The sun., 1916-09-24

amazed these days by the grace
OF motion and the rhythmic
beauty of the voice Of a child prodigy
a girl OF s ~years-whose dancing in
clines Nine. Pavlowl TO aid her and
whose remarkable gift OF song came
upon her as with the force of a new
being n few days after the death OF
Nine. Lillian Nordica. the opera singer.
Has she then beer guided by the soul
Of the great diva? Has the inspired
gift OF the wonderful interpreters of
Wagncrian roles come to make its
earthly habitation In the body OF this
mite OF humanity who seems instinct
with strange and unaccounted for
gifts?
1t may be.
It is certainly true that Lillian Patti
son. as the child is called for tho pur-
poses VI the journal OF the American
society for Physical Research, has
brought from the everywhere into the
here a sense OF rhythm OF body and a
richncss and melody Of voice which
seem supcrnormal. They have aston
lshrd sich n saNant as Prof. James II.
Hysiop. secretary OF tho society, who
has made public the Investigations
which have for the last year centred
about this %prccocious child.
Ono OF the puzzles which perplcX
niortals is whether or not there Is an
interchange OF spirit forms between
this plane and hat bourne from which
none Is supposed to ever return. All
life and literature are full OF a belief In
r~cincarnation and I'm ali ages ph!loso-
piers have considered the voyage Of
Psyche. the soul. from one carnal
dwelling to another. The younger
world lost sight OF such speculation in
the night of the Dark Ages which de-
seconded upon Europe. Yet for many
centuries the wise men Of the East
realized the influence Of the invisible
powers in shaping the acts OF the hui
man race.
David BelascO, the well known the
atrical manager. who has seen the girl
dance several times. says in a letter to
DIR. Hyslop that she seems like the re-
incarnation OF some famous dancer OF
the past, In her wonderful grace. lie
refers to the influence which comes
upon her and leaves her exha listed at
the close OF her performance 80 instinct
with spirit. Mr.. Belasco has for years
been interested In child prodigies and
has always associated them with
strange psychic influences beyond NOR
tai ken. The strands OF the great rope
of Karma are strengthened by the
power of the geniuses Of the past.
It IL of interest to consider the first
observations made concerning this
child by Prof. Hyslop. which he has set
forth In the following report made
after seeing Lillian Patison when she
was then g years OF age.
Some of the pieces" he says, "she
had danced before. | learned Incl
dentally that this was the case with
tEc kilima waltz. She Is said to in
terpret the music eXtcmporaneous,y,
and she elbows every sign Of II. There
was no doubt about the grade and the
excellence of her dancing and inter-
probation. | know little OF dancing.
hut such as ! have seen OF ballet dane
ing has never compared favorably
with this for grace and adaptation. No
doubt the stag ballet has to he
lvarned and performed by routine, but
'''' WV wv appearance Va ioutii
nor OF mechanical character about
this. There was remarkable fertility
of rcsourc in the spontaneous inter-
probation OF tho bohemian dance. I
nave no such acquaintance with dane
ing as you'd enable me to describe OF
ana!yze the case for the artist, nut nc
one with an aesthetic eve could fail 10
perceive the remarkable grace and the
inycntiveness of the child. whether II
be IN joyous or sad music,
II SAN the mother after the per-
formance and ! learned that the child
began very early to show signs of
spontaneous dancing. The girl does
rot reculIect just when 1t began. say
ing in answer to my question that Il
was so long ago hat she could not
remember. ] found also that from q
very tender age she had played wit!
what she called fairies. She had no,
had many playmates. She sleeps wei
and, according 10 the mother. dreams
much. The mother also told me that
she shows tendencies to dance when
ever h sees Rhythmic actions any
where, such as the movements oi
trees. This she had noticed when
with the child nut Of DOORS
The real name of the girl is with
held, for PROT. Hyslop believes tina