WILD DANCING.

Southland Times, Issue 17002, 28 March 1912, Page 2

WILD DANCING.

GABY DESLY'S LATEST STEFS. The Theatre Eemina, in the ChampsElvgees, was crowded when Mile. Gaby Deslys made her first appearance in Paris since her return from the United States. She appeared in ethereal draperies. and was accompanied by a young American, Mr Harry Pllcer, her dancing partner. Their first number, entitled “Come and Dance,” consists of a series of contortions by the male dancer, whose appeal, to the accompaniment of a very catchy air. 1s so irresistible that his ' partner yields and joins him in a very lively dance. One of the afternoon’s surprises was to hear Mile. Deslys sing in English with a piquant American accent. Her lightning-like gyrations as she was pulled round the stage by her swiftly moving partner roused the audience to the greatest enthusiasm. One encore was not enough, and as the couple gave the dance for the third time the entire audience hummed the infectious refrain “Swing me round till I tell you no." The second dance was a sort of “grfzz-Iv-boar step” called “Deedle-dum-Deo." It opened with the male dancer on his knees singing an air to which he keeps time in a sort of tiny pantomime by moving his thumbs up and down. Mile, Deslys, seated on a ebair beside him, follows his movements for a time, and then she too drops on her knees. As the dance proceeds they jump up and follow one another with gliding steps around the stage, singing as they go. Then the pace quickens, and Mr Pilcer swings his partner round with one arm encircling her neck. At the end of a mad whirl he suddenly seizes her and hoists her in the air above his head. • Deedle-dum-Dee” was a great success. The matinee was a triumph for the eagerly-awaited dancing novelties from the United States. Mr Pilcer says he Is “just crazy” to go to London and exhibit his steps there.