Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

102 Continued from page 87 "Dumb !" exclaimed the maestro. "I should say not ! They are the girls who stood out above all the rest in tbeir dancing classes. They are girls with talent, grit, and initiative. They studied two, three, five, sometimes seven years, to win their first successes. You see these traits of character in the picture actresses who come for special training. Their personalities dominate. When Lillian Gish was here, she laughed and danced and played, with an abandon the world would never recognize. When May McAvoy and Vilma Banky trained here they worked as though it was all a romp. Did you see that charming little tango that Alice White danced in 'Show Girl' ? One of my assistants taught her, and I think she did splendidly." Week in, week out, as the movies call for stars to do special dances, they rush to the Belcher school. "Show me how it should be done!" they plead. The maestro teaches them the rudimentary steps, and then, if the dance is complicated, or too intricate, he supplies a double to complete it before the camera. When it comes to Hungarian, Russian, or gypsy dances, or Nautch, Javanese, or Egyptian it is often necessary to call on one of the trained pupils to help out. To the credit of the stars, however, let it be known that almost all the ordinary dances are executed by themselves, because they've had their training. John and June Roper, now dancing in Berlin, are Belcher pupils. So are Georgia Graves, at present dancing in the "Folies Bergere" in Paris ; Dorothy Dilley, who sprang into popularity in New York a few years ago in "The Music Box Review," and Beth Beri, who is now also dancing abroad. "One thing that might surprise you," said Mr. Belcher, "is that in a year we've found only two cigarette butts in the girls' dressing rooms. They get all the thrills they want from their dances, and do not have to turn to smoking for stimulation." Mr. Belcher :s not alone in the field of professional dance-training. In movieland we find the Marion Morgan dancers, the Earl Wallace, and the Theodore Kosloff dancers, and many others. Now, then, after these girls have completed their training — what? Where do they go? How do they find jobs? With these questions in mind, I went to Fanchon and Marco, producers of prologues, ballets, revues, and the like, for the movie theaters. There in the rehearsal hall were what appeared to be all the bare legs and naked arms west of Atlantic When tke Stars Dance City. There were little round-figured kids fit for pony ballets. There were the slim, svelte, straight bodies of girls of twenty. There were toe dancers, hula dancers, girls who knew the steps of the Gypsy Beggar, the Russian Mazurka, the Nautch, and those who could execute that weird serpent dance known as "The Sting of Death," that sensuous, exotic-dance which is done by the slave girls of India. A glamorous aggregation of professionals trained by Belcher, Marion Morgan, Kosloff, and similar maestros. "Two thousand at our beck and call," said Fanchon. "Most of them trained for stage work. Seventeen companies on the road. The studios call almost daily for ballets, special dances, or girls to pose in ensembles, or as models. Girls ! Girls ! Girls ! The Paramount studio asked for two hundred and fifty the other day, and we had them there in thirty minutes." Fanchon paused as a group of kids for a pony ballet went by chattering like magpies. They wore no skirts, but had on trunks and sandals. "They start in at forty dollars a week," she continued. "From that they earn as high as sixty dollars a week, increased two dollars at a time. Fifty per cent of those who come to us aspire to become solo dancers and get in on 'the big time.' The other fifty per cent arrive with no definite idea. Most of these want to know what we can do for them. "There aren't any special requirements as to size because we make up our ballets and ensembles in classes ■ — assigning the girls to the group to which they belong. We got up a 'Florodora Sextet' last year, for instance, composed of girls five feet six, or more, and then one of the cutest little ballets you ever saw for Ted Doner, in which there wasn't a girl more than five feet tall. "The principal requirement, of course, is a pretty figure. A long nose is fatal. Bow legs are a blight. Beyond the figure, the most important physical assets are good teeth and even features. A girl doesn't have to be beautiful — just round and regular. "The ideal size is about 5 feet 4; weight, 118 to 125 pounds; bust, 28 to 30 inches, and waist 25 to 26 inches. These are about all that matter. The tallest girl we can use is about 5 feet 7. We get twice as many brunettes as blondes and, in fact, we find that many of the blondes who have made themselves that way, give up and come back to dark hair after a few months' trial. "When a movie company sends word that it wants a ballet, of say twenty-four girls, to execute a dance in harmony with such-and-such a scene, we telephone for a certain 'herd,' show them what is to be done and, trained as they are, with a little practice they are ready overnight. The beautiful dancing numbers you see in the movies are not taught in the studios. The dancers arrive there ready with their offering, execute it and then leave. It's just a part of the scheme of things in picture making." When Bebe Daniels made "Take Me Home," an entire company of trained dancers were provided by Fanchon and Marco. As Bebe had to take a place in the line, it was up to her to learn to dance the steps, which she did nicely, before the scenes were shot. This has happened with other actresses repeatedly, thus reversing the usual procedure of the subordinates following the star. "The present-day system of teaching dancing in the public schools, of starting girls in tennis and gymnastic work, is having a most wholesome effect upon the girls of this country," Fanchon continued. "The girl who can turn cartwheels, handsprings and do the drills now common, finds herself splendidly prepared to take up dancing. The Charleston and Black Bottom have been incentives to buck dancing, and physical-culture drills have helped pave the way for acrobatic dancing. "We get about three classes of girls on our rolls. The first and best consists of chorus girls who have ambition combined with talent, and have studied a little. The second consists of girls who have gone to dancing school from time to time since they were tots. They're not especially nice looking, but are independent and selfreliant. They're not so good ! The third class is made up of those who have gone to every kind of dancing school on earth. "With the theaters and the movies demanding more and more girls, good pay is assured. Costumes are supplied, of course. On salaries ranging from forty to sixty dollars a week they can dress neatly, send a little money home, if necessary, and live well. Then there is always the chance of advancing into something better as they go along. They have learned that if they expect to remain at work, they must live carefully. Excesses will 'get' them. Wild parties cannot be included in their daily routine. Many sad examples of such folly have been shown them in the past." "Then you mean," I asked, "that these little ponies have become sweet, little mamma-girls, who stay at home and sew and read during idle hours?" "Yes, to a certain extent. They're Continued on page 105