Nowhere is the role of a "Muse" more important than in the world of dance, the domain of the Muse known as Terpsichore.  As a tribute the fame of the Greek Muses, Madame Raisa Kechko created her very own ballet in their name to be performed by Moscow's Imperial Russian Ballet Company.

While preparing for the end of the performance of an original Russian ballet, "The Greek Muses", Madame Kechko took special care that her dancers would receive their well-deserved recognition by using a staggered departure schedule from the stage.

First Mme. Kechko arranged the nine women in three groups of three. Mlle. Babyan and the others were assigned numbers 1 through 9. Stage Left would include a Principal Dancer between two attendants numbered 1, 2, 3.

Downstage Center would include the premier danseuse in the role of Terpsichore, between two attendants numbered 4, 5, 6. Stage Right would include the third principal between two attendants numbered 7, 8, 9.

As you look at the stage from your seat in the audience, Dancer 1 would be the farthest to the left and Dancer 9 would be the farthest to the right. (see diagram below).

All nine women plus their male partners who had performed in the ballet would participate in the First Curtain Call. However, only the nine Muses would appear for the Second Curtain Call. Marina and the other dancers were shown how to leave the stage in a special order.

Mme. Kechko wished to keep control of the rate of departure because she feared a memorized departure could occur right in the middle of great enthusiasm and therefore be "premature". To solve this problem, the various dancers were to leave the stage two at a time upon receiving a special verbal cue.

As the applause began to wane, Mme. Kechko was to give a secret whisper to her dancers. "Hurry Please!" meant dancer 1 was to depart through the side exit. Her counterpart Number 9 on the other side of the stage was to keep her eyes open and leave at the same time.

The second dancer was instructed to wait for the verbal order "Exit Now!" with Number 8 awaiting the visual cue. Dancers 3 and 7 were to leave next upon hearing "Leave Quickly!" in the same way.

This would leave only the three women in the Downstage Center Group to receive further applause.

In the event of a Third Curtain call, the Downstage Center Group was to reappear. Then dancers four and six were instructed to exit on the words, "Ladies Depart!" leaving Terpsichore alone on stage for the final applause. Then everyone would reappear upon Mme Kechko's signal to finish off the evening.

Using the program listings to keep track of the nine Muses and their particular disciplines, complete the program with the first and last names of each dancer, the role they danced, and their number onstage during the Second Curtain Call.

1. In one group, Mlle. Silvan stood between "Religious Music" and Katarina.
2. In the second group, Nastasha as "Epic Poetry" and Mlle. Vladul as "Lyric Poetry" attended Klara.
3. In the third group, "Tragedy" (played by Mlle. Aikul) and "Comedy" attended Alyssa.
4. Polina Sabotek and Euterpe left the stage together; theirs was not the last exit.
5. Dancer 3 did not perform Melpomene.
6. Veronika and Mlle. Hladky would have left the stage together if there had been another curtain call.
7. Mlle. Nochka did not portray Clio. She exited after Mlle. Bagai, but not at the same time as Tamara.
8. Mlle. Chabrek and Yelena left the stage simultaneously. Neither lady portrayed Urania.
9. If you were to divide the stage in half, Calliope was on one side and Clio was on the other.

Memory tells me this was a tough puzzle, but not super-difficult.

Send your answers to Rick Archer, dance@ssqq.com   Good luck!