A Little Bit of Me
Jottings and Writing, miscellanous misgivingsArchive for child stars
The performance
A small child stands at the edge of the stage. She is dressed in a garish white costume made from flimsy material with many ruffles and bows. She wears white gloves which come nearly to the level of her elbows. Her hair is blonde but the dark areas near the roots suggest it is from a bottle. The hair is also decorated with bows. She wears shear silk stockings and the traps on her silver shoes make a metallic clang as she shuffles to the middle of the dancing circle. She is outlandishly made-up to look like an adult but she more closely resembles a clown. The band in the orchestra pit starts a fanfare and she robotically starts her routine. She seems to have left her youth in that still caricature at the edge of the stage. Powdered, rouged, she is totally absorbed in enthusing her dance with a level of flirtatiousness Far beyond her years. The middle age members of the audience shift uneasily in their seats. A woman, possibly her mother, stands with her hands covering the O of her mouth. It is not clear whether she is positive or negative about the girl’s performance. The girl throws out her hands and wiggles her hips, then extends one hand with fingers suspended in a parody of a homosexual flirtation. She ends her performance and bows to the audience and suddenly she is transformed into a child of twelve or thirteen. The watching woman stands at the corner of the stage and wraps her daughter in a coat as she flees from the stage. She whispers words of encouragement in her ear.
The Performer
A small child stands at the edge of the stage. She is dressed in a garish white costume made from flimsy material with many ruffles and bows. She wears white gloves which come nearly to the level of her elbows. Her hair is blonde but the dark areas near the roots suggest it is from a bottle. The hair is also decorated with bows. She wears shear silk stockings and the traps on her silver shoes make a metallic clang as she shuffles to the middle of the dancing circle. She is outlandishly made-up to look like an adult but she more closely resembles a clown. The band in the orchestra pit starts a fanfare and she robotically starts her routine. She seems to have left her youth in that still caricature at the edge of the stage. Powdered, rouged, she is totally absorbed in enthusing her dance with a level of flirtatiousness Far beyond her years. The middle age members of the audience shift uneasily in their seats. A woman, possibly her mother, stands with her hands covering the O of her mouth. It is not clear whether she is positive or negative about the girl’s performance. The girl throws out her hands and wiggles her hips, then extends one hand with fingers suspended in a parody of a homosexual flirtation. She ends her performance and bows to the audience and suddenly she is transformed into a child of twelve or thirteen. The watching woman stands at the corner of the stage and wraps her daughter in a coat as she flees from the stage. She whispers words of encouragement in her ear.
A Little Bit of Me 