A FAMOUS DANCER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 280, 19 August 1908, Page 5

A FAMOUS DANCER.

In ! "M.A.P." : a '"description is given of the Me _ of . a famous, dancer, Mile., Genee—-a. life governed by austerity and asceticism practised for .the sake of her.arc... Her art governs her life. Her beauty of gesture and grace conceals a robe of sackcloth. 'She is ascetic and severe. She is always in arduous training. Sho practises for hours every day in.a room walled with mirrors, olio- is a rigid teetotaller. ■ 1 She dines frug'a , ee ' n the-afternoon, and starves • till midnight, allowjng herself only , a cup of coffep at six.. That life of martyrdom is 'tho.pricei sho pays for. her strength'and her grace. Her skill is made out of infinite self-denial./ This miracle of laughing joy is the product of bitter toil and iron renunciation. Behind her radiant ecstacy of light postures is"the stern hardship of an athlete and tho passionless devotion of a nun. It is the paradox of the artist. . for only through absolute singleness of aini can supremo mastery bo achieved. In order to get one great thing you must give up all-, the little things. ; Here is another paradox. Genee is never tired when' she dances, and sho dances best in summer. While she is dancing her feet never .blister, but if site takes a holiday, and foregoes her daily practice, they are blistered in a few days.- She cannot dance in a-ball-room; for she grows giddy after a few turns in a waltz-. Dancing is the only gymnastic exercise she can safely indulge in, for golf or cycling or tennis would harden the muscles and.destroy the soft suppleness of the arms. She .detests long skirts because they conceal the complicated pattern of tho dance. Sho hates'high' heels because they destroy the delicate. flexibility of tho ankle and the in-stfP-r . J" 01 ' her the danco is tho vehicle of au'delight. Her little feet are lyrical. They smg in a language, of their own. It is the song of the throbbing lark that beats its wiiTgs in eloudland between the earth and the sky. "Let the world slide!" A white linen parasol may bo cleaned by opening-it wide and scrubbing it with ,a htilo scrubbing-brush and good'suds mado of white soap and lukewarm water. After it is well cleaned pour several buckets of clean water over it, arid last of all add a little Wuingrwater poured from a watering-pot; hen leave it to bleach and dry' in the sunliine. All the work may be done outdoors. ;.iid the parasol will bo clean and white in -,he end.