SNOWED UP!

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 143, 23 July 1914, Page 9

SNOWED UP!

ON A CHRISTCHURCH STAGE,

Has Maud Allan mistaken her calling? Should-she not be a writer of thrilling fiction instead of an exponent of thrilling dances? The following excerpt from the Sydney "Sun" rather raises the question: — "Miss Maud Allan, the famous barefooted dancer, Avho is appearing at the Palace Theatre, declares that she never felt the cold anywhere like it was in New Zealand. 'I can feel it emy time I talk about it,' she exclaimed, and added: 'l've been in New York dancing during the depth of winter. The whole difference lies in the fact that no effort is made to artificially warm the theatres or hotels in New Zealand.

" 'The worst experience of my life was in Christchurch,' continued the creator of the most widely-discussed dance, the Vision of Salome. 'We played in the principal theatre there, and to my surprise when I stepped 011 to the stage one night it was almost covered with snowflakes. 1 afterwards discovered that above the stage was a ventilator over which there was no covering, and the snow had found its way through. You can imagine how cold it was for me in my bare feet. Anyway, the performance had to be goiie through. Before very long 1 had turned the snow into slush. My garments were drenched, and the carpet was soaked. J was never so glad in all my life as when that performance ended.

(i 'The Ntnv Zealand people are quite philosophical when asked why they do not do something to make their theatres and hotels comfortable in cold weather. They simply answer, "It is winter, and you must expect it"!' "