Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 July 1884 — Religious Ballet Dancers. [ARTICLE]

Religious Ballet Dancers.

I suppose every one remembers Emily and Betty Rigl when they danced in the Christmas ballet at the California Theater in the old days. At that time Joe Maguire, Walter * Campbell, and others used to sing in a sort of special Christmas chorus at the same theater—and what a beautiful chorus it was 1 On Sunday they used to sing in the church choir. One Sunday I reproached poor Joe Maguire with the crime of singing on the stage. In his gentle way he proceeded to justify himself, and told me, among other things, that Emily and Betty Bigl were the most religious women he had ever seen. They had their rosaries always with them; never failed to say a prayer or two between the acts, and always crossed themselves before a pas seul. I afterward heard some of the others tell the same story. I don’t object to a man saying a prayer before he goes out to cheat another man in a simple little business transaction. But for a pretty ballet dancer to invoke celestial aid, that she might rouse to greater rapture the bald heads in front, has always seemed to me like taking an undue advantage of one’s personal influence. —San Francisco Argonaut.