Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-03-04
DANCER
FLAYS VULCARITY
OF COMMON HERD
Real Art Not Appreciated, She
Says, and Only Fact Of
Womanhood Seen.

London, Feb. 1S.-"There are some
people who if they see the figure of a
woman cannot dissociate her in their
minds from the sex question. 1t does
| not matter If her limbs are finely
formed and proportioned, they cannot
simply see the beauty of them. They
cannot get away frona the one point of
view-her sex. 1t is. / think, very
tragic-perhaps the most tragic thing
In life-this inability to eliminate the
sex and simply appreciate the beauti-
full"
That is the candid opinion Of Lady
Constance Stewart Richardson, who is
filling the Palace Theatre of Varieties
here nightly by her classical dancing.
1t was given by her after her third per-
Torrance to a correspondent who asked
her opinion of some of her press no
tices, which were SO cruel that the in
ference is they must have been in
spired by disappearing relatives. The
Daily Mail was particularly bitter.
But Lady Constance has taken little
heed to it. 1T struck me-" she said,
"as being very ill-natured and not a
criticism. Really / have been surprised
at the cordial reception which the pub
lie and press generally have given me.
MY relatives and friends. too, with
a few exceptions, have been very SYM
pathetic. OF course they know that /
do not always loo at things in the
same way as other people. Who are
the exceptions? Oh! one or two an
cient aunts rave written to express
their disapproval, but / expected that.
Gets Many Letters.
Il have received some let
ters, too, telling me l ought to be
ashamed of appearing in public with
bare arms and legs. They were evident
ly from women of the lower middle
class, ~uneducated, but very religious. IL
is a curious thing, but l nave noticed
among my own friends, too, that the
women who spend half their time going
to churcn and attending religious meet
ings are just those who cannot look
pom the figure of a naked woman
without dragging in the sex question.
"Of course, it is really an unclean
thing-this thought of sex which is
always in their minds. If they go to
the Royal Academy and see the picture
OF a naked1 woman they rush away at
once. / doubt ever if they would go
to the British museum to see the Elgin
marbles. They cannot see the beau
tiful, they can only think of sex. In
America there is a still stronger force
of opinion against women being seen
with bare feet or legs. Even when
bathing they nave to wear stockings.
II pay no attention to anonymous
letters of this sort. l had some when
l was in New York of very much the
same character. When / see what 1
of letters they are l usually tear them
up without reading them through,
though sometimes / wish the writer's
would sign their names. | feel / should
like to write back and show them the
un]cleanness of their minds.
Socially do not think my dancing
in public like this has made any diff
ference to me. Many of my friends,
| ip1nad hou a told N aifhar hyy lat4ar Nr
personally that they quite understand
and approve my purpose.
"On the first night a number of them
came to the theater determined to en-
courage me by giving me a good re-
ception. But it seemed to me that the
loudest applause came from the gallery.
The kindness of the public's reception
of my dancing rather astonished me.
Some people, l dare say, think I
am doing this for the sake of advertis-
ing myself or of showing off. If they
had only known what agonies of nerv-
ousness-I am very nervous really-I
went through, especially on the first
night, they would not think so.
Tonight was the first night on
which l could see Mr.. Finck conducting.
l was SO nervous on the first two nights
while l was on the stage that l could
not see anything at all in front OF
me.
"One paper in it's notice of my per-
Torrance described it as 'amateurish.'
/ never suggested that it was anything
else. / am not a professional"
Questioned as to whether she had not
experienced the disapproval OF her own
class at her unconventional enterprise as
casting a slur upon the aristocracy, Lady
Constance said:
81 think that all sorts of class prejudice is
breaking down. AS long as one is getting
the money honestly and for a proper pur-
pose there is no reason why one should
not do as one likes.
II must own, however, that / have
wished that I was Miss Shocks or Miss
Jones. A title is not always an advan-
tage. There is, / think, a very strong
feeling That Lord or Lady So-and-So can
not doing anything worth doing. L quite
agree that there are a number of them
tina cannot do anything"
Asked If she had experienced any chilly
receptions from people of her own class
when dancing in New York, Lady Con-
stance said: well, you see it was all
done with one exception in drawing rooms,
and / thought every one was very nice to
me. When l danced at Sherry's-that was
a s~emi-public affair-some of the people
were rather difficult it is true"
"Will you go to New York to appear
on the stage as here?" was the next ques-
ton.
"I don't know" said Lady Constance.
81 have had an offer, but am going TO
think 1t over. I like the American peo-
pie immensely. ] have been on visits
there frequently, but / never feel we'll.
New York does not agree with me. / do
not know why. But to meet the rea,
American you must go out west-they are
a magnificent people"