In Japanese ballets a large fan is sometimes used in place of a drop curtain, and in some of the Paris cafés a fan is also used, as this enables them to make evasion of the law relating to theatrical performances. We present an [engraving] showing the fan at the Paris Opera House, in a ballet called “Le Rêve” (The Dream).
It scarcely differs in principle from an ordinary fan, but the sticks are twenty-three feet in length; that is to say, two stories high. There are in all ten sticks that revolve around the same axis (letter K in our [second engraving]). They are connected by strips of canvas of the same width. The two extreme sticks, A and B, and the two center ones, C and D, are prolonged beneath the axis of rotation. It is these four sticks only that are acted upon in order to open and close the fan. Others participate in their motion through arcs of iron which connect one with the other. The maneuvering apparatus is readily understood by reference to our engraving, the ropes from the four working sticks of the fan running over windlasses. The fan is arranged in advance under the stage. In the middle of the first act it is mounted vertically, all closed, upon the stage, behind the streamer which completely hides the maneuver. The fan is manipulated by two men, one at each windlass; moreover, the work is facilitated by the use of cables, provided with counterpoises, which are hooked above to the four principal sticks and pass over guide pulleys placed in a semicircle. The cables are concealed behind a decoration representing foliage which hides the edges of the fan.
FIG. 1.—VIEW OF THE FAN AT THE PARIS OPERA HOUSE.
FIG. 2.—APPARATUS FOR MANEUVERING THE FAN.