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Alice Lethbridge
Alice Matilda Lethbridge (1866 – 4 February 1948) was an English music hall dancer and Gaiety Girl, best known for her "skirt dance" act. Early life Alice Matilda Lethbridge was born in Clerkenwell, the daughter of Thomas and Louisa (née Holliday) Lethbridge. Travel writer Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay was her niece, the daughter of her brother Sidney Lethbridge. Alice Lethbridge studied dance with John D'Auban. Career Lethbridge was a Gaiety Girl, best known for performing a "skirt dance", in which she manipulated a voluminous long skirt while dancing, swirling the fabric to reveal glimpses of knees and thighs. Lethbridge's version of the skirt dance involved arching her back almost to the horizontal, a challenging position that may have inspired similar moves for American dancer Loie Fuller. In 1896 she was described as "the tallest dancer on the English stage". She was appearing in the musical farce ''A Man About Town'' in 1897, when George Bernard Shaw reviewed her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous ''Music Hall'' and subsequent, more respectable ''Variety'' differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within public houses during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume food ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaiety Girls
Gaiety Girls were the chorus girls in Edwardian musical comedies, beginning in the 1890s at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in the shows produced by George Edwardes. The popularity of this genre of musical theatre depended, in part, on the beautiful dancing corps of "Gaiety Girls" appearing onstage in bathing attire and in the latest fashions. The 1890s Gaiety Girls were respectable, elegant young ladies, unlike the actresses from London's earlier musical burlesques. Later, even the stars of these musical comedies were referred to as Gaiety Girls. Description Fashion icons An American newspaper reviewing ''A Gaiety Girl'' in 1894 explained the importance of the Gaiety Girls: "The piece is a mixture of pretty girls, English humor, singing, dancing and bathing machines and dresses of the English fashion. The dancing is a special feature of the performance, English burlesques giving much more attention to that feature of their attractiveness than the American entertainments of the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skirt Dance
A skirt dance is a form of dance popular in Europe and America, particularly in burlesque and vaudeville theater of the 1890s, in which women dancers would manipulate long, layered skirts with their arms to create a motion of flowing fabric, often in a darkened theater with colored light projectors highlighting the patterns of their skirts. Skirts used in skirt dances reportedly were constructed from over 100 yards of fabric. Background The dance originated in London, as a less formal type of ballet with elements of popular dance such as clogging and French can-can. The dancer Kate Vaughan is generally credited with originating it, and being its early proponent, after performing the dance as part of a Dance of the Furies at the Holborn Theatre in 1873. Vaughan had also performed Jacques Offenbach's ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' in a similar dress that year. Ballet master and choreographer John D'Auban worked with Vaughan, and taught other students including Alice Lethbridge, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance. Geography Goswell Street formed the eastern boundary of the Clerkenwell parishes, with the River Fleet, now buried beneath Farringdon Road and other streets, forming the western boundary with Holborn and, in part, St Pancras. This western boundary with both neighbouring areas is now used as part of the London Borough of Islington’s western boundary with the London Borough of Camden. Pentonville is a part of northern Clerkenwell, while the southern part is sometimes referred to as Farringdon, after the railway station of that name – which was named after Farringdon Road (an extension of Farringdon Street) and originally named Farringdon Street S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay
Grace Marguerite, Lady Hay Drummond-Hay (née Lethbridge, 12 September 1895 – 12 February 1946) was a British journalist, who was the first woman to travel around the world by air (in a zeppelin). Although she was not an aviator herself at first, she contributed to the glamour of aviation and general knowledge of it, by writing articles about her aerial adventures for US newspapers in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Early life Grace Lethbridge was the eldest daughter of Sidney Thomas Lethbridge and his wife Grace Emily (née Willis). Her father was the managing director of the Spratt's dog and animal food company. Her father's sister was dancer Alice Lethbridge. She was married in 1920 to Sir Robert Hay Drummond-Hay (1846–1925) at the age of 25, her husband being nearly fifty years older.Sir Robert Hay-Drummond-Hay ThePeera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John D'Auban
Frederick John D'Auban (1842 – 15 April 1922) was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the choreographer of many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. After performing as a child with his family, D'Auban continued a career as a comic dancer in music hall and pantomime. He also served as dance master for the Alhambra Theatre, the Gaiety Theatre, London, and, for decades, Drury Lane. In 1868, he began a long association with W. S. Gilbert, staging the dances for most of the original productions of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' (1878) and ''The Mikado'' (1885), as well as many other Savoy operas. Between the 1860s and 1909, D'Auban choreographed more than 150 productions, including pantomimes, burlesques, musical comedies and comic operas. He also taught dance to many who became famous performers. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques. Career Born Marie Louise Fuller in the Chicago suburb of Fullersburg, Illinois, now Hinsdale, Illinois, Fuller began her theatrical career as a professional child actress and later choreographed and performed dances in burlesque (as a skirt dancer), vaudeville, and circus shows. Her debut took place when she was four years. An early free dance practitioner, Fuller developed her own natural movement and improvisation techniques. In multiple shows she experimented with a long skirt, choreographing its movements and playing with the ways it could reflect light. By 1891, Fuller combined her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured lighting of her own design, and created the ''Serpentine Dance''. After much difficulty finding someone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as ''Man and Superman'' (1902), ''Pygmalion'' (1913) and '' Saint Joan'' (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1876, where he struggled to establish himself as a writer and novelist, and embarked on a rigorous process of self-education. By the mid-1880s he had become a respected theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the gradualist Fabian Society and became its most prominent pamphleteer. Shaw had been writing plays for years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saltarello
The ''saltarello'' is a musical dance originally from Italy. The first mention of it is in Add MS 29987, a late-fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century manuscript of Tuscan origin, now in the British Library. It was usually played in a fast triple meter and is named for its peculiar leaping step, after the Italian verb ''saltare'' ("to jump"). This characteristic is also the basis of the German name ''Hoppertanz'' or ''Hupfertanz'' ("hopping dance"); other names include the French ''pas de Brabant'' and the Spanish ''alta'' or ''alta danza''. History The saltarello enjoyed great popularity in the courts of medieval Europe. During the 14th century, the word saltarello became the name of a particular dance step (a double with a hop on the final or initial upbeat), and the name of a meter of music (a fast triple), both of which appear in many choreographed dances. Entire dances consisting of only the saltarello step and meter are described as being improvised dances in 15th-cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Christopher Columbus
''Little Christopher Columbus'' is a burlesque opera in two acts, with music by Ivan Caryll and Gustave Kerker and a libretto by George R. Sims and Cecil Raleigh. It opened on 10 October 1893 at the Lyric Theatre in London and then transferred to Terry's Theatre, running for a total of 421 performances, which was a very successful run at the time. May Yohé created the title role, and Furneaux Cook and E. J. Lonnen were in the cast. Mabel Love, Geraldine Ulmar and Florence St. John joined the cast as replacements. The piece was produced in 1894 in New York at the Garden Theatre and has enjoyed various tours and revivals over the years. Roles and original cast *O'hoolegan (Private Detective to Silas Block) – E. J. Lonnen *Capt. Joseph H. Slammer (of the S.S. "Chocktaw") – Harry Parker *The Mayor of Cadiz – Henry Wright *Don Juan (of the Spanish Police) – George Tate *Hotel Proprietor – Roland Carse *Silas Block (a Millionaire) – Furneaux Cook *Pedro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baron Golosh
''Baron Golosh'' is an operetta adapted from the 1891 French opérette ''L'oncle Célestin'' by Edmond Audran with some of the original music replaced with songs composed by Meyer Lutz and Leslie Stuart. After a tryout in Swansea, it premiered from 25 April to 8 June 1895 at the Trafalgar Theatre in London, running for only 43 performances. The original cast starred comedian E. J. Lonnen in the title role. It also featured Scott Russell (tenor), Scott Russell, Florence Perry and Frank Wyatt (singer), Frank Wyatt, who were all best known for their work with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. The cast also included Sylvia Grey, making her last appearance in a West End Theatre.Adams, William Davenport''A dictionary of the drama'' p. 113, Chatto & Windus, 1904 References Operas by Meyer Lutz English-language operettas {{musical-theat-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1866 Births
Events January–March * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman troops clash with supporters of Maronite leader Youssef Bey Karam, at St. Doumit in Lebanon; the Ottomans are defeated. * January 12 ** The ''Royal Aeronautical Society'' is formed as ''The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain'' in London, the world's oldest such society. ** British auxiliary steamer sinks in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, on passage from the Thames to Australia, with the loss of 244 people, and only 19 survivors. * January 18 – Wesley College, Melbourne, is established. * January 26 – Volcanic eruption in the Santorini caldera begins. * February 7 – Battle of Abtao: A Spanish naval squadron fights a combined Peruvian-Chilean fleet, at the island of Abtao, in the Chiloé Archipelago of southern Chile. * February 13 †... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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