The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1908-11-29

OF fhe play Doctor Quack was supposed
~ ny pIotlze vonng widow. and ! re.
heafsed Inc part. ] was al nv wits
enq to choose 2 costume from those
nSu 5ireadN purchased. for / could not
auord TO buy another. After lonn look.
ing over my wardrobe chose an under.
sAiJt OF light silk muslin, thin as
SPIDER web: 1t was at least yard
1 100 long. so | raised the belt and made
a sort of Empire gown by pinning tho
| SKIRT to a decollcte waist, and with
that costume I PLAYED the hypnotism
! scene. The stage, representing a gar,
9en, vas batbed IN green light Doctor
Qnack came on mysteriously and called
me. me lhe orchestra PLAYED a soft,
! make myself as airy and light as posi-
| Die to give the impression of aoating
! spirit obeylng the beacsts of the doctor,
lie raised his arms [ raised mine.
IN q trance, 10 all appearances. my gaze
hxed on his. followed his every move
lnSeht; Ny dress was so long that I was
al the time slipping on II, and me
ehanlcally [ held IT mp with both hands,
hItlng my arms above my head while
continuing 10 float about the stage like
winged sprite.
hall:
- \ butterfly! A butterfy!''
from one side of the stage to the other
Then second cry range out:
- An orchid,i'
The doctor ghded TO and fro. quicker
and quicker, aNd ever quicker | fol.
lowed him. At last, trsnsfgured, in an
ecstasy. let myself fall at his Feet, the
soft silk of my costume covering me
like cloud.
The audience burst into thunders Of
applause When it died away it burst
forth again and again, until we had
TO repeat the scene twenty times. After
SIX weeks tour we went 10 New York,
where, IN spite of the hypnotic scene,
the piece was a fat failure and the
company disbanded
An article which appeared in the
newspaper of the little town where we
had made our debut spoke only Of what
tee writer termed ''my playD in the
hypnotic scene. The press of New York
accorded to me similar praise saying |
had wonderful gift-if I knew how
one morning and suddenly the possibili-
ties of using my talent came to me. !
jumped out of bed, and. dressed only in
my night gown, put on the long costume
which | had used on the stage,
The yellow curtains of the windows
were drawn and through them the rays
Of the sun took on an amber tint which
making it transparent. Standing before
a large mirror / could SEQ the golden
reflections playing in the folds of the
clinging silk, and in the half light my
figure appeared but line of shade. It
was moment of intense emotion. I'm
consciously / felt that I was in the
presence OF a great discovery, dis
covery the certainty of which only
came to me later. pointing out the road
which was TO lead me to success.
Gently-religiously, almost shook
the silk and saw thousand movements
unknown up to that moment.
I was about to create a dance! Why
had I not thought of it .before2
Two friends Of mine, Nine. Hoffman
and her daughter, Nine. .Hossack, came
from time TO time 10 see how my dis
coveries were progressing, When.
found new pose or a gesture, which
seemed worth while they wonld say,
"Keep that, repeat it, and finally
found that every movement OF my body
caused a combination of folds in the
drapery. certain shimmerlng OF the
silk which could be mathematlcally and
systematically foreseen.
The extreme length and width of my
silk dress forced me to repeat several
times the same movement In order 10
be able TO classify it as a special one.
I obtained the effect of a spiral by hold
| ing my arms in the air while turning
on myself, first to the right and then
to the left, and going over the move
meut until the spiral design was estab-
! lished. Head, hands and feet followed