A CELEBRATED DANCER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1913, 12 February 1885, Page 2

A CELEBRATED DANCER.

The celebrated danseuse, Fanny Elssler, whose death at Vienna is reported, was . born ij) Vieipj ill JBl}, \ cofrypljep of the opera (Jtyelfc in a adjgimng the residence 'of Herr Elsler, An intimacy subsisted between the families, an<} the glitter of the stage had often dazzlod the vision of the sisters, Fanny and Therese Elssler, and they were constantly asking from their neighbor an admission to the. theatre, The first visit fixed the destiny of the' sisters. Fanny immediately made application for a place in tlie ballet, and her handsome face and figure and bright intelligence at onoe secured hev lier desire She was in the b'allat iv'heii fagliqiji irjade her tfeimi in Viehnqi, Qer progress was so rapid that the' directory -yeiy-shortly' assigned hor a part in the ballet, Within a year she was called on to' rehoarao the the principal part in the ballet'of "La Fee, Her success was unequivooal, The Royal Family of Naples invited her to their capital. She went, she saw, she conquered, and returned in triumph to be installed as premiere danseuse of the Vienna Imperial Grand Opera, It was upon her return that occured a passage it) tyer Ijfe wl(jch, justly on nqt, has tliro\yii a (fork ipi}'it?" fjje Duke qI Reicljata'tjt, fhe yoijng jijiig gf Rome, was then residing in' Vienna, He was the subject of great difficulty withMatternioh, who was then directing the dostinies of Austria, It is said that this wily and heartless statesmen desiring to got him out of the way, and with this view employed Elssler to play the serpent and crush him in her folds, Bo this as it may, they lyerc hrpwgjit together, " The Duke was tljon very young and delicate. He beoome at one deeply fasoinated with the beautiful Fanny, and sho was fond of him, In the early part of his illness she attended him with much devotion, but before his death she left Vienna and appeared a(;Berlji), Qlfj Iflqjj Ferdinand was sajjj. fa ftp pj} $ TO} fo Jjei; fascinations. He wrote: " I love hor because to lqok at her brings back my youth" and he certajiily pffered her a permanent engagement fln aii'y tow she wd as a further inducement fpr her tig reside in Berlin, an annual life pension was offered her of 3,000d015, providing she would engage to dance there for ten years, but she declined and proceeded to London, where she again carried the town by storm. Offers of marriage from men in the first circle of society met her in ever}' city. Sj}e was followed from London to Paris by bevieg ttf infajuated swains. Fanny was fastidious in hoi 1 fanciep. The only tender passions, opon and declared, toiyhioh she yielded besides that for the young K(ng of Rolne', ( was one for his- illegitimate brother, Count Walowski, who was afterward "the friend of Rachel. Ho was the father" of"' her son, and, judging from her. letters, she was passionately in love , with him. T)w Prince of Syracuse, brother of the. King of Naples, was tljp fafchpr pf her. daughter. Both her fjqn and the lpisband' of her daughter were Austrian barons. In England she had a long train of devoted admirers.