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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1911)
or 1 7 The Russian Dancers, Who Are Now the Prize Matinee Idols and Even Eclipse the Opera Tenors in Feminine Esteem T HAS been many a long day since a man could acquire the reputation of being either beautiful or graceful and avoid the popular belief that his was an effeminacy beneath contempt. But it has happened in London. A whole group of men, dancers at that, -all at once became the idols of the female population, and they have been far worse besieged by their adorers than the most famous of women dancers have been. Even the madness of admiration which, in times past, seems to have risen to the stage of blind adoration vouchsafed to the tenors of grand opera and to the musi cians who can wring ecstasy from violin or piano has been surpassed by the frenzy of longing on the- part of the women to be near to the wonderful exponents of the dances from the icy north. Society has turned to them as the res cuers from spinsterhood of daughters whose charms and dowries have failed to catch the necessary male. Not that Eng land's high-born maids were being flung at the heads cf the dancers. By no meant. The girls tiere flung at the dancers' feet, so that instruction in dancing might give them an accomplishment certain . to bring other men to theirs. In the dance itself, as hitherto indulged in by its votaries of the ballroom, the most exciting changes ure impending, and if the suddenly aroused partisans of the old lacka daisical methods should be defeated it's peculiarly hard to prophesy jusf now the whole world of fashionable folk may find itself .whirling and leaping, as though the dancing madness of the Middle Ages had seized on humanity again. AND all becauas aome few good -took ln( young Russians hava been pirouetting on their toea outalda of their own special territory, by gra,-- cloua permlaalon of tha czar. Americana know aome, If not all of them, very well, both by eight and reputation. Already their im portance, In popular esteem, has grown to tha level where their actions, their opinions, their llftle, Jealoua bickerings. have an International Importance equal to that of prlncea. Michael Mordkln ahd Anna Pavlova had been spat ting. It vraa easy to comprehend what the 'spat wai about; the unprecedented rise to superior Importance of a man dancer, when, all dancing history of modern tlmee has doomed tha mala to the rola of a pi ere tnua cular supernumerary, was enough to make any distin guished artiste wild with rage and able to find about two million reasons why aha couldn't set along with him. Which of the two millions was taking them further . apart while their professional triumphs war Weeping them in apparently fond embraces doesn't matter. But tha consequence does. Peace had been patched up by t management aa passionately fond of money aa tba ondon public had become of. the dancera. They re sumed their Joint performance. Part of it was a Whirl of Pavlova's, held fast by tha Apollo-like Mordkln, that resembled a boy's spinning top. centrifugal forces . Included. Bhe looked like some fair, ethereal creature that dreams are made of; the flitting butterflies were groas beside her. It waa her instant of supreme glory, and for . that instant tha ascending atar of Mordkla 7r 7, v, r mi''1 V- ...a"',t.,:-iv was all but veiled, a motionless foil for Pavlova's brilliant feet Well, that waa precisely the Instant tha faithless Mordkln selected to let go of her.- Centrifugal force whirled the fairy form of Pavlova far out and dropped her hard, very hard. She aat down so hard that the house shook, and the whole audience realised. In cruel grins, that the belle of the Russian dancera. was com posed of the most prosaic and solid flesh and bone. If that had happened to a princess, about the same sort of an announcement would have traveled over the world to set aristocracy agog; with the dancera It traveled Just as far, to set all classes agrln. Mordkln. who has a wife of his own endowed with the delicate loveliness one sees In aome charming Frenchwomen, lived this summer In very modest lodg ings in Bloomsbury, where he was constantly under siege from English society women, who implored him to teach their daughters the art be ao admirably ex presses In his graceful peraon. EIGHT YEARS OF PRACTICE It must have amused his mocking spirit to hear them, cajoling, assure htm they are confident his genius could transform their awkward squads of girls Into beings of fiery suppleness, when he recalled the long and harsh ordeal of apprenticeship a real Russian dancer must serve at the Imperial School for Dancing In Bt Peteraburg, under M. Tokln, the merciless director. Bight years Is the term that Is required for turning out a qualified performer, and he muat be a cherub to begin with. The labor of training la an exercise of the heaviest order, resulting in an athlete beside whom the ordinary gymnast is simply so much raw material. Tet the dance Is only half of the leason to be learned. Those young students, are training to be actors as well as dancers, In so far as facial expreaslon can reveal the sentiments typified In every step snd pose. It waa. of course, farcical to think that ha could meta morphose an ungatnly girl into a sylph of airy light nets; but tha immense fees that were thrust upon him to accomplish the Impossible brooked no resistance. He took some puplla ahd' did the best he. could. Meanwhile, whenever ha made hia exit from the theater, great throngs of beauty-mad women awaited his appearance end olmnst mobbed him In their eager ness to be near the Ideal of male grace and strength. - I GUESS my kite and ball and bat Will have to do without me, For school's begun and I must go ; . But thry can think about me. We've had a fine old time this year. That we will all remember. But this vacation was so short Prom June just till September. , This goin' back to school again Would be a great deal better If 'twasn't for the startin' in And stoppin' your forgetter ' So sudden-like and painful that It almost makes ypu holler. It seems as if for one week more I'd almost giye a dollar. Sfc v ii ft) 04 J 7k r Vv. v:ti.. jy'";.-," - The performances were studied by thousands, rather than admired. Here and there In fashionable circle! the "Russian waits," a tempestuous performance that calls for all the awlft agility the most nimble dancer can command, began to be a favorite number. In the United States the fame of the Ruaslan waits promptly flared aa .far as Newport. Mrs. Pembroke Jones let it be known that aa aoon as Mordkln cams over he should demonstrate the steps at her Newport residence, Sherman Lodge. Everybody rose to the tiptoe of anticipation. But whether the tiptoes of practice and nothing abort of them win serve the terrific new waits win be felt la yet a little doubtful. While London's delight in it was just beginning to be noteworthy. Queen Mary let it be known that for all dancing functions at which she was present the undignified romps to which so ciety has been addicted of lata must be omitted. Mord kln and the Russian waits were not referred to; ignor ing both of them, while condemning In general tha class to which they belonged, was the most effective reproof. Her majesty's dictum Is not, however, quite, so final as Queen Victoria's used to be, and EngliOh social pleaaures hava loosened up amazingly since American J is 0 W"' ' '' There msy be some place, somewheres, that The boys just have vacation, Without thia goin' back to school To spoil anticipation. I wisht I knew where that place was ; You bet I'd go and find it. When I get big but what's the use! By that time I won't mind it. They say some fellers like to go To school and mind the teachers; But-mebbe that's just like p says, That folks is all queer creatures. And people can't be quite the same As even their own brothers. , So when some fellers don't like school, It's mebbe fine for others. i. i 7 7 i ( W A high spirits became a factor over there. In the United States the humble submission to British standarda of conduct, which prevailed years ago, Is just as liable to be laughed at aa It Is to be considered seriously. So the Russian waits stands a good chance of having at least one season of sweeping popularity here. Mordkln is only one of the men whose grace has enthralled femininity abroad. It would be a mistake to say that Pavlova and the other Women dancers of tha new Russian Invasion are entirely eclipsed by tha man. They are not, Mrs. Asqulth, wife of the prim minister of Great Britain, has set quite a social vogue for Pavlova, and Catrlna Geltzer, the Kusaian ballerina who appeared in "The Dance Dream," jne of tha coro nation ballets over there, has been creating a sensa tion all her own. But her partner, M. Tlchorniroff, has steadily ad vanced in popularity. He teems to have. In common with the other men dancera who come out of Russia, a physical beauty that Is Irresistible to women and an obvious strength, underneath the supple grace of his movements, which compels the respect of the men. The truly dominant new star of this brilliant little group Is, however, M. N'ylnsky, a dancer who figured In the sensational ballet of "Scheherazade" at Coyent Garden. For him the waiting throngs have an eager nesa of welcome that arguts something more than love of the artistic and beautiful. The influence of sex seems to radiate from him and bring his enthusi asts to him in abject shoals. Nor are the common run of people alone In their extravagant devotion to him. He figures as the most popular drawing card at pri vate entertainments, especially for fashionable women who, two or three years ago, would have resented as an affront the intimation, that they could possibly devote an evening to a function simply because a man dancer happened to be engaged by the hostess at iibOO per dance. The ballet in which he appears is universally rec ognised aa the limit to which erotic dancing can go. When It cornea to the harem scene, where the beauti ful odalisques riot with the stalwart Ethiopians they have admitted to the forbidden walls, audiences have fairly gasped at the nbondon of the dancing and nwaif In shocked apprehension the climax. It Is harmless' enough; but Hie -nntish stage has never had such a pace of passion set for It. Nylnekl lacks Utterly the lofty type of beauty that characterises Mordkln, whose chlreled features and 3 -J. 4 4 y ' curling hair might belong to some boy favorite of old Rome or to the original of some Grecian atatuagf Hermes. , t. ,, The Nylnsky type is delicate enough, but sens uSt. wim me grosser leatures ana tne naming eyes popu- fierily tropical, and his dancing bears out the promUe of his looks. - The enormous vogue that has attended tha appear ance or tnese men oancers seems, tnus lar, to nave daunted rather than inspired them with the vanities,! of singers and actors suddenly taken up by society. ; , They haven't acquired the self-satisfied alrsi of the ramous tenor wno imagines ne own, mu """ hearts. They are rather like poor working men. with, , nfrftta nt HffM mennnmv n4 hard common sense. Who drop Into fortune. It seems so unreal to them that they won't let a penny slip. They live modestly and hoard all their earnings, for such great Incomes a they are receiving now, between their salaries ar.4 their fees, will amount In a short time to Independent fortunes In Russia. That Is one reason why they are preserving the reapect that Is paid to them as men, and perhaps lt:ls another reason why they remain the idols of the women, for it leaves them beyond possession. Doesn't Speak as He Passes Himself By & TjP NEAR Tidloute there is a man who has Ujjd I alone for twenty years. His house clings to'tho side of Knob Hill at Its steepest and most un inviting place. His name Is James, but any on wh happens to know him and speaks to him at all fl.l mm "jimmy." , " Jimmy got Into the habit of talking to himself; , years ago, soon after his wife died. He has entertained himself in a conversational way since then wltHaUt . Interruption until yesterday. 1 esterday Jfhimy f ell stt with himself. It seems, over sone trifling matter,"o aouot, ana an colloquial relations aprupuj -At least that was the inference drawn by Dan) Hopkins, who happened to meet Jimmy on the read t ... . nt :,. Hello! Jimmy!" yelled Hopkins, "how are yen today r I uon t Know, replied jimmy, wiin a iraoe oi irri tatlon in his voice. "I ain't on sneakln' terms wit nieeself Jlst now J . What Would the Next Row Bc?5 wwKNXIS PLINN had cleaned out the tows' asil I B ' . MAK.lnva iMhll.. Vf a Bt KLICi 0 11 W FT a, JUlt.lLM, 1,1 W W ,..1 u, .vwvw u, v ' -a' orlal day exercises and other doings for ats teen years without making a single complaint .tAS last he fancied he had a kick, coming, and he watt into the mayor's office to register It. ;la. "What is it. Dennis." asked the mayor, aa Denftls meekly entered. , ' f ' , "it s aDOut tne nan. yer nonor. i ne nye aiano up m . the rear, they do, an' they chew an' they spit durln' fpo lntlre performance. An' not a wor-rud would Ot say, yer honor, but the varmints they will spit all overlbe -legs of the chairs in the back' row. and on the plao 'where the chairs do be fastened to the Dure, an' hard, work It Is for a man of me age to stoop down an' scrub'' It off. There's a favor til would ask or vee honor this mornln' In resplct to It.",'' -,.!,'. "What Is that. Dennis " U "Indade, Ol would ask yer honor for permission an authority to do away wit' the back row of seats lntolrely. Nobody lolkes to sit In the back row any how. yer honor, an sinseless It Is to have It I the halt at all, at all." . . . -; u ' , . Poor, Indeed A TAX collector in a Pennsylvania county return? an assessment of $10,000 against a Mr. Miser for bonds believed to be owned by him and not list for taxation. Mr. Miser appealed to the county eom ' misaloners to vacate the assessment, alleging that 'to poaaessed no such bonds, Mr. Miter was subjected to a vigorous examination as to the taxable property .he owned, but he disclosed very little if any, in conclo1 ing the hearing tha chairman of the board of oommla. sionera remarked: , "We are convinced, Mr, Miser, that the assesser made a mistake In assessing you for tha bonds, and w have concluded to cancel your entire tax return, as we are satisfied from your testimony befurs this boar4 that you not only do not own tha bonds la question, but that you do not even own up." , An Attack oirFather , SIX-TEAR-OLD Ethel, in her little cot in the ne room, was disturbed one morning by the snorlinf of her father, who did admit that he sner 1 When he Jay on hia back, Ethel sat up In bid. "Mamma." she cried, "can't you make papa aloft ' : hia Bosaf i.:.. .