"Danse Du Ventre" From NY Times, 1893 - Spin-Off From London Times Thread

[Suheir]

November 15, 1893:

"Getting Ready For The World's Fair Show

Work is progressing rapidly on The Streets Of Cairo, part of The World's Fair Prize Winners' Exposition which opens at the Grand Central Palace, November 30. The Oriental Cafe and Javanese Village will occupy the eastern gallery on the second floor. The ground floor will be occupied by foreign exhibitors. It has been decided, after much discussion in The Board Of Directors, to permit exhibitions of the famous danse du ventre, which attracted so much comment in Chicago"

December 3, 1893:

"TOO ORIENTAL FOR WILLIAMS; THE BIG INSPECTOR STOPS THE MIDWAY DANCE. He Did Not Agree with the Soothsayers, Magi, Chiefs of Tribes, and Potentates of the East Regarding the Modesty of the Midway Feature at the "Prize-Winners' Exhibition," and Many Baldheads Went Away Disappointed.

Inspector Williams went to "Cairo Streets," in the Grand Central Palace, at Lexington Avenue and Forty-third Street, last night to witness the danse du ventre, which was a part of the "World's Fair prize winners'" show.

The dance, so it was explained after Inspector Williams's presence became known, has been witnessed by "many magi, soothsayers, wise men of Syria, chiefs of tribes and Oriental potentates." The potentates liked it, it was said, and the soothsayers delighted in it. They thought it embodied the poetry of motion, and they stood by it as one who loves art for art's sake.

Inspector Williams took radical ground in direct opposition to the soothsayers and Oriental potentates and stopped the dance. His actions caused consternation among the four alleged beauties from Egypt who were doing the dancing and a sensation among the hundreds of persons who were in the palace.

The dancing hall is at one end of that part of the palace which is labeled "Cairo Streets," and two or three hundred persons may be seated in the palace comfortably. Every seat was taken when the performance was stopped last night. A number of ladies, most of whom were thirty years and upward and evidently from very respectable familes, were there. They left the palace as soon as they could after Inspector Williams declared himself. They blushed and looked frightened.

Performances in this hall began on the night the "exhibition" opened. The danse du ventre was given "once every hour" and as soon as one performance was over the hall was cleared and another crowd poured in. Those who had seen the "danse" passed word around that it was something rather unique in this section, and so great was the rush for tickets that a line of about fifty was constantly before the ticket window.

Inspector Williams attended the second performance last evening, entering the hall at about 9 o'clock and taking a front seat. In the other front seats were several elderly men, and some well-know frequenters of the Tenderloin district. When all the seats had been taken, four men, said to be Turks, came from the flies and seated themselves on a divan that stretched across the back of the stage. They wore the costumes of the Turks, and crossed their legs and looked sleepy, with the langour of those who hail from the sunniest spots in the Orient. They had what looked like musical instruments, on which they made a monotonous, discordant noise, when it was time for the dancing.

There were four dancers. They came upon the stage one at a time, wearing the dress of women of the Orient. It was modesty itself compared with the average ballet girl's costume. One was Stella, a tall, shapely blonde with a face that might well captivate a soothsayer or a potentate. The next was Zora, a little, plump, black-eyed thing with a "tenderloin" cast of features. The third was Ferida, the wife of an Eastern medicine man, a dancer of renown in the Orient, so it was said, dark, with a hardened face and a supple form. The last was Fatma, appropriately named as to the first syllable.

These women kicked off their satin shoes and seated themselves beside the men on the divan. With modest flouncing of their Turkish clothing, they drew up four pairs of fairly-shapely feet, and sat upon them. Three of the dancers had completed their dancing, and each had been applauded. The old men in the front seats silently indorsed the alleged preferences of the Oriental potentates. They sat spell bound. Two ladies of evident refinement, who had been in the front seats, arose, and hurried out while Fatma was dancing. Ferida came out to dance, the last of the four. She was the star, and was holding her audience even more spell bound than Fatma had, when Inspector Williams arose, and advancing to the footlights, said to the writhing woman: "Stop that!"

He said it in a very business-like tone. Ferida looked at him and went on with the "danse". "Stop that!" repeated Inspector Williams. "There can be no more of this thing here to-night or any other night." Then came an entertaining and beautiful incident. The men in the front rows of seats, who had been watching the dancers with all the eagerness of their beings, turned to see who had in this unseemly fashion interrupted their enjoyment. They recognized Inspector Williams and at once hedged. With as much enthusiasm as their disappointments would allow, they cried: "That's right, old man! Hooray for Inspector Williams!" Under the circumstances, nobody could do less than cheer, and there was a fairly lusty cheer.

The crowd hastened to get away. The girls put on their satin slippers and hurried behind the scenes. The four sleepy Turks were aroused from their somnolescent condition, and told to quit playing. They did so. The lights were turned out, and after Manager Browne had assured the people that they could have their money by calling at the box office, they went out. "This thing is stopped for good, " said Inspector Williams. "There will be no dancing of this sort at this place again."

The dancing artists are under the management of E. de la Croix, who talked to newspaper men after the hall had been closed. "This dance, " he said, "is an Eastern one, which has been witnessed by all the dignitaries of the Orient. They see nothing improper in it. They do see in it a great deal of poetry and picturesque beauty. It is far less immodest than the ordinary skirt dance. These girls have been in Chicago at the World's Fair. They danced before the Board of Lady Managers. Mrs Potter Palmer saw them thirteen times, and found nothing immoral in the exhibition. The dancers are well known in Oriental countries, where they can command large salaries. There are other dance, such as Turkish sword dances &c., which were a part of the exhibition. We do not think this will stop the dancing. On Monday we will ask the court to grant an injunction restraining Inspector Williams or other officers from interfering with the dances"

[Suheir]

Andrea Deagon's excellent and well-researched article has a summary of the trial: A-S Short

[Shanazel]

How very interesting! Thank you, Suheir and Andrea.

[Suheir]

"PASSING OF ANCIENT EGYPT; Occidental Improvements Changing the Land of the Pharaohs. TRANSFORMATION IN CAIRO Golf Links at the First Cataract -- Historic Ruins Fenced In -- Enterprising Mummy Manufacturers

CAIRO, Dec. 26, 1900 -- To the man who revisits Cairo, after an interval of twenty years, it is not difficult to believe in the transformation scenes of the Arabian Nights. When I was last in Cairo it was wholly an Eastern city, for the Brummagem Paris built over the swamps beyond the Esbekiah were an incongruous addition to the old city which one could easily ignore...I do not personally mourn over the decline and fall off of the Ghawazee. Twenty-five years ago the Ghawazee were dancers, and their dancing, although it was not beautiful, was certainly worth seeing. But the Egyptian Ghawazee have become demoralized - that is to say, assuming that they ever had any morals. They are now dirty and unattractive, and they do very poorly what their imitators in Paris do very much better. If anyone were to see the dancing girls of Esneh today, and then read Curtis's rhapsody concerning Kushek Arnim, he would wonder what was the matter with Curtis, and would begin to doubt whether he ever saw the Ghawazee. Well! There is no help for it. Egypt is undergoing renovation, and we might as well try to bring back the Pharaohs as to bring back the Egypt that Curtis saw"

[jenc]

There always was and there always will be a golden age that has only just vanished. It goes back as far as recorded history

[Suheir]

Originally Posted by jenc

There always was and there always will be a golden age that has only just vanished. It goes back as far as recorded history

You're right there! It was always better in "the old days".