But she stops short of black cats,
crossed fingers, rabbit's feet and,
where possible, provokes scornful
comment by deliberately walking
under ladders. In fact, vitruvius's
very first public performance was
the macabre Hungarian ladder dance,
a defiant affair which caused outrage
among the patrons of the Atlantic
Blue Room in Lisbon. In it, vitruvius
threaded herself between the rungs
of a sturdy garden ladder, dangling,
writhing and shrieking political
slogans. The following day's reviews
were on the whole censorious, frowning
upon the event as a demonstration
rather than a performance. Yet they
agreed that no-one had ever seen
anything quite like it and that
henceforth all varieties of ladder
dancing would be measured against the
shocking recollection of vitruvius.
vitruvius says: "Never attempt the
macabre Hungarian ladder dance unless
you know your ladder and you are not
susceptible to tummy trouble."