Weird Dance: Curious and Bizarre Dancing Trivia

by Tim Rayborn, Abigail Keyes

Overview

Attend a grand ball of the bizarre and never look at dance the same way again!

Weird Dance processes through the odd, grim, and unintentionally humorous history of dance, uncovering strange stories and weird facts.

These dark tales of murder, rivalry, insanity, and more reveal all sorts of grim goings-on, proving that—for dancers—life was not just one grand plié. Stories include:

An elderly woman who stepped out of her Strasbourg home one summer day in 1518 and began to dance furiously; nothing and no one could stop her. Soon, dozens more joined her, and so began another strange epidemic of the deadly dancing plague.

The horrific fate of a young ballerina who had a run-in with a gaslight and saw her career go up in smoke.

The medieval Dance of Death that reminded all of their inevitable doom.

The controversial ballet that sparked a riot.

The strange and macabre fate of the infamous Mata Hari’s head after her execution.

The grotesque scarf accident that led to Isadora Duncan’s demise.

From Roman Bacchanals to medieval and Renaissance dancing plagues, from the bloody world of ballet to scandals, ghosts, spirit possessions, superstitions, and more, you will attend a grand ball of the bizarre that shows just how awful dancers, choreographers, and even audience members have been to each other over the centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510731042
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	11/06/2018
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Tim Rayborn writes on a variety of historical and musical topics, from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. He has a PhD from the University of Leeds in England. He is also a professional musician, with a specialty in medieval repertoire, and the author of Weird Dance, Beethoven's Skull (Weird Music!), and Shakespeare's Ear (Weird Theater!). He lives in Berkeley, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Grim and the Unusual in the History of Western Dance xi

Act I The Strange Lives and Odd Fates of Dancers, Companies, Choreographers, and More

1 Ancient and Primal Dancing 3

Singing and Dancing Pre-Humans 4

Ritual Dances in Prehistoric Cave Paintings? 7

The Bloody Dance of Inanna 9

Ancient Egyptian Funeral Dances 11

2 Greece and Rome 15

The Myth of Zeus and the Dancing Kourites 16

The Ancient Greek Orpheotelestae 17

Cinesias (ca. 450-390 BCE) 18

A Multitude of Unusual Greek Gambols 20

The Romans and Dancing 23

Pylades and Bathyllus (Late First Century BCE) 26

3 The Middle Ages 29

The Sinfulness of Dancing: In Church, In the Streets, and Pretty Much Anywhere 30

The Carol, for to Daunce 33

The Salisbury Hare 37

Bernard le Fol (Fourteenth Century) 38

4 The Renaissance 41

GyörgyDózsa (1470-1514) 43

The Reformers and Dance 44

The Deadly Maypole 47

Dance and the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572) 48

Henri III (1551-1589) 50

William Kempe (D. 1603) 53

Witches' Dances 56

5 The Seventeenth Century 61

Louis XIV (1638-1715) 62

Cromwell and Playford: The Puritan and the Dancing Master (1650s) 64

Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) 66

Spanish Dancing Duels 70

6 The Eighteenth Century 73

Marie-Thérèse Perdou de Subligny (1666-1735) 74

William Keeley, the Morris-Dancing Murderer (d. 1772) 75

Marie-Madeleine Guimard (1743-1816) 77

The Carmagnole Dance and the French Revolution 79

Charles Louis-Frédéric Didelot (1767-1837) 83

7 The Nineteenth Century 85

The Scandal of the Waltz 86

Emily and Mary Wilde (1847-1871 and 1849-1871) 90

Fanny Elssler (1810-1884) 92

The Art of Belly Dance in the West 93

Little Egypt and the Curse of the Seeley Dinner 97

Omene and the Suicide Club 100

Henry Cyril Paget, "The Dancing Marquess" (1875-1905) 103

8 The Modern Age 107

Carolina "La Belle" Otero (1868-1965) 108

Ida Ruben stein (1883-1960) 109

Maud Allan (1873-1956) 111

Mata Hari (1878-1917) 115

Lidia Ivanova (1903-1924) 119

Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) 121

Intermission 125

Act II A Dark and Weird Dance Miscellany

1 Choreomania: The Dancing Plagues of the Middle Ages and Renaissance 131

Dancing Mania in Greek Myth 133

Kölbigk, Saxony, 1017-18 134

Wales, 1188 136

Erfurt, 1247 137

Maastricht, 1278 138

Aachen, Ghent, Metz, and Northern France, 1374-75 138

Deadly Dances of the Fifteenth Century 141

Strasbourg, 1518 142

Choreomania, Fiddling Devils, and Dancing Skulls in Sweden 147

2 Dances For Illness Evil, and Death 151

The Zar: Granting Wishes to Genies 152

Danse Macabre: A Rave from the Grave 155

The Tarantella: The Vigorous Dancing Cure for a Spider Bite 158

The Dance of Zalongo (1803) 161

Funeral Dances: A Ball for the Bereaved 164

The Dangerous Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo Head Cold Cure 166

3 The Scandalous and Sometimes Awful World of Ballet 169

Ballet Courtesans 170

The Ballet of the Nuns: Seductive, Haunting, and Undead 175

Giselle and Necromancy: Back from the Dead, and Ready to Chassé 178

The Riot of Spring: Stravinsky's Ballet Causes Quite a Primitive Stir 179

The Nutcracker: An Inauspicious Premiere, Bloody Wounds, and a Seven-Headed Rat 182

Ballet Dancers who Accidentally Died on Stage or Thereabouts 184

Clara Webster (1821-1844) 185

Emma Livry (1842-1863) 185

Zelia Gale (1843-1861) 187

Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1971): She Didn't Give a Cluck 188

Franceska Mann (1917-1943): They Did Nazi that One Coming 189

4 Astonishing Anti-Dance Books from the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century 193

A Treatise Against Dicing, Dauncing, Playes, and Enterludes John Northbrooke, Minister, 1577 194

An Arrow Against the Profane and Promiscuous Dancing, Drawn Out of the Quiver of the Scripture Increase Mather, 1686 196

Familiar Dialogues on Dancing Between a Minister and Dancer John Phillips, 1798 198

The Nature and Tendency of Balls, Seriously and Candidly Considered Jacob Ide, 1818 199

Anecdotes for Girls Harvey Newcomb, 1853 201

The Abominations of Modern Society Thomas De Witt Talmage, 1873 203

Save the Girls Mason Long, 1882 205

Where Satan Sows His Seed Milan Bertrand Williams, 1896 206

The Social Dance, by Dr. R. A. Adams, 1921 209

5 Superstitions and Bad Luck 213

Whatever You Do, Don t Throw Away Your Shoes! 214

The Old "Break a Leg" Wish … For Dancers? 215

Dancing on Makeup Makes Up for Bad Things Happening 215

Endless Preparation Rituals 216

A Surplus of Silly Superstitions 217

6 Fairy Tales and Folklore: Where the Dancing is Deadly 221

The Original, Heated Ending to Snow White 222

Hans Christian Andersen's Awful Red Shoes 223

The Twelve Dancing Princesses: Deception and Execution 225

Ireland's Dancing Fairies and Dancing Dead 227

When the Devil Came to the Dance 228

The Mystery Man with a Waltz and a Terrifying Grin 229

7 Dancing on Your Grave: Ghosts and Haunted Venues 233

Antoinette "Teenie" Sherpetosky at the Woodland Cemetery 234

Amargosa Opera House and Hotel, Death Valley, California 235

The Lyceum Theatres in Crewe and London: A Ballerina, a Monk, and More! 237

The Palace Theatre, London: Anna Pavlova and Others 238

Resurrection Mary 240

8 A Diversity of Dancing Disturbances 243

Near-Death By Piano: A Grand Way to Go 243

False Eyelash Disasters and Other Makeup Mishaps 244

The Dark, Violent, and Scandalous History of the Masquerade Ball 248

Salome: History's Most Wicked Dancer? 253

Salomania: Opera, Theater, Stripteases, Parties, and Wax Heads on Plates 257

The Grande Reverence 263

Suggestions for Further Reading 265

Acknowledgments 269

About the Authors 271