The' Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page!
St
i
Poston
Interesting Discussion
of the Effects
ARBS
Op.
on Morals of Bare-
Foot Society Dancing
Aroused by the
Action of Boston's
Mayor in Forbidding It
Why Barefoot Dancing Is Bad
- i . By Mayor Curley ' of Boston
' i- ' i (in an Interview)' r , , ,. '
IT la unfortunate that those elements of society, who through their it .
i Uoua . In, life and financial positions have not developed sufficiently:
high moral standards to realize that they are expected to furnish ex-!
amples ot culture-and refinement thai merit public approval, should stand
s.vlolaters of the laws that. have been enacted, to safeguard the morality
of the city. ' , ; ' " .' ; ' ' ' ..
Under existing laws there cannot, In Justice, be a dual code one
ruling for the wealthy and still another ruling for the . poor. AlJ must be ;
subject to the same restraint ' . , . '
To permit girls to dance with their. limbs bare from the knees down,'
under the thinly veiled guise of Grecian or' Greek art, Is but to'make It;
extremely difficult in the vaudeville theatres of the city to determine ;
where art ends and immortality or Indecency begins.
' T
i VERY worldly-minded person
r will agree that those Boston
j suffragettes would have made
more money out of their Suffrage
Carnival if they had danced In their
bare feet, according to their Inten
tion as originally announced. How
ever Puritan Boston remains in Its
official capacity, the multitude of Its
nrtvate citizens are as eager for
stage sensations as those of any
other city.
Boston's private citizens didn't put
tin corsets on Boston's publicly ex
hibited Venuses, nor do they bury
nudemarble mythological ladles in
tae cellar of their Public Library.
Undoubtedly they would have spent
their dollars Joyfully to see those
pretty "Suffs" dance at the Cort
Theatre in their bare feet.
For the good of the cause those
pretty suffragettes were QU'ta willing
thus to expose- thr stockingless
Mrs. Florence Fleming Noyes,
tootsies. It is on record that they
went to Mayor Curley for a permit
to do so. The Mayor didn't deny
that the caue was a worthy one,
but
NO! YOU WILL KEEP YOUR
STOCKINGS ON!
That was Mayor Curley's ultima
tum. He flatly turned down , that
pretty suffragette barefooted dancing
idea. And In order that his reasons
should not be misunderstood by the
cruelly disappointed Boston public
he set them fortU in the statement
printed eUewbere on this page.
All this was an opportunity too
rich and Juicy for the "Antis" to
let go by In silence. Their merry
chortles were heard all over Bos
ton. Women in the Political Equality
Union, which had charge of the Suf
frage Carnival, and who bad not been
present when the Mayor was asked
to let those pretty dancing suf
fragettes forget about their stock-
a
. s ,--.." 'swsMsr-" w rv
I . . y " " ' , " -"- ' " f-' ' I ' ' ' '
.-- . s . . - , - - . vy. , ,.,.... .. .. .. . .., J
lngs, denied that any such shocking
stocking request had been. made. . v
"It was," declared the "Antis.:
"It wasn't," said the Political
Equality Union. '.,,'. .
'"Twas.".
'"T wasn't." ' ' , v
Well, you know the general, trend ,
of feminine arguments. . Altogether
there was about a column ot it, with
variations. '
Mrs. Samuel H. Wallace, the PoliU
ical Union's president, was partic
ularly indignant In making her
denial for publication. She said:
"Barefoot dancing? Well, I should
say not! The idea! ' As suffragists
there is" nothing we would more op
pose. Somebody has been trying to
Injure . us- that's all. . That's the
secret of this thing. It's the Antis '
that's who It Is. You can quote
me as saying so, too.
"This Is a critical time for our
party. The Antis know It as well as
we do ourselves. Consequently why
should we invite criticism by allow
ing these girls these children. X
might say to appear In public bare
footed? You don't suppose I would
allow a daughter of mine to appear
jiuj y..
in a Pose of Her "Water Nymph Dance" Given at Newport.
on a public stage lu naked legs, do
you? Well, I guess not. And you
don't suppose I'd allow anybody
else's daughter to, either, do you?
No, sir, I wouldn't not for a minute!
The very idea!
"I knew what these girls" wers
going to wear right from the start,
and you can bet they Intended to
wear stockings, too! Mayor Curley
was misinformed, that's all. - These
young omen appear in bare legs?
These girls society buds? Well, I
should say not. ' You couldn't hire
them to for $1,000 a week."
Miss Mary Ware Laughton was ii
charge of the Creek dancing num
bers on tne programme. Except
with regard to this affair, she has
an open mind on the subject of bare
foot performances. Here is her con
tribution to the controversy:
"These young women dance bare
legged? Why, absurd! he idea of
such a thing! In the first place they
I - . " (
7 m!
1 V
wouldn't ( think of -doing It them
selves, and in the second place I
would never allow such a thing.
"I don't mean to say I am unal
terably opposed to barefoot dancing.
I believe it is permissible ot profes
sionals. It Is art. But here tbee
young women never! To circulate
such a story Is a shame. It is un
fair. It Is mean."
The thing that is disturbing the
minds of the prdlnary, unofficial peo
ple of Boston la exactly where to
draw the line of prohibition respect
ing bare feet. In their town bare
feet In public are evidently taboo un
der any conditions professional or
amateur, hi;h art or for vaudeville
performances. The two most cele
brated barefoot dancers who ever
performed anywhere In this country
are Isadora Duncan, with a famous
revival of a whole ancient Grecian
dancing and pantomime system for
her ethlcaj background, and Anna
Copyright.
f-- - S h in inn llli
Mist
,
;
Miss , i
Elvira Rhind,
One of ' '
the ;
Fashionable
Society '
Amateurs, in
the Bare ,
foot Dance
..the Boston
Mayor
Forbade.
i'avloa, the most world-celebrated
of the Russian dancers.
The Mayor forbade both of these
famous dancers appearing in Boston
publicly in their bare feet.
Elsewhere, as the Bostonians well
know, the art of barefoot dancing In
flowing classical draperies is cul
tivated publicly In the most fash
ionable circles. There are fashion
able schools where such dancing ia
taught to girls belonging to the best
families in the land.
Mra. Florence Fleming Noyes
maintains such a school, and is her
self a society favorite with her
graceful dances in bare feet. At
Newport Mrs. Noyea was enthu
siastically received in her "Water
Nymph Dance," In bare feet and
otherwise costumed aa in the illus
tration on this pag. She even
danced In water, emerging from a
huge seashell and disporting herself
as a light-hearted sea nymph nat
urally would.
Among the numerous pupils of
Mrs. Noyes's school sre several very
pretty girls moving In the best so
ciety, who have distinguished them
selves in public as amateur dancers
in classical costumes which means,
, ot course, no covering on their feet.
Two of them appear in an attractive
dance photographed on this page
Miss Mary King, as Bacchus, and
Miss Winford Lawrence, as Bac
chante. In a large part of this country out
side of Boston .good society makes
no objection to attractive dances in
the bare feet, either society amateur
or stage professional. Mrs. John
by the Star Company.
Grsat BrltaJa
1
...
. r.
"V",
Mary King, as Bacchus, and Miss Winford Lawrence, m
One of the Fashionable Society Barefoot . ',, ,
' Dances Boston Opposes.
Miss Rhino" Feet ia the Same Pose b
Stockinged for Purposes of Com-
p arisen as to Decency. :
-. - , .... . , - , - , , -, v .. ,
. Jf" .. ... ... ."v . i fi
Baker and Miss Elvira Rhlnd both
pictured on this page In barefoot
dancing costume are favorites
among the society amateurs.
Perhaps these Illustrations will help
the reader to make up his or. her
mind about when barefoot dancing Is
all right and proper, and when it '
isn't. In all these illustrations It
will be noticed that the dancing is
"in character." It is not a case ot
Mrs. Noyes or Mrs. Baker pulling
off her shoes and stockings and hop
ping about in her bare feet. There
Is an Illusion about It. A story is
told in pantomime and dance. Mrs.
Baker or Mrs. Noyes bas ceased to
exist tor the moment; It is the cen
tral character In the story that la
doing the barefoot dancing Bac
chus, Bacchante, a Faun, a Water
Nymph, and so on.
Would you expect Bacchus. Bac
chante, a Faun or a Water Nymph
to dance In shoes and stockings?
That is the theory which is held
to Justify public dancing in bare feet
and' Rowing draperies. The women
end girls who do it even as society
amateurs have attempted to oblit
erate themselves as real women and
girls of these times, and to re
suscitate women and girls of ancient
Greece, or certain minor deities lu
Greek mythology.
Do persons holding the convictions
of the Mayor of Boston consider that
it is Impossible for a barefooted
dancing woman to obliterate her own
personality and become a myth
ological "character"? If an actual
Bacchante or Water Nymph should
apply to Mayor Curley for permis
sion to dance before the Bostonians
would she get It? Ot would she
have to put on shoes and stockings
and become a Mrs. Jones or a Mrs.
Robinson?
Probably Mayor Curley would rule
out these considerations. as subtleties
beyond comprehension of the general .
Boston public, and not comprehended
in the law enacted for the protec
tion of Boston morals. He is en
forcing the law s It stand.
Irrespective r' ti " nw, are bare
feet indecent". ,ire all bare
feet equally indecent? Are men's
bare feet less Indecent for public
display than women's bare feet, or
lUgnts Reserved
-r
-
V
vice versa? Which are more In
Jurtous to public morals, pretty bar
feet or ugly ones; of young girls or
matrons? Are public morals more
menaced by the bare feet ot pretty
women, or of ugly ones?
Questions on the subject are in
exhaustible. For example, why are
bare feet Indecent? Because, in
public, they are usually covered?
Would bare bands have a tendency
to corrupt public morals if they, too,
were customarily covered?
In what way Is a deterioration of
public morals, due to the display of
bare feet on the stage, malnfested?
Do the spectators feel constrained
Why the Bravest Airmen Get "Cold Feet
PROFESSIONAL aeroplane pilots
have long since ceased to be
. ashamed to confess that they
get scsred, and that a panic ot fear
while In the air may seise them at
any time. Why this is so is the sub
ject ot an article in a recent issuo
of the London Aeroplane.
It appeara that a filer with an
imagination Is never quite happy,
especially on a long flight In calm
weather when he has nothing to
occupy his attention- One pilot, who
is one of the finest fliers in England,
has a habit which is most disconcert
ing to his passengers, however con
soling It may be to him personally.
He will fly without a waver for per
haps half an hour, then suddenly
the passenger will Imagine that a
storm has struck them, for the ma
chine will stand first on one wing-Up
and then on the other, then It will
dive terrifically, and then it will al
most loop the loop. After that It
will calm down and fly for another
half hour, when the performance will
be repeated. After tbey have landed,
and the passenger has remarked on
the extraordinary aqualla Which
struck them when over certain
places, the pilot will casually ex
plain that he was merely looking
round at those Intervals to see
whether his tall was still there, and
was testing the controls see
I
" I
Mrs. John Baker 'as She Might Have Danced
in Boston-with the Mayor's Consent.
then and there to immorally kick off
their own shoes and stockings? Do
they go home -and beat their wives,
or take to drink, or become gunmen
and porch-cllrabers?
Mayor Curley in his statement re
marks that there cannot be ope rult
for the rich and another for the poof
regarding the bare feet prohibition,
and refers to the difficulty of re,
straining the vaudeville profession ir
matters affecting public morals'
Right here may be Justification foi
the whole business. Who could be
bold the average vaudeville actor ir
bore feet without feeling a deslr
to commit murder on the spot?
whether anything was trying to Jam
" Cold feet' may lead merely tc
proper caution, or U may lead to
complete loss of nerve. A pilot may
have cold feet of a certain machine
and so fly it with due respect tor Its
peculiarities, or he may have cold
feet of flying altogether. In which
case he had better give it up, for, H
he does not, be must take to 'doping,
which Is fatal.
"A particularly malignant disease
la 'constructor's cold feet,' In wbict
the victim, always on the ground
himself, watches every machine in
the air In a constant state of terror
expeoting it to fall In pieces when
ever it is moved by a gust, and when
a machine of his own or any other
make is on the ground, be Is always
pawing round It, finding some spot st
which it may break.
"But perhaps the most unpleasant,
form of the disease is "passenger's
cold feet.' It Is a trouble from which
military and naval observers are
particularly likely to Buffer, espe
cially since so many officers who are
not aviators have been attached as
observers. . ,
"But there Is one anxiety which,
under war conditions, can never be
absent from the passenger's mind
namely, that he baa a very poor
chance of coming out alive If hi:
pilot Is ntt