We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
37
A typical group of dancers supplied by the ballet schools for the movies, at a moment's notice.
Stars D
ance
numbers in the movies, and this interesting article tells of unknown girls who are needed for prologues and movie theaters.
Wooldridge
May McAvoy was trained in toe dancing for "The Jazz Singer."
have taken lessons in his school. He employs nine assistants. A wearied expression was on his face as he replied to mj questions.
."Most of these are city girls," he said. "A few come from small towns. Seldom is there one from the country. Of the five thousand we've trained, possibly five hundred have procured employment in ballets or revues, and fifty went on the stage to win success as solo or specialty dancers. Understand, however, that not all who take dancing lessons do so with a view of becoming professionals. A very large percentage dance to round out their figures, and build up their health."
He pointed to a gray-haired woman, possibly past fifty years of age, who was working smoothly by the side of a girl of sixteen, in a rhythmical folk dance, and doing it apparently without effort.
"When she came here less than a year ago," he said, "she was hollow-chested, anaemic, colorless. And that little boy over there was a pale, puny youngster, who looked as though he had not long to live. Look at him now !
"You are asking about girls for the ballet, though. Well, look over this class of twenty-five and pick out those you think will make it. Let's have your opinion."
I scanned the lot, some lumbering along with all the vigor of muscular Percherons pulling loads of brick up a hill ; some evidently counting, "One, two, three — one, two, three !" as they went through their
Fanchon and Marco have two thousand dancers on call.
steps mechanically. And some were merely "among those present." But a girl in pink was smiling and dancing as easily and lightly, it seemed, as a sprite. And there was another in blue who, although heavy of limb, was putting all her energy into , her work.
"The girl in pink, and the girl in blue," I ven/ tured.
"You're right. The girl in blue will taper off those legs as she progresses. There are a few others, too, who show promise. But you've picked the best, and you can get an idea just what percentage of students learn to dance professionally.
"Mentality, you understand, has a lot to do with the success of a dancer. A quick, alert mind brings ready response from the body."
"But I thought many of the girls one sees in the first and second rows are more or less dumb," I suggested. Continued on page 102