Preparing a French Ballet Girl.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 270, 6 June 1888, Page 6

Preparing a French Ballet Girl.

Tiik process of pioparing a French bullet nil 1 tor licr drbut has been divulged by a lady who is a professor of the art of kalas it may bo termed. The danseu^c who is about to /hire son mastic sits before her looking-glass, and ovei face, aims, neck, shoulders, and bosom she spreads a coat of liquid white, which dries and forms a .sort of varnish. This first coat she greases with a little cold cream, and perfume- it with a dash oipoudre, de ri:. Then she touches up her cheeks with vermillion. heightens the red of her lips with carmine, magnifies the contour of the ej'es with kohl, paints her eyebrows with Indian ink, pricks out a few veins, and the mastic i<- complete. This operation requites at least half-an-hour. Next the dancer draws on her silk tights, and ne\t she dons her underskirt ; then follows the corsage, the five or ten gauze skirts, or whatever more or less succinct costume may be worn ; and finally, the bracelets, earrings, and miscellaneous jewellery which these young ladies will insist on wearing. Thus equipped, she bounces on to the stage, smiling, fresh, and gay, and Hitting with easy grace through her pas, applauded by the admit ing audience. But the moment that her back is turned to the public the smile vanishes, her face becomes serious, her features are grimacing and brown with fatigue, and as e-he passes us we see that she is panting for breath and bathed in perspiration. And by the time she has finished dancing she will be so worn out that she will scarcely have strength enough left to crawl upstairs to her dressing-room, while she will need to be rubbed down and tended like an overtaxed racehorse. This is the reality, the reverse of the ideal.