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How Dancin
Beautifiimflire
Copyright, 191”. by the felai Company. Great Britain Bights Reserved.
Third of an In*
structive Series
of Articles by
the Well*Kjiown
Dancer,
Ruth St. Denis
T HIS newspaper present* to-day the third
of a series of articles by the most grace
ful woman in America- Miss Ruth St.
Denis is the foremost dancer in the United
States. Her fame, not limited to her own coun
try, is worldwide.
Miss St. Denis has literally danced before
kings, having been received and admired in the
courts of Europe. She is a mistress of the art
of expression without words, pantomime, and
is deeply learned in the*grace and beauty lore
of the Orient. She advises her countrywomen
upon a subject in which every woman is inter
ested, how to improve her figure, and tells them
in clear, forceful manner and careful detail how
this can be done. She does not hesitate to
point to the faults in the figures and carriage
of her countrywomen, but while she tells of the
evil she also describes the remedy.
Photo sY
Wm ite *
“Dance ‘vith the upper part of the body, swaying with the
arms and trunk.”
‘‘Don’t dance with the * feet
alone. Dance from the
thighs, with long, rhythmical
movements. Dance with the
upper part of the body.”
No. 3—The Waist and Hips
By Ruth St. Denis
w M / Tf • Ay y
I
lT WILL surprise you. i fancy,
that i assei t at me beginning
of a talk on how to make the
hips ami waist symmetrical, that
you must free them from stays and
bandages.
In imagination l hear the chorus
of “Oh, nos!” that goes up from the
dismayed throats of my women
readers. Yet I repeat it. and with
ten fold emphasis.
There can be no symmetry with
out freedom of movement. Grace
is freedom and movement, and grace
brings about symmetry. So cast off
those stays. Remove those ab
dominal and waist bands. Permit
yourself absolute freedom of move
ment. When you bend to pick up
something do not do so with
groans and with creaking joints.
When you stoop to pick up some
thing let your
whole body col
lapse. Utterly let
it go. Pick up the
object, be it a pin
or a rug, easily
and naturally, and
when you rise let
the muscles glide
naturally back to
their first posi
tion.
Photo, jyy
Otte SahomY' Nf v.
‘‘I learned to
dance with na
ture’s aid. No
one has ever
taught mf a
dance step.”
In all your household duties do
this. If you are making a bed or
laundering your own handkerchiefs
or lifting the baby that has stum
bled and hurt its toe do so in an
easy, untrammel
ed way, and grad
ually. after a few
weeks or months,
you will be re
warded for the
temporary sacri
fice to your van
ity by going un
co rseted. The
freed muscles,
awkward after
their long impris
onment, that at
first went roam
ing about your
person in a way
that seemed to
O',
ft, -v
“Describe as nearly as possible a circle, as a wind sways slightly in a light
breeze and nearly wrenches itself from the roots in a high wind.”
you appalling, will
gradually settle
back into their
proper place, and,
growing firm, re
main where they
belong and adjust
themselves to the
harmony of the
body.
The Venus de Milo had
generous hips. Also she
had a stomach, and wasn't
ashamed of it. If you re
flect that the woman who
has not a curving stomach
i s a monstrosity you will
be ashamed of a fiat
one instead of desiring it.
Hips and a waist that
are in right proportion to
the rest of your figure are,
then, what you want. Ask
vour tailor to tell you, and
use the tape measure to cor
roborate his statements, for
tailors may not always be
frank, whether your shoul
ders are exactly as wide as
word, they balance tfiem. Ask
your hips, whether, in a
him also to give you the
measurement of your bust and
waist. If your bust is ten
inches larger than your waist
the curve from one to the
other is correct. If there be
more than ten inches differ
ence, the waist is relatively
too small or the bust relative
ly too large.
That is the correct stand
ard, and the body inclines
naturally to it. The body that
hs=. been by imprisonment in
stays twisted out of and away
from the standard will slowly read
just itseif to it if you release i<t from
its imprisonment and give it free
dom. For symmetry follows free
dom inevitably as the shadow the
sunshine, though I admit not quite
so quickly, because it takes consid
erable time to readjust one's self aft
er a tortured condition.
The symmetrical body will have
hips and waist neither too large nor
too small, but to use a hearty phrase
that is thoroughly and typically
American, "just right.” How to at
tain these? Of methods I suggest
three.
First, think of straight lines. The
straight line suggests thinness. You
never saw a plump straight line.
But, what is far more important,
dwelling in thought upon the
straight line accustoms you to bal
ance, which Is perfect adjustment
of all parts of the body. Keep in
mind that a straight line represents
tne centre of gravity and that if such
line were dropped from the very
apex of the crown of your head, it
would reach the earth at a point
equidistant between your feet.
It is a well known truth, undis
puted by even the most material, In
fact the most material persons give
the best examples of it, that we be
come like that about which we think
a great deal.
Stooping often and letting the
body collapse when you stoop, to
which I have already referred, will
bring the hips into place, solidify
them and give the waist its right
proportion to the body. But make a
practise of stooping. Don’t sink to
your knees when you pick up any
thing. Bend from the waist, and (lo
so quickly with the free, swooping
motion of a bird. Do Ibis when you
turn on your bath and the dozen
other things your daily habits ref
quire. Don’t make fastening your
shoes a labor. Regard it as a means of
establishing tlie right proportions of
your body and swoop down upon
.vour task. Indeed, I should like to
change the word from “stooping” to
“swooping." And, of course, we have
understood that you must dance.
You will dance. I have before told
you that to dance is to live. Dancing
is life. If you dance much your
body will assume its proper propor
tions, and, waist and hips will take
care of themselves.
Don’t danqp with feet alone. Dance
with the free, unimpeded limbs.
Dance from the thigh, in long rhyth
mical movements. You have only to
watch some persons dance to see
that they are dancing with their feet,
or at most with the lower half of the
leg, for their poor kneeB bob up and
down absurdly as we see the knees
of an inexpert and ungraceful walker
rise and fall. The movement In walk
ing should be forward and from the
hips. And dancing is only walking
made a little more complex.
Dance also with the upper half of
the body. Sway with the arms and
trunk from one side to the other,
and as nearly describe a circle as
a tree sways in a light breeze and
nearly^ wrenches It from its roots in
a hard wind. Settle the hips into their
right place and Nature will “place
them,” so to speak. The right plac
ins of muscles is as important as
the right placing of a voice.
Teach yourself to dance. No one
ever taught me a dance step.
When to Get TVIarried to be Happy
By Professor William H. Maccabee.
T HE “June Bride” whose marriage turns out un
happily probably wonders why the tenderest
love on both sides, physical and mental fitness
for each other, worldly prosperity and social equality, all
failed to save her from matrimonial shipwreck.
But the unhappy wife who was a June bride is not
the only one who wonders why all these favorable
auspices are belied by unfortunate consequences. She
shares her misfortunes with brides of every month in
the year And the reason is that, although each of
them made no mistake in the selimtion of a mate, each,
through ignorance of the principles governing the in'
fluences of the planets upon human beings, chose the
wrong time for the nuptial ceremony.
In selecting the proper time to marry it is not neees-
sary to have a knowledge of the science of planetary
influence. The main feature to be considered, (simple
enough in itself) is to be sure and have the benevolent
planet Jupiter in the seventh house at the hour the
marriage takes place. The year, the month or the day
do not signify.
The old established custom of having the wedding
take place at noon is favorable under certain condi
■ tions* but not always so. as after events have often
proven.
The month of June has always been regarded a^
a fortunate month to marry in, while, to "marry in
May you’ll rue the day," has also had an equal regard,
but in the opposite respect. If the planet Jupiter be
in either the zodiacal bign Virgo or Capricorn, it is
best to defer marriage during )jis transit. Because,
while in either of these signs Jupiter's power for good
is somewhat lessened. But, in the sign Cancer, how
ever, Jupiter is at his best, and his fortunate influences
are remarkably powerful. Hence,
the best time to choose for
marrying would be when Jup
iter is in transit through the
sign Cancer But Jupiter is in this
position but once in every twelve
years (nearly) hence this time is
not always available.
For instance, Jupiter is now in
the sign Capricorn. If those who
are contemplating marriage wish to
have the date of their wedding take
place under his best influence for
happiness, they will have to wait
until the year 1919, six years hence,
which, to say the least, is rather too
remote a period for the anxious to
linger in courtship, though probably
not too long for some lovers to wait. How
Rebecca waited at the well seven
years.
Next in order of fortunate influences for matrimony
are Venus and the Sun; and when these are with Jupi-!
ter, all three transiting the same sign together, it,
matters not what that sign may be, if it is on the cusp
of the seventh house; and, regardless of the year, the
month or the day, you may depend on it, the married!
life of those wedded at such a time will he decidedly!
happy. Venus alone in this house brings fortune and
much happiness, but not the felicity that Jupiter brings.
The Sun also assures success.
As Jupiter is now in transit through the sign Capri
corn, a marriage taking place any time during the re
mainder of the present year vould not prove entirely
successful or promising of happiness, unless the wed
ding were to be celebrated when the Sun and Venus
are again in Capricorn, with Jupiter, which will not
occur until December 20 next, But, in order to avoid
an unhappy marriage, never set the wedding date for
an hour that will place either Saturn or Mars in the
seventh house, or on the descendant in the western angle
of the heavens.
It is also detrimental, if not fatal, to happiness to
have Neptune or Uranus in the seventh house. These
planets afflicting the house of marriage, assert their
evil influence as follows: Saturn, cold, unfeeling, lack
ing in sentiment; deceit and eventually disgrace and
scandal. Mars, extravagant husband or wife; illicit
connections; final divorce or separation, and sonietlmes
crime and disaster.
Neptune makes the marriage partner hii undesirable
one. causes ‘ vents inimical to matrimonial fellci£y to
occur unexpectedly, and creates an inordinate fondness
for drink in husband or wife, or in both.
Uranus causes eccentricity in actions and disposi
tion. and a greater degree of platonic rather than sin
cere love.
In all the divorce cases, marital difficulties, separa
tions, scandals, disgrace, etc., which have come under
my observation during the past dec
ade, I have always found that either
Ihe husband or wife, or both, had
the house of marriage in their natal
map afflicted by one of the evil plan
ets; or Neptune, Uranus, Saturn or
Mars on the seventh house at the
time of marriage.
Hence, never, never have an evil
planet in the seventh bouse during
your wedding hour if you wish for
happiness thereafter. Better post
pone the wedding date a hundred
times than risk the consequences.
Set the date s o that Jupiter will be
in the seventh house, thus insuring
a happy married life.
Any ordinary yearly almanac will
show you how to locate and place
Jupiter and give you the proper
hour.
A
N
the Stars Should Be On Your
Marriage Day to Make it
“Fortunate.”
Photo a -r