The Art of Stage Dancing / The Story of a Beautiful and Profitable Profession

by Ned Wayburn

When making-up is a matter of daily routine the clothing will become badly soiled in a short time if worn during the process. To save your costume, either wear a washable kimono over it, or better, don the kimono over undergarments and put on the costume after the makeup is applied.

In private lessons at our studios we teach all the required forms of stage makeup, taking every type of person that comes to us and developing each individually along such lines as the character or part demands. Men, women, and youth come to us here for development of their correct makeup in private lessons.

In our class instruction in this line of work only the "straight" makeup for youth is presented, that being the one our young lady pupils find especially adapted to their stage needs. These special classes are held as occasion requires to meet the students' demands, and are given in our own Demi-Tasse Theatre, connected with the studios. Usually a demonstration is made with a blonde, a brunette and a red-head, to show the class the different requirements of the different types. Following this demonstration, each member of the class puts on a makeup under the advice and constructive criticism of the teachers, until thoroughly versed in the art, as it applies to his or her own individual type.

Since the reader of this may not be coming to us for either private or class lessons, we will describe the correct manner of applying makeup in simple language that will enable the distant aspirant to learn all that may be learned by reading without the presence of a personal teacher.

You are now seated at your dressing table, your mirror at a convenient elevation in front of you and between two good lights, your lay-out of tools and materials spread on a towel on the table top, a kimono or other garment spread over your person. Now take a strip of cheesecloth three or four inches wide and tie around the forehead, back of the ears, and behind the neck; or one may use a close-fitting skull cap. Tuck in all straying locks. The idea is, of course, to keep powder, grease paint and cold cream from getting into and soiling the hair. Now you are going to apply makeup.

First stage. Cold cream. Apply this liberally all over the face from the hair line to the upper part of the throat, but not on the neck. Rub it in thoroughly to fill all the pores of the skin. Be careful to cover all the space around the eyes, also rub in on the eyelashes, using care to keep it out of the eyes, for it will cause stinging. Greasing the eyelashes this way makes the removal of the makeup much easier. Now rub your face with a piece of cheesecloth until all the superfluous cold cream has disappeared. If the face shines too much, you have not removed enough of the cream. The surface should give the appearance of being well oiled, but not have a sticky, pasty or greasy surface.

Second stage. Foundation Grease Paint. The quality of your makeup depends upon this. It will be smooth or rough according to the way you develop it. Rub the end of the grease paint stick several times on each cheek, once across the chin, once or twice on the forehead and once down the nose. Use the ends of the fingers and pat this into place rather than rub it, till it is thoroughly worked into all the surface you have just covered with the cold cream. Every pore must be filled with the grease paint. Do not apply it too thick, which would give the face a pasty, unnatural look. Do not forget underneath the chin. Do not apply it to the ears or behind them. Leave no streaks or neglected spots. Have it uniform all over. Blend the paint till the face has an even tone. Watch your mirror carefully. It is better to have the grease paint a little too thin on the face than too thick, but you will soon learn to get it just right, which is what you are aiming at.

Third stage. Under rouge; foundation red; Stein's No. 18 carmine. Make a few dots with the carmine grease paint stick on each cheek and on the end of the chin. Use but little, and blend it by patting with the first and second fingers of both hands, rather than by rubbing. Begin well up against the nose, go under and around the eyes, and toward the temples, working it down below the ear and off the jaw in case there is a hollow in the lower part of the cheek. The color should extend down on the cheek, over on the temple and well up to the eye, patted and blended till no one can see where the red fades into the foundation. The chin is then blended in the same way, to leave no line between foundation color and under rouge. If your chin is pointed, blend in front, not below, or it draws the chin way down. Put on a lighter makeup for a small, intimate theatre, and a heavier one for the large auditorium.

Fourth stage. Enlarging and beautifying the eyes. This is a very important detail of correct makeup, and is indispensable on every well-lighted stage, where even the most soulful orbs with long, thick lashes will dwindle to half their size and have a faded, dull appearance if not properly made up. It is essential that the two eyes match in every detail, and to secure this result will require the taking of considerable pains and close study of your mirror. Stein's No. 11 blue lining stick is for use by the blue-eyed, regardless of the color of the hair or complexion. Stein's No. 17, for the dark-eyed. Titian-haired folks use Stein's No. 21 purple for the same purpose. With this grease paint stick of the color suited to you, draw a line across the upper eyelid between the eyebrow and the eyelashes, as close as possible to the lashes. With the fingers blend this line into a shadow, making it dark close to the upper lashes. Either pencil can be used for this purpose also. Do not get the shadow up to the eyebrows, but cover all the upper eyelid, and a little beyond the eye at the outer corner. Use the Faber No. 6625 blue pencil or Venus 6B black for shading under the eye. Draw a line with it directly under the eyelashes, and with the fingers blend this into a shadow. Carried too far down this blue suggests illness, so be careful. The shadows thus placed above and below the eyes serve to outline them to the spectators in the theatre, where otherwise the eyes would practically disappear and not be seen at all owing to the strong footlights.

Fifth stage. "Fixing" the makeup. Powder No. 2 for blondes; No. 2½ for brunettes. The creamy tints are for the dark skins, the flesh and delicate pinks for the fair ones. Press the powder first on the chin. It is feminine instinct to start on the nose, but let your start in this case begin with the jaw or chin. Don't rub it in. Pat it on thick till the underlying paint is fully covered up. The powder absorbs the grease. From the chin work upward, reaching the nose after the pad has lost some of its original load, and the nose will not stare out so white on your face as it would if you began there first. Raise the eye and powder underneath; look down, and powder the space beneath eyebrow and eyelid.