave promls
of attaining the front rank failed il
this respect Lola MonteZ was tn
somewhat foreign name she had takeT
She lost her temper one day with tn
manager at rehearsal and expresse
her feelings so dramatically as t
break an umbrella over his head. Mar
ayers will endure much for arts sake
but this was too much.
Carlotta Grisi is another famou
name of the old opera 1t was sh
who first introduced the polka int
England-a Bohemian dance that cam
to stay. 1t was for her, too, tha
Heine. Gautier and Adolphe AdaI
collaborated in writing "Giselle."
There were q score more famou
names that were familiar words
those days. OF the twelve ieadin
dancers engaged at the Kings theatt
in 1924 for a two months season fv
were q sufficient attraction to receiy
r,,Cra %f4ar 900 oaob u 00Tc-l Mail