igree
of the "super" gains something of nobility, and may, perhaps, be
traced back to the chorus of the antique drama, a body charged with
most momentous duties, with symbolic mysteries of dance and song,
removed from the perils and catastrophes of the play, yet required in
regard to these to guide and interpret the sympathies of the
spectators. In its modern application, however, this generic term has
its subdivisions, and includes _les choristes_ proper, who boast
musical attainments, and are obedient to the rule of a _chef
d'attaque_, or head chorister; _les accessoires_, performers permitted
speech of a brief kind, who can be entrusted upon occasion with such
simple functions as opening a door, placing a chair, or delivering a
letter, and who correspond in many respects with our actors of
utility; _les figurants_, the subordinate dancers led by a _coryphee_;
and lastly, _les comparses_, who closely resemble our supernumeraries,
and are engaged in more or less numbers, according to the exigencies
of there presentation. Of these aids to performance _les comparses_
only enjoy no regular salaries, are not formally enrolled among the
permanent members of the establishment, but are paid simply for
appearing--seventy-five centimes for the night, and fifty centimes for
each rehearsal--or upon some such modest scale of remuneration. This
classification would appear to afford opportunities to ambition. Here
are steps in the ladder, and merit should be able to ascend. It is
understood, however, that as a rule _les comparses_ do not rise. They
are the serfs of the stage, who never obtain manumission. They are as
conscripts, from whose knapsacks the field-marshal's _baton_ is almost
invariably omitted. They become veterans, but their length of service
receives no favourable recognition. _Comparses_ they live, and
_comparses_ they die, or disappear, not apparently discontented with
their doom, however. Meantime the _figurant_ cherishes sanguine hopes
that he may one day rise to a prominent position in the ballet, or
that he may become an _accessoire_; and the _accessoire_ looks forward
fervently to ranking in the future among the regular actors or
_artistes_ of the theatre, with the right of entering its _grand
foyer_, or superior green-room. Until then he must confine himself and
his aspirations to the _petit foyer_ set apart for the use of players
of his class.

Thus it is told of a certain _accessoire_ of the Porte St. Martin