Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-24
ACTRESS LIFE RULED
BY JEALOUS PARENTS
Learns Dancing by Studying Pic
lures of Genee and Prac-
ticing Before Mirror

Merrilynn Miller, prima donna So
prano, burlesquer and toe dancer, is
living exposition of the fallacy that the
stage child is necessarily a spoiled
child. There are several reasons for
this; four of them appear with her on
the stage at the Los Angeles theater,
where as the Five Columbians, father,
mother and three sisters, give special
ties limitations and clever songs and
canoes.
Stripped Of her golden curly wig,
La Merrilynn sat on trunk in her
dressing room and told of her life on
the stage Her own light brown hair
smoothly plated about her head was
fastened back out of reach OF the
grease paint with a broad elastic BAND
and as the dimpled rounded chin
emerged from the makeup beneath
the careful rubbing with cold cream
the soft childish coloring and delicate
texture of the skin were evidenced.
Quiet and reserved in manner this
young girl might have been coming
from her music lesson or accompanying
her governess for a stroll in the park.
Did you find it arduous work learn
ing to stand on your toes?' she was
asked, and a childish laugh accom-
panied the reply as she said: ny,
| never learned, l always could stand
on my toes. When l was years old
my ankles and the muscles of my feet
were so strong that I could stand ana
even dance for a few minutes in my
bare feet"
Don't most dancers wear heavily
braced shoes for such work?'
eyes, all ballet shoes have steel
rod up the sole and in many the toes,
too. are stiffened and padded, but |
prefer to have mine much softer, and
when I need new ones papa always
pounds them with heavy stick until
they lose that stiffness.
"Did you have a coach to help you
in preparing your initiative work?'
mo. but / know many actresses in
New York, and | learned TO do TINS
little imitation of Helen Ware one day
when seeing her sing 'Carrissima' IN
the Witmarcll studios. She was taking
off the airs of u grand opera singer IN
almost exactly the WAY I do 1t in
this sketch and after she had gone out
NV sister and I went to the piano
and tried the song over until we could
do ii. Just as we saw Miss Ware"
You are still such a child, I wonder
how you manage your long dresses SO
we'll and your train; did you nave any
trouble learning that?"
"No, and I'll tell you how prac-
ticed for that. tied mamma's apron
on backward and practiced until
could give 1t that same little KICK
which | had seen concert singers ana
grand opera singers use"
"EIow did you learn your toe dancing
if you have had no|lessons? How did
YOU acquire your poses and steps?'
"A good deal of that [ learned from
watching Mile. Genee. I have never
seen Pavlowa or many of the great
ballet dancers, but I admire Genee
tremendously, and / have book full
of her pictures and / study her poses
and copy them before the mirror, and
I hope some day to be as great
dancer as she is" and the girlish eyes
lightened with ambition and zeal.
Don't you grow tired with all tho
difficult posing and balancing of that
last few minutes of your sketch. 1t is
such dancing as one usually sees by
ballet dancers who have had years OF
constant and difficult practice?'
my father has always given me eX-
ercise for the development of my
physique, and always have thorough
massage treatment after every per-
formance when my feet and ankles are
rubbed we'll with witchhazel and alco-
hol. This keeps them flexible and
strong and gives me constant control
over every inch of the flesh and bone
and muscle which possess"