The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-01-21
RUSSIAN DANGERS
 IN THE L|MELIGHT How Czar Trains His Danc-
 ing Scholars THE MIRACLE" LIKED London Amazed at Stupendousness of the oduction-Frohman Be-
 lieves He Has Made Another Find
1.-THE MIRACLE LIKED
By JAMES GRANT THURsToN

New York. January 20-(Special. .)-Rus
 sian Lancers seem to have the center ol the stage days, so far as the terpischo- rean part of the art dramatic is con cerned. All the other dances from the old
 time buck and wing artists to the ex- ponents of the sinnosities of the Salone
 have been sent back to the wings for n l time at least.
 Perhaps the Russian method of training
 the Czar's dancers is responsible for this. Mile. Tamara karsavina. one of the art
 ists who has been in part responsible for the popularity of this style of dancing | outside of Russia, thus tell of the way
 the saltators of her country are trained. | She says:
 Between the ages of 9 and 12-person- ally l commenced serious work at the ace of S-boys and girls of sufficient promise are taken in the ballot school which with 1 it's various branches. occupies one entire street. Here they receive not only instruc-
 ton in music, dancing and dramatic art. but in the ordinary branches of education. In every large school, of course, whea there are many boys and girls in a class, a certain amount of difficulty must De experienced in finding out exactly what mode of progress each individual is nak- ing To obvfate this difficulty. therefore. as far as dancing is concerned. examina- tions are held each year, and those pupils who do not score certain percentage of marks are told that their services are no longer required. This step is an emnently
 sound one, from the point of view of both teacher and pupil. for obviously the former is merely wasting time in en. deavoring to teach the art of dancing to
 one who has no real talent for 1t. while the latter, if not making a fair rate of progress. is wise to give up dancing early in life for competition is intensely keen
 in these great Russian ballet schools, anG there is no room for boy or girl who does
 not possess the real spirit of dancing. You will understand that the trained dancer, to the dancer who has given up some of the best years of her early youth to mastering her art, not only do the legs dance, but the eyes, the hands. the neck, the head, the arm, the mouth in fine. the whole body dances.
 Every gesture has been studied: every gesture has meaning, a mind. An, me. T can recall now as if it were but yester- day that l was practicing entries, bows. smiles and every pose both when dancing and when awaiting my turn to dance. And how patient my master used to be. Realizing that my whole soul was in my work, that it was my most earnest ambi- tion to become as far as possible a per feet mistress of my art, he never tired of explaining to me the real meaning of the poetry of motion. Little miss, little miss, he would say to me sometimes, after long mornings practice. the true art of motion should be felt rather than seen. Visible effort is never graceful for | its very strain detracts from real natura | grace If you were to dance as I would wish you to dance you must understands ! that there Is in movement real poetry. Ii must be so spontaneous as to make you seem thing of aerial fancy of flight and | of evanescence so spontaneous as to make you seem rather to tread on atmosphere
 than on the stage You understand me?
 That is good, for 1t shows me that you possess the real soul of the dance At the age of IS, or, maybe F, if the pupil has shown real aptitude, final ex- animation is held and then, provided the ballet master pronounces the verdict of proficiency. royal carriage appears be- fore the door of the school and the novice is taken to exhibit her talents upon one of the royal stages.
 At St. Petersburg the great home of ballet dancing and the only great school of ballet dancing existing in Europe, Sunday is the gala night, and a more en- trancing spectacle than the Imperial opera
 House at St. Petersburg in the winter
 season-in the summer the opera houses
 are closed-it would be difficult to find.
 The audience, too, is not only especially
 critical. but it is well qualified to criticise
 the pirouttes, positions, pastures and
 poses, the 'Twinkling feet and myste.
 rious modulations of their favorites. An,
 yes, the applause which a popular prlma
 ballerina receives on these great gala
 nights is surely ample compensation for
 those weary months and years of drudg-
 cry from morn till night in the big ballet
 school
 "The Russian dancers are not permitted
 to grow old in service. score of years
 represents their little day and at the age
 of 37 dancer retires on a pension which
 provides generously for her future. And
 there you will have the real secrets of
 the lasting success of ballet in Russia. It is a. profession which, to those who succeed in gaining positions at the im- perial theatres, provides not only a source of income during their working years, but
 little nest egg to wane, when her smiles
 are only painful reminders of vanished
 charm
 Probably the greatest spectacle ever staged is that which Is amazing London
 at the present time under the title of "The
 Miracle" was produced by Max Rein
 hardt, the great German stage manager.
 The scene of the spectacle is a Russian
 cathedral. It is staged at the Olympia.
 Charles Frohman believes he has under
 contract another Henri Bernstein in the
 newly arrived Belgian playwright, M. Kis-
 temaeckers. whose first really serious ef-
 fort, La Flambee," has just scored such
 great success at the Porto Saint Martin theatre, Paris. Produced in English. '.La
 Flambee' will be called "The Aryan," or
 ''The Snged Woman It is a powerful
 medium either for a forceful, convincing leading actor or an equally equipped lead
 ing actress. A mere account of the plot
 of La Flambee'' gives no adequate idea
 of the almost uncanny power of hypnotic
 fascination that it exerts upon every audi ence that sees it. Evidently it's author
 frankly regards the theatre as a place
 wherein peoples emotions can be played
 upon effectively by the skilled electri-
 clan and stage manager as by the author
 Surprising lights, curious colors. unex-
 pected sounds-in word the continuous
 suggestion of bizarre abstract ideas is
 aimed at by NJ. Kistemaeckers to enhance