Part 22

Petit Battement--Low beating.

Petit Battement avec Port de Bras--Low bending [Transcriber's Note: beating?] with arm movements.

Petit Battement sur le Cou de Pied--Small beatings around the ankle.

Petite Rond de Jambe--Small foot circles described on the floor.

Plier--To bend the knees.

Pirouette--An artistic turn executed on one foot.

Pointe--The toe.

Port de Bras--Carriage of the arms. The five arm movements are: Bending, stretching, raising, lowering, turning.

Rond de Jambe--Circles in the air executed by the leg.

Sauté--To hop.

Step--A placing of the foot in any direction and transferring the weight onto it.

Terre à Terre--A series of pas de bourrées of four or more steps.

Three-step Turn--A complete turn, right or left, in three steps.

Tortiller--To turn or twist the leg.

Tour de Basque--A basque turn; pirouette de basque.

Tour Jeté--Jeté with a turn; one step sideward to right, one leap and complete turn; one step sideward onto right foot.

Tour Sauté--One step, one hop, turning completely around in direction of the step.

MR. WAYBURN ADDRESSES THE BEGINNERS' CLASS IN BALLET TECHNIQUE

You have now advanced in your studies to where it becomes necessary to train yourselves for the stage mentally as well as physically. You have acquired the flexibility, strength of body and symmetry of form that was promised in my earlier courses to those who faithfully attended class and persistently practiced at home.

You have progressed through the hard foundation technique to a point where you are physically fitted to undertake the beautiful work of our ballet technique.

But now that you are entering on a new phase of your life work, it is no time to let down and by carelessness lose what you have already acquired by your obedience to your studio instruction. I am sure you will not disappoint me by doing this.

Please bear in mind you have still some hard work before you, both mental and physical hard work, before you are ready to capitalize your efforts, to get the substantial rewards that come to the graduate pupils of these courses. You can by looking back a few weeks see your own improvement. You are able today to do many things of value in a stage career that when you entered here you found impossible of accomplishment. But you are still in the formative period as to the finished product, as represented by the solo ballet, the stage work par excellence, to which you all aspire, and in which you will realize your fondest hopes when you possess its full technique as we teach it.

You are more fortunate than you may realize in having available the benefit of our ballet technique instead of having to go through the long years of excessive labor that would have been your lot if you lived abroad and wished to become a premier danseuse. Long training, at least four years' daily instruction and practice, is required of ballet students in England, France, Italy, Russia, or anywhere else in the world. The foreign methods tend to bunch the muscles. You have seen dancers with knotted calves, bunchy knees, huge thighs, all the result of the old technique. As you know, we insist upon your preparing for the ballet course by taking our limbering and stretching exercises, and today you know why. You have a genuine foundation to build upon. Your bodies are lithe and supple, your muscles hard yet not misshapen, and you have advanced by easy stages through the foundation work to where you are today, ready for the finishing touches.

In your ballet work you must be careful how you land when you jump into the air. My system lands the body with the knees bent, otherwise you might undermine your health. To come down full weight on your heels repeatedly would prove very injurious.

Keep your muscles exercised. There is no better exercise for the dancer than walking, and three miles a day is none too much. Take long deep breaths out of doors. Horseback riding, golf, tennis, all are good for you. Dancing itself is the best exercise you can have, but when you have a one-hour lesson or more, and then practice at home three or more hours daily you will find walking a rest, a relaxation, because it is a change of work.

Occasionally we have a Pupils' Frolic in our own Demi-Tasse Theatre, to give you a chance to do a turn before a friendly audience. This is good experience and encourages talent.

Some of you sing. Some are accomplished in other forms of dancing. I like to hear your voices and see your dances. They may be valuable aids to you in your stage work, even if not just of a stage character. I can tell about that when you sing or dance for me. Anyway, they indicate that you have talent and are accomplished and able to improve yourself, and that suggests that you possess a personality of your own, one of the great essentials of your future success. Sometimes we arrange special exhibitions for charity affairs and call upon our best talent to appear in these. Such an opportunity is very valuable experience for you and I am glad for your sake always when I can get you a chance to appear in public or social affairs, to give you self-confidence and inspiration.

Now one more very important lesson you must learn before you finish here, and that is in the art of makeup. For it is an art, and one that every actress must be fully posted upon. If you don't know how much depends upon correct makeup, come and ask me about it and I will tell you. We hold classes in makeup in our Demi-Tasse Theatre on occasional Saturday afternoons. I advise you to secure a place in this class soon. You will find it very interesting and valuable. Your application should be made at the counter in the main business office. The charge is $2.00 for a class lesson, and we teach our own methods, dry, cream, and grease-paint makeups. Usually we take three girls, a blonde, a brunette and a red-head, and make them up in class, explaining the work as we do so. For private instruction in makeup our charge is $5.00 a lesson.