that very person, the young person
who would make the best dancer.

Yet there was an increasing demand for capable ballet dancers, and the
supply was limited and dwindling. So, in order to make a world happy,
I put my wits to work and evolved a plan that has revolutionized the
entire industry. And I have called it Ned Wayburn's Modern
Americanized Ballet Technique; and it is a Ballet Technique at its
very best. If I had done nothing else in the years of my theatrical
experience, I should still feel that I had accomplished much that is
worth while.

And, really, it is all very simple. The wonder is that others did not
figure it out before I did. And it is no secret. I am going to tell
you all about it, and what the results have been, and then you can see
for yourself why it is no longer best or necessary to go to foreign
lands and take lessons the old way, for years and years.

There is what is called the Universal Ballet Technique. It is the
standard of the dancing world, recognized and observed everywhere that
the ballet is taught or danced. My method follows this Universal
Technique closely, and is identical in many of the essentials. The
chief difference between the old way and my new method is in the
preparatory work. Now, this will never become a world full of ballet
dancers, because not everyone could learn this graceful undulation if
they wanted to. (All the more reason, I say, why those who have the
talent should profit by it.) Not all of my pupils, nor all of my best
pupils in other forms of the art, can hope to become solo artistes in
ballet work. I can glance over a class at work in any of my studios,
and select the few who may hope to perfect themselves in the ballet. I
have had to discourage and no doubt disappoint some of my ambitious
ones who have aspired to master the great art of ballet dancing; but I
know I did what was best for them in advising them as I did. These
same girls will be topnotchers in other fields of stage dancing, and I
would rather direct their pathway to sure success than to let them
wander into byways where their feet might stumble. So first of all,
the candidate for ballet dancing must have my approval, she must be
qualified according to my high standards, and when I say "Yes," and
the student enters faithfully upon the work as I lay it out, she is
going to make good.

And the first instruction she will receive in my courses is in the
nature of a muscle culture, a foundation t