PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 4, 20 January 1937, Page 5

PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS

Miss Valerie Hill-, Napier, is spendmg a holidav in - Wellington. Mr ■ and :MrS Mark Lewis, with their daughter - Betty-, -wlio have been on a fortnight's .visit -to .Mr .and Mrs Sam . Harris. Napier, left. yesterday for their .home in. Invercargill. -. • -. t ■ . . ■ ' "... ■ Miss Lettiee Hunter. Havelock North, returned yesterday from twelve months spent abroad ' Miss Hilary Cbnper/'who is training at the New* Plymouth Hospital, xs spending her holidays* with the Misses Gouper, Waihotoa. Havelock North. ( Miss Margaret Miller arrlved from Wellington this week to'stay with her parents, .Mr, and . Mrs W. Nicholson Millor, Havelock North. , , Mrs. ,Guy . Rqchfort and Miss Alix Kochfort, who . have been touring in Great Britain and on the Continent, returned to their home in Duke street, Hastings, yesterday. Miss M. Thu'rston, of Wanganui, is visitihg " Hastings, and is* the guest of Mr and Mrs J; Seton. Miss Molly. Sheild, ■ Waikonini, Napier, . is .the . guest of Mrs Brian Burke, Ormond,. Gisborne. Mrs K. Reed, Gisborne, who has been visiting her . sister, Mrs C. Ruby, Masterton, and her daughter,- Mrs Ronald Douglas, Glenogle, Poukawa, has returned home. Mrs ' John Winlove, Herbert street, Waipukurau, '* lehvas •Wellington on Thursday for Sj'.dney, .wkere she will connect with the Ormonde for Great Britain. It is Mrs> Winlove 's intention to spend some months in England, visiting -relatives and friends in various parts of ' England. Mrs Rpy.Guyy Wanganui, is spending a few-days .with Mrs I*. 'Renner, Hinemoa Terrace, 'Waipukurau.

WIGS WAVED FOR RUSSIAN . BALLET GIRLS A thousand ballet costumes and 600 pairs of ballet shoes form part of the equipment of the Russian Ballet, -which is at present in South Africa. Fragile "tutus, " whether of stifi'ened tartalan or net or of chiffon, only with the utmost care last three months at the most. . They are made of anything from six to twelve layers of fabric, and each tutu Hs composed of nine yards of material. Before a ballet is performed every iuch of stuff in the costume must be liand-sl retched into shape, for if it is ironed the stuff loses its crispness. Before eaeh ballet takes the stage, Madame Savitzka, chief costumier, examines the dancers in the wings, with the . ^igilance of an army major. Nbt a ribbon may be loose on a shoe, not a shoulder strap awry, not a hbolt unfastened. The dancers go before the footlights turned out to perfection, but when the curtain falls on their performance the pristine loveliness of their go\vns is ruined. Grease paint has. marred the virgin white of a chiifon frock; kneeling-on the floor h'as left dust marks on a Chineso cunic, and the constant handling of a ballerina by her partner in her pirouettes has imprinted fingermarks at the waistline. Soap and water and "the invaluable benzine are the closest friends of the wardroba staff, and when a soiled costume is too stubbotn to respond to these treatments it is hurried to the dry cleaners. To help* Madame Savitzka .there are three assistants — one Prench, oue Russian, and one South African — for onc alone could not mend the broken shoulder straps, * parted * seams; and loosened ribbons and hooks which are in constant need of attention. Tho eare of these thousand costumes is by' ho nleans the only respdnsibility in dressing the ballet. Mr Grizo, regisseur of costumes and props, has the special duty of ' supervislng the thousands of boots and shoes worn by the dancers, their perukes and stage props.. • - - ■ uofore the company .left Europe,. M. Blum bought 600 spare pairs of ballet shoes for the South African tour, and included. sparkling satin toe slippers for the women and the softest kid dance shoes for the men. In addition to these supplies the dancers wea,r some thousands of pairs of ballet shoes and boots, , which require daily attention. The wigs, too, form no mean phrt of the wardrobe upkeep, for they must be constantly rewaved and combed by professional hhirdrcssers. Apart from . the special wardrobe stalT, flve women and three men dressers are kept hard at. work at every performance. In- one particular ballet there is a group of dancers who are required to change their costumes- eight times during the performapce, and this so quickly that the dressers must stand in the wings, with costumes in hand to elfeet a lightning change. •'For me it is very important that every dancer is dressed r lperbly, ' ' said M. Blum, father of the "Tkuiots de Monte Carlo," to an interviewer, "I have paid well for artists to design the costumes, and for a wardrobe mistress to translate those designs, and now I am satisfi'ed that the result has been worth the expenditure of £20,000 on dressing, scenery, and settings.