LURE OF THE STAGE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1375, 28 February 1912, Page 9

LURE OF THE STAGE.

According to an article in the "Ladies Field," entitled "Society and the Dancing Craze," the attraction of the stage to th» section of the community usually dubbed "society" was never grmtpr than at present. The uctr«sse-j who yearn to be taken for great ladies are not more numerous than the great ladies who long to be identified as actresses. Famous Continental artistes advertise their successes achieved in aristocratic salons, while a girl whoso natural place is among the highest in the land is prouder of her reputation as a classic dancer than of her beauty and exclusiveness. In fact, the stage and aristocracy seem to have a mutual enchantment the cno for the other, for the professional who has made her fortune uses every endeavour to bo admitted to the inner circles, while the impoverished aristocrat breaks away in a straight line for the stage. Countess Russell introduced drawing-room skirtdancing as long ago as 1890, and her performance canie upon the latter end of the Victorian reign with a shock. Since then, however, the world has beeomo hardened, and the London society dancer no longer wears "the modest ac-cordion-pleat, high on the shoulders and down to the feet," but she trips through her performance in scanty classic garb, often barefooted, without causing a flutter of any sort. "Indeed," says the writer of the article, "it would be difficult for a society daiicer to cause a sensation thoso times. ' . . "A society acrobatic tumbler might create diversion, but to see even, a duchess 'starring' as a 'strong woman' would not cause tho respeotablo world to shudder, as it certainly would have done a few years ago." Two of the famous Russian dancers who have captivated London by their exquisite grace have been so pestered by society women who wish to acquire their art that they have opened classes, mid the fee for the instruction is from five to twenty guineas for a single lesson.