THE FAIRIES OF THE STAGE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 3306, 2 May 1885, Page 3

THE FAIRIES OF THE STAGE.

' (P«ll MaUGaxette.) ' ; It is' bard work,, we are told, the '•5 getting "P" °f a pantomime, but the work does not physically haim, the children, differing really little from the calisthenic3,and dancing .lessons gone through by the majority of children nowadays. The reason why many of them die of consumption—and a good many do— is that they haye often to put their stage clothes on before they are dry after haying been washed. 'The children are also exposed to cold and draughts while waiting behind the scenes} and this^ continually recurring, weakens {heir constitutions. Otherwise they are not unkindly treated; ,uj the theatrp if they/ftte Attentive and quiok, When : the Spantqjnlme " w „ going, on , they have warm dressing-rooms, and are assisted by " dresaers " m assuming their

gorgeous garbs. They earn from Gd to Is for each performance, except those taking chief parts, who are paid up to 4s to 5a for every evening. They might not be badly off at all. were it not for the temptations to which they are exposed m the streets when they go home late at night. A few are accompanied by mothers or elder sisters ; but hnndreds of pantomime children go home m the dark and alone. They get into bad company, and the morality of the stago is not proof against the immorality of the streets. Another drawback is that amid the tinsel splendours of the stage they acquire a tnste for finery which later on leads to all kinds of mischief, and unfits them for work m any other station of life. The acting and posing deprive them m a great many cases of the naturalness of children, and convert them into Coquettes before they have reached their teens. Apart from this they are happy enough, go through thoir strange work m a businesslike manner, briskly and brightly, and those who have any. dramatic talent are as interested iii their work as any childstudent of other professions. The average age of the pantomime children is from seven to twelve ; there are a few up to fourteen, who act as a kind of avant garde, and a limited number of pantomime babies, evidently enjoying the fun of being "Juliet's page," or "a little soldier," or " Napoleon," as the case may be. Boys are not usually admitted to the pantomime, unless it is to creep inside a fiery dragon or a warlike steed. " They are too awkward " i« the universal judgment. Besides the above there is another class of pantomime children, who undergo a continual course of training at tho National Training School for Dancing, 73, Tottenham-court-road, London, W., under the direction of Mdme. K. Lanner. whose name is well known m the theatrical'world as a former artiste of the ballet. All the pupils of this school are trained for the stage, and the part they take m the pantomime at Christmaß is only, a phase of their o very-day work. They are mostly the children of working people, who pay for the training of their daughters. The composition of the dance is left to the directress, who, with infinite patience and the deepest interest m her work,, sets about to teach her pupils, step by step and round by round, the art of rythmical movement, one outcome of which is the marvellous performance of the children at the Drury-lane pantomime. It is an amusing scene to see the children practising at the school. Divided into sections of four and six, they go through the steps and exercises j and no ungraceful movement, no heel turned outward, and no pair of eyes turned m the wrong direction, escapes the' eye of " madame." While one section practices, the rest watch, but no sooner do they hear the first sound of the grand ballet tune than great and small jump up and the large room is a confused scene of fantastically attired danseuses, following each spuud of music beside and behind the small section at work, with evident enjoyment. Half-: a- dozen : small pantomime babies toddle j through their steps with eyes bent on the feet of the older girls, and with the most curious distortions of their small limbs. Later on they are busy m their dressingrooms, the older girls calmly and with an airof cela va sans dire adjusting their curly perruques blondes, and .putting the other finishing touches to their toilettes ; the babies, their little white slippers clutched tightly to their hearts, are enthroned on the table to be out of harm's way. When the great moment approaches there is a general rush downstairs ; madame adjusts, admonishes, blames, and encourages, and m they come, the. glittering fairies of : tho pantomime. ' Meanwhile the babies have come, down under the care of the dressers — generally mothers of some of the children — and without the slightest sign of stage fever, or even of interest m what is going on on the stage, they stand m little groups behind the scenes busily engaged m discussing the comparative cleanliness of their chubby little hands or other trifles.; Suddenly there is a call for them ; the audience applauds boisterously; but without emotion they toddle on through their part and return to their retreat to continue their discussion or to show each other the glittering treasures which, having by' accident been torn from the apparel of the ballet ladies, have been duly picked up by the babies. The payment to ' these children is made m a different way. They are engaged for a certain number of years at the National Training School for Dancing, during which they are bound to appear m any theatre the managers of the school may find it fit to send them to, without any special payment being made besides .the usmal.remuneration, which at first equals, that '6'f ■''the other pantomime children," but increases as 4he pupils become more profiSient.'i: 'i fi s." .':..' ,■ .. £