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©AFP/File / Olivier Laban-Mattei

The Paris Lido opened in 1946

PARIS (AFP) - They called her "Bluebell" or "Miss Bluebell" because of the colour of her eyes. From this week on, the Paris Lido remembers the Irish-born founder of the leggy troupe -- Margaret Kelly, born 100 years ago.

"She rehearsed the girls into the 1980s, she was amazing, always immaculate, she always looked gorgeous," Australian former Bluebell girl Annette Hirsch told AFP.

"The first time I saw her she was in her late 50s but didn't look it. She'd kick her leg up high and tell the girls to do the same."

From next weekend, spectators at the cabaret will be given a glimpse of Kelly training the dancers in a short film tribute to the woman who created the legendary troupe and trained most of the 10,000 "Bluebell Girls" in feathers who have since kicked high.

Born in Dublin on June 24, 1910, Kelly turned up at the celebrated Champs Elysees cabaret with her girls after the war, accompanied by US choreographer Donn Arden.

Hirsch remembers her as "a survivor", an orphan girl who left Ireland in the 1930s and ended up in France after a stint dancing in Nazi Germany. The Lido, which opened in 1946, spotted her at the Folies Bergere, where she created a troupe, and talked her into moving over two years later.

"You had to be at least 1 metre 78 (five feet eight) tall at the time," said Hirsch. Today's standard for the girls' height is slightly less, at 1 metre 75 (five feet seven).

"They were all very tall girls and well-proportioned, and each girl gave out a unique aura. Bluebell liked girls with personality on and off stage, people who were a bit feisty," like herself.

©AFP/File / Olivier Laban-Mattei

Paris Lido remembers the Irish-born founder of the leggy troupe, Margaret Kelly, who was born 100 years ago

She was tough but respected her girls, said Hirsh. "She fought her whole life. She could be adorable or an iron woman."

Miss Bluebell died in 2004 aged 94 after a 40-year reign over the Lido's exaggeratedly leggy women, more glamorous, more sensual, though with less bounce than the shorter can-can kicking dancers of Paris' equally renowned Moulin Rouge.

"Miss Bluebell made an impact on the history of music-hall and the Lido," said the cabaret's current choreographer Pierre Rambert. "She invented the idea of the untouchable 'showgirl', who was an accomplished female artist with a rigorous spirit of discipline."

"We still hire long-legged dancers with well-proportioned bodies and with personality," he told AFP. "If you look for personality, the show is a success."

Rambert auditions wannabe showgirls several times a year in Paris, New York, London and Las Vegas, and gets 50-odd spontaneous applications a week.

There is no age limit, with the troupe currently made up of two generations of dancers from 14 different countries, several of them English-speaking.

Hirsch said that many of the girls like her had trained in classical ballet since their childhood but had been booted out of class for being too tall. "I measured 1.78 at 13, and at the time that was far too tall to dance with a boy partner."

Under Kelly's ground rules the "Bluebell Girls" must "continue to present the same technical and physical attributes as the day they were hired" -- meaning no extra weight and constant rehearsals. To encourage the 45-member troupe to stick to the rules, the Lido pays half of a dancer's gym expenses.

Hirsch, a New South Wales native now in her 50s, originally auditioned at 15. She danced at the Lido for 11 years, never left Paris and is now studying psychology.

She will be among hundreds of ex "Bluebell" dancers from four generations to gather in Paris on June 24 to remember the founder's birthday -- a date posted on Facebook as well as on www.showbizfriends.com.

©AFP/File / Behrouz Mehri

The mine is cashing in on salt therapy

KHEWRA, Pakistan (AFP) - A centuries-old salt mine in Pakistan is offering experimental asthma therapy, attracting patients from all over the world.

Khewra, billed as the world's second largest salt mine, has for centuries extracted the crucial mineral for export and has become a tourist attraction complete with a salt mosque and an electric train.

Now, the mine is cashing in on salt therapy, already a draw in the salt mines of eastern Europe and a synthetic clinic in Britain.

Clinics claim that asthma patients and sufferers of other respiratory illnesses benefit from inhaling antibacterial salt particles in a sterile environment, helping loosen mucus and clear the lung passages.

"We don't use any medicine, because the asthmatic allergy patients recover through the air, so we provide them an environment in which their breathing can improve," said Akhlaq Bukhari, head doctor at the Khewra clinic.

Although there have been few clinical studies, salt caves are seen by some as a therapeutic alternative to drugs and there are natural and synthetic salt caves springing up all over the world.

While other clinics offer treatment for bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and even ear infections, Shah says the Khewra clinic only treats patients whose asthma is triggered by allergies.

"I have come here all the way from Canada. I could not recover there through medicine, but I am feeling better since my arrival here," said Naeem Shamsher, a civil engineer from Canada.

Shamsher had tried medicine doled out by doctors back home but felt little relief and struggled to walk far without becoming breathless, so relatives in Pakistan suggested he visit the Khewra Mines.

"Now I can run and even play soccer just after spending three days in the mine," said Shamsher, who says he feels 60 percent better after the treatment.

The mine, located 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was discovered in 320 BC by Alexander's troops and first developed by British colonial rulers in 1872, mine officials say.

©AFP/File / Behrouz Mehri

Since opening in 2007, the clinic has treated about 500 patients

Located deep underground in the mine, the asthma clinic resembles an upmarket guesthouse, with 12 beds covered in white sheets and red blankets in six independent cabins separated with salt bricks and softly lit by lamps.

There is a reception area decorated with salt lamps and a lounge complete with a fountain, sofas and a television set.

The walls and roof of the clinic are made from pure salt and a fan helps maintain the temperature and humidity, creating the so-called "micro-climate" that offers patients relief, Shah says.

A 10-day course at the Khewra Mines salt therapy centre costs 5,300 rupees (62 dollars), with 11 hours a day spent in the caves while nights are spent in a nearby hospital.

Since opening in 2007, the clinic has treated about 500 patients. Shah claims that 60 percent of patients experience some relief from their symptoms and says patients have come from as far as Britain and Saudi Arabia.

©AFP/File / Behrouz Mehri

A 10-day course at the Khewra Mines salt therapy centre costs 5,300 rupees (62 dollars)

But Shahid Abbas, a doctor who runs the private Allergy and Asthma Centre in Islamabad, told AFP that although an asthma or allergy sufferer may get temporary relief, there is no quick-fix cure.

"There is no scientific proof that a person can permanently get rid of asthma by breathing in a salt mine or in a particular environment," he said.

Khaled Sajjad Khokhar, managing director of the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, a government body which owns the mine, says they will assess the success of the Khewra clinic before approving its expansion to 100 beds.

But some patients are returning, happy to get even temporary relief.

"This hospital is a blessing, it gave me a second life. I never had problems breathing after spending 10 days over there in 2007," said Pakistani patient Adnan Khan, on his second visit to the clinic.