The Dream City, Paul V. Galvin 
Digital History Collection
 
 
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  A PERFORMER OF THE DANCE DU VENTRE - "We have here a close and trying study of a posture-dancer of the theatre in the Street of Cairo. The Western eye was but a moment in determining, at the World's Fair, that time has wrought as great a change in the dance as in the alphabet. Whereas, men began by reading from right to left, they now mostly read from left to right; and whereas, dancing began by movement of the body rather than the lower limbs, it has now developed into the Western performance. When Western officials came to gaze on her rendition of the act by which John the Baptist lost his head, they were sorely perplexed. This dance was undoubtedly the style in Cairo, where our own Western Black Crook amazons would be instantly suppressed. Notwithstanding the indignation of the Board of Lady Mangers, the danse du ventre proceeded, and though thousands went to see it, they did not go often, for the music was too irritating. Described in brief, the woman moved her shoulders and body rhythmically to the sharp beats of the tambour."

DANCING GIRL FROM THE HUNGARIAN CHANTANT - "The change from a study of the Cairo girl and her frightful tambours to Listz's music and Western beauty and grace, is the greatest that could be furnished by feminine youth. Only Darwin could expatiate impartially on these variations of taste in the human kind. The Hungarian Cafe Chantant was at the west end of the Plaisance, on the south side, near the Bedouins."
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Digital History Collection
Page created: August 26, 1998