DANCE OF TITANIA, QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES
TITANIA is a graceful little fairy, dancing as though she had learned
the art from the bending of the grass in a summer breeze, the swaying
of the trees or the flitting of butterflies from flower to flower.
Light, airy, with gossamer wings and filmy dress, looking as though she
needed nothing more substantial than silvery moonbeams to dance upon,
the little queen leaves her home in the deep, wild woods and comes to
do your bidding.
=Have Titania’s Stage Ready=
that she may not be kept waiting, for queens and fairies will brook no
delay (Fig. 62). Find a wooden box 18½ inches long by 13 inches wide or
larger (Fig. 63). With a heavy hammer or a hatchet pry up and knock off
the top and one of the long sides (Fig. 64). The open side forms the
front of the roofless stage.
[Illustration: Fig. 62.—Titania’s stage.]
[Illustration: Fig. 63.—The wooden box for Titania’s stage.]
[Illustration: Fig. 64.—Knock off the top and one of the long sides.]
The coloring of the stage should be a light sage green. If possible,
procure this color in cartridge wallpaper wider than the stage. With a
string measure the distance across the back wall of stage from top to
bottom (A to B Fig. 64), continue the measurement in the same straight
line across the floor of the stage from back B to front C. After
allowing five extra inches for turning the paper over the top edge of
the back wall A and front edge of floor C, cut the length according
to measurement. To make the strip of green paper the required width
measure the exact distance across the inside back wall from side wall
D to side wall E, then fold the paper evenly along each lengthwise
edge, making it the width needed; unfold and adjust the paper against
the back wall over its top edge and over the floor of the stage. Cut
short slits on each side of the paper where the floor and wall meet,
that the extra width may lie flat up against the side walls. Bend the
top edge of the paper over the top of the back wall, again slashing a
little on each side to make it fit top edge of wall. In the same way
bend the paper over the front edge of the floor; see that the paper
lies perfectly smooth, then fasten it in place with small tacks, using
three tacks on the outside at the back, one at each corner and one in
the middle; two tacks where floor and wall meet, and three underneath
front of floor. Measure the side walls, cut paper to fit and fasten the
paper on the walls with as few tacks as possible.
[Illustration: Fig. 65.—Back wing for stage.]
[Illustration: Fig. 66.—Forward wing for stage.]
[Illustration: Fig. 67.—Fasten the wings to the side wall of the stage
like this.]
When the inside papering is finished, cover the outside of the stage
with pretty cretonne. Make four inside wings, two for each side of the
stage, to represent the foliage of trees. Cut two like Fig. 65, from
paper of a darker green than the walls of the stage and reverse one of
them that they may face each other. Then make two wings, like Fig. 66,
from paper of a lighter green than the walls, and reverse one of these
also. The walls of the stage with the two sets of wings will make
three different tones of green forming the background. Cut the wings
long enough to extend up as high or higher than the side walls of the
stage. Bend each strip lengthwise at dotted line and paste the bent
margin of one wing from Fig. 65 on each side wall, running the wing up
from the floor to the top of the wall about four inches from the back
wall. In the same manner fasten the wings (Fig. 66) on each side wall
three inches in front of the first or back wing (Fig. 67).
[Illustration: Fig. 68.—The arch.]
[Illustration: Fig. 69.—Tack the ends of the arch at the top of the two
side walls.]
[Illustration: Fig. 70.—Pasteboard extension for front of stage.]
Cut the arch (Fig. 68) of stiff pasteboard. The cover of a pasteboard
box will do. Make the arch long enough to span the space across the
front of the stage and let the lower edge of the curve in the centre of
the arch be five and a half inches higher than its two ends (see dotted
line, Fig. 68). Cover both sides of the arch with green paper, gluing
it on only along the edges. Tack the ends of the arch to the top of the
two side walls (Fig. 69).
[Illustration: Fig. 71.—Tack one piece of pasteboard on the front edge
of each side wall of the stage.]
Cut two pieces of pasteboard like Fig. 70, making each six inches wide
and almost as high from floor of stage as is the top of the centre of
the arch. Paper these also with green, both front and back. Tack one
piece of the pasteboard on the front edge of each side wall of the
stage, allowing it to extend out from and beyond the side wall (Fig.
71). Bore a hole with a gimlet through the centre of the back wall of
the stage five inches up from the inside floor, and your stage will be
finished.
[Illustration: Fig. 72.—Titania.]
=Make Titania=
(Fig. 72) of light-weight cardboard. When finished she should be ten
inches in height from her toes to the top of her head. Fig. 73 is the
diagram of the body and arms, measuring three and five-eighths inches
from top of head to lower edge of body. Cut the two upper portions of
the legs (length two and one-half inches, greatest width one inch) from
Fig. 74, and the two lower portions (length three and three-eighths
inches) from Fig. 75. Join the two parts of each leg together,
according to the dots, with a strong thread and needle, and fasten
with a knot on front and back, so that the two pieces will be strung
upon the same thread and sandwiched between two knots of the thread.
Attach the legs to the body in the same manner. The small circles A,
A on the doll’s body (Fig. 73) give the exact spots where the thread
should pass through, and the curved line above each letter shows where
the upper edge of the top part of the leg should reach. Dot B marks
the point on the upper part of the leg (Fig. 74) where the thread goes
through, joining the leg to the body. Have all the joints of the doll
securely fastened and only loose enough to move easily.
[Illustration: Fig. 74.—Two upper portions of legs.]
[Illustration: Fig. 73.—Cut the body and arms of Titania like this.]
[Illustration: Fig. 75.—Lower part of legs.]
Find a pretty head in some old paper or advertisement, cut it out and
gum it on the pasteboard head. Remember, though, that the printed
head must not be of very heavy paper, as the upper part of the doll
should be lighter in weight than the lower, otherwise the figure will
not balance. If you cannot find a head in colors, you must paint the
printed black-and-white one; give the face, neck and arms a flat wash
of light-pink water-color paint; color the lips and cheeks red, the
eyes blue and the hair brown. Make the long stockings a darker pink
than the light flesh tones, and paste slippers of gilt paper on the
feet.
Puncture a hole with a coarse needle through the centre of the
belt-line (C, Fig. 76). For
=Titania’s Costume=
make a skirt of plain white tissue paper. Cut it sixteen inches wide
and three and a half inches long, after creasing the skirt by gathering
up the fulness with your fingers and drawing the skirt lengthwise from
top to bottom through your partially closed hand. Gather the top of the
skirt with thread and needle, and fasten it on the doll, then slit up
each side from the lower edge to allow of the free motion of the doll’s
limbs.
[Illustration: Fig. 76.—String the doll together in this way.]
Make the dress of pink chiffon. Cut the dress skirt three and
three-fourth inches long and one yard wide, press it in knife-blade
plaits, running up and down, then gather and tie it on the doll over
the white tissue-paper skirt. Do not attempt to hem any portion of
the clothing, as the object is to keep it all light and airy. Fashion
the waist of a smooth strip of pink chiffon tied with narrow pink
ribbons at the shoulders and brought down to the belt-line into a
point back and front, and sewed in place. Form a silver girdle of the
tinsel ruching used on Christmas trees; place the tinsel around the
Queen’s waist, allowing the two free ends to hang down over the front
of the dress. Glue a little of the same tinsel around the front of her
dark hair, where it will shine like a crown of diamonds. Make Titania
daintily hold up and out each side of her dress. Do this by stretching
out the sides of the dress skirt and gumming the material to each wrist.
Cut a scarf of pink chiffon four inches wide and sixteen inches long,
fasten one end in each hand of the fairy Queen and let the scarf fall
in a graceful loop.
=Queen Titania’s Wings=
must be of the pink chiffon cut shawl shape, two sides straight and
one bias (Fig. 77). Plait the bias edge (Fig. 78) and gum the wings in
place on the Queen’s shoulders at the back.
[Illustration: Fig. 77.—Cut the wings shawl shape.]
[Illustration: Fig. 78.—Plait the bias edge.]
Take a needle threaded with black thread, two or three yards long; run
the needle through the centre of the belt-line of the dressed fairy
at the point C (Fig. 76); then thread it through the gimlet hole at
the back of the stage and tie a button on the end of the thread which
extends outside of the back wall. Pull the thread on the inside of
the stage until the button lies tight up against the outside of the
back wall. Allow sufficient length of thread to bring the Queen within
about three inches of the front edge of the stage, then make a knot in
the thread immediately back of and another in front of the Queen to
prevent her from slipping either forward or backward. Tie the long,
loose end of the thread on a small empty spool, that it may be wound up
and kept from tangling when not in use.
=Place the Stage on a Chair=
facing the light and, carrying the thread in your hand, take your
station two yards or more away from and in front of the stage; then
practise moving Titania by means of the thread until you can make her
glide, pose and dance in many graceful attitudes. She will lean to the
right and to the left, will stand on her toes, then curtsey, making
her dress touch the floor; she will move gently and slowly, again
faster and faster until her feet seem to fairly twinkle over the stage
floor; she will pass back and forth almost as if floating from side to
side of the stage, or stand in the centre and dance. Titania is ever
fascinating, beautiful and graceful in all her movements. Ask some one
to play on the piano while you make the fairy Queen dance and she will
keep time to the music. When you have learned to make Titania dance her
prettiest invite your friends in to see the little fairy.