Putnam County herald. (Cookeville, Tenn.) 1903-1922, 1917-02-08
SCRAPS OF VERSE AND
PROSE
by Clara Cox Epperson
BEHIND THE SCENES" /"

BEHIND THE SCENES.
1t was my privilege and pleasure
to go behind the scenes of the Rus
sian Ballet, with friend, at the
performance In Nashville. recently,
and it was an interesting and novel
experience. One very gorgeous
scene was over, and the confusion
Of rearranging the scenery. cos
tunes ETC., for the next scene was
appalling to the unptiated. Trunks
and boxes were piled in rows, with
hurrying people trying to pack the
used things and unpack the ones
needed, and with too little room to
do so conveniently. In the dressing
rooms it was just as crowded.
We were shown into the dressing
room of the two leading women
dancers. and my friend interviewed
them as they arranged their CO.'S
tunes for the next scene. They
were vc.1y gracious aca pleasant In
spite of the hurry and confusion.
and thought it proof of much
poise for them to be so calm and po-
lite under such trying circumstan-
ces.
= Just before leaving my friend
asked them: What do you think
Of suffrage?" One of them replied,
"Oh, we do not think" "We do not
have time to think Of anything but
the art" The other dainty little
dancer said: at is to dance, to
sleep, to eat, to rest, to dance again;
and we do not have time to think. at
ALL" And with a lovely smile she
dismissed the subject as one not to
be compared with "the art
Then l realized that their lives
after all are much like the busy
housekeepers, revolving around the
wheel of duty, daily. With us it is
to work, to cook, to eat, to sleep, to
rest, just in order to cook and work
again, and the revolution OF the
wheel of life goes on forever. When
we are in front of the footlights and
see the tinsel and glory, we feel that
they must lead butterfly lives, but
when we go behind the scenes and
see the sordid disarray and confu-
sion, the rush of the busy people,
who still take time to smile upon
the stranger within the gate, we re-
alize to some extent the hardship
of their lives. The sacrifice of home,
home ties and loved ones; the sac
rifice of time for individual pleas
ures; the sacrifice Of the assurance
that they can sit down and rest
awhile, some times, as do we tired
housekeepers, without being haunt
ed by the horror of being dropped
from the ranks of salary earners;
the dread Of old age with no abid-
ing place. no loved ones to watch
tenderly and care for willingly
through the period that Time marks
us as incapacitated. while waiting
for death to claim us; and all these
sacrifices for "the art" and l real
lied that all the tinsel and glory,
all the fame, admiration and ap-
plause will not suffice for the loneli-
ness of age and the loss Of loved
ones.
Could we look behind the scenes
OF the lives of these whom we think
happiest and gayest, l wonder how
many cares and burdens We might
find. There Is no life howsoever
protected, but has its trials, Its bur-
de- I'd ~ c:---s--, ., a. - t.cSo
paths the soul for heaven prepares
and from even the dancers, we can
learn a lesson,--the lesson Of going
cheerfully about our work. whether
It be 'the art, or the more homely
tasks of living, with the courage to
still smile upon the stranger that
passes us by, as well as the friend
that is near, and to hold to the
principle that 1t is not to think. II
the thoughts be unpleasant, unhappy
or discouraging; it is not to theorize
over the problems of life; 1t is not
to worry over the inevitable nor the
unavoidable, 1t Is just to live. II we
make living daily, what the little
dancer makes her art, daily, public
acclamation and adulation may no,
be ours. but contentment, peace Of
heart and the devotion of loved ones
will be our "tinsel and glory. bu'
the tinsel will be pure gold.