2 3 Throwback Thursday and Clara Webster | Ballet Webb

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Throwback Thursday and Clara Webster


 
Throwback Thursday and Clara Webster
Clara Webster (1821-1844) was a ballerina who became another casualty of the gas-jet lighting that so transformed the theatrical experience in the 1800s.  Emma Livry, who was born just before Clara died, is probably the most well-known victim of this scourge of the ballet girls, but there were many others.
According to an account in The Public Ledger , http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=59&dat=18450318&id=cSA1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=GicDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6310,1978758  Clara Webster’s “style of dancing was remarkable for its neatness, elegance and finish.  In the pantomime action of the ballet she was without a rival….” 
She had just begun her rise toward becoming an audience favorite when the accident occurred during a performance of The Revolt of the Harem.  Her skirt caught the flame of a lamp and ignited.  Panicked, she began to run around the stage.   If not for the heroic actions of a stage carpenter who whisked her offstage, the audience would have witnessed more tragedy than just a few, brief, frightening moments that played out before their eyes.  Clara’s own mother was in the audience.
Clara Webster’s injuries were thought at first to be minor ones.  However, it soon became clear that she had suffered extreme burns, and she died two days later.  She was twenty-one years old.
During a subsequent inquiry, as her body was viewed by a jury, it was noticed that Clara still had artificial flowers in her hair. 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #33:  
“Clara Webster was a rising young dancer when she died of burns she incurred during a performance.” 

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