Eugénie Fougère (12 April 1870 – 6 February 1946) was a French vaudeville and music hall dancer and singer. She was often called a soubrette − a flirtatious or frivolous woman − known for her eye-catching outfits, frisky movements, suggestive demeanor, and for her rendition of the popular "cakewalk dance," which in her own style included "negro" rhythms and paces.Gordon, ''Dances With Darwin''
p. 236
/ref> She should not be confounded with the frequenter of the French demi-monde also named

Eugénie Fougère Eugénie Fougère (12 April 1870 – 6 February 1946) was a French vaudeville and music hall dancer and singer. She was often called a soubrette − a flirtatious or frivolous woman − known for her eye-catching outfits, frisky movements, sugges ...

although the two knew each other, mixed in the same circles and even lived in the same street in Paris for a while.Un assassinat à Aix-les-Bains
'' Le Figaro'', September 21, 1903Bossy,
Les Grandes Affaires Criminelles de Savoie
', pp. 81-104
by Maurice Hamel, ''Lectures pour tous'', August 1934 Fougère, despite her image as a frivolous dance-hall star, was also an innovator, who, according to one theatre

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

was "a precursor who introduced the repertoire of foreign songs and dances from every country into the café-concert well before this repertoire became fashionable".La 'Gommeuse excentrique' Eugenie Fougere
''

Comœdia ''Comœdia'' was a French literary and artistic paper founded by Henri Desgrange on 1 October 1907 (Desgrange had already founded '). It published a number of texts by important literary figures, including Antonin Artaud's first publication on th ...

'', 12 September 1925

Early life and career

Fougère's past is shrouded in mystery, not in the least because she herself contributed to the ambiguities by creating dual identities in real life and on stage. According to some sources she was either from SpanishChez elles: Eugénie Fougère
'' Gil Blas'', 30 July 1898 or Spanish-Jewish descent,Gordon, ''Dances With Darwin''
p. 199
/ref> but it is more likely that her true identity was confused with her first artistic success as a Spanish singer and dancer,Gordon, Rae Beth (2004).
Fashion and the White Savage in the Parisian Music Hall
', Fashion Theory, 8:3, pp. 267-299 known as "fausses Espagnoles" (fake Spaniards). Riegler, Anne-Sophie (2018).
Les enjeux d’une esthétique du flamenco : étude analytique et critique du duende
', Thèse de doctorat en philosophie, Université Paris sciences et lettres After the murder of her namesake in 1903, Fougère complained about the confusion over the name, about which the two ladies had argued in the past.Le Crime Aix-les-Bains; Deux femmes étranglées
'' Le Petit Parisien'', 22 September 1903Le Crime d'Aix-les-Bains (A Paris : Il y a Fougère et Fougère)
''Le XIXe siècle'', 23 September 1903 Fourgère claimed that she was the rightful bearer of the name, but an article in ''Le Petit Parisien'' that reported on the matter, Fougère was most likely born as Faugère, in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

.Le Crime d'Aix-les-Bains; ou en est l'enquête
'' Le Petit Parisien'', 24 September 1903 According to a birth certificate Fougère was born out of wedlock as Eugénie Philippine Faugère in Strasbourg, the natural daughter of Jean Faugère, a soldier in the 16th artillery regiment from Puylaurens ( Tarn), and an Alsatian woman, Catherine Kistler, a seamstress born in Herrlisheim ( Bas-Rhin). She had an older sister, Justine Joséphine, born in Metz in 1861.Marriage certificate (Acte de mariage) Faugère-Kistler
Nr. 106, 29 April 1872, Archives municipales d'Avignon (1E229, Vue 149) (with mention of legitimation of their two daughters born out of wedlock) Eugénie became a native of

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

in her early youth. After the 1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War, her father, who had spent twenty-one years in the army, came to Avignon in Southeastern France with the Strasbourg

pontonnier A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field ...

s regiment, accompanied by his concubine and daughters. There, he married the sister's mother in 1872, and having left the army, became a tailor. Originally from Alsace-Lorraine, Eugénie became a naturalised French citizen after the Franco-Prussian War (when Alsace and northern Lorraine were annexed to the new

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1871), shortly after her parents' marriage.Bulletin des lois de la République française
Partie supplémentaire Nr. 344, p. 7975 Her first appearance on stage was at the age of 12 in Avignon, and subsequently in Marseille at 14. At the age of 15 she started her career at the '' Café des Ambassadeurs'' in Paris, where she would live the rest of her life. Fougère became a popular excentric singer (''gommeuse''Gordon, ''Why the French Love Jerry Lewis''
pp. 74-76
/ref>) and dancer that performed in famous theatres, such as the '' Folies Bergère'', ''La Scala'' ( fr) and '' L'Olympia''. The ''gommeuse'' was the frenzy of Paris in the last decade of the 19th century, a sensual object and "symbol of madness, of Parisian life":

Cake walk

The "frenzied divette" was, in the art of music hall, a precursor, introducing songs and dances of all countries, long before that became fashionable in the café-concert circuit, while wearing the most unlikely toilets, bedecked with paradoxical colours. Just like

Polaire Émilie Marie Bouchaud (14 May 1874 – 14 October 1939), better known by her stage name Polaire, was a French singer and actress. She was known for her wasp waist which, achieved through corsetry, reportedly measured less than 16 inches (41&nb ...

and Mistinguett, she became known for her "racially ambiguous" dancing techniques that she applied to ragtime and the popular " cake walk" dance of the time, which became a rage at the end of 1902.Moore Whiting, ''Satie the Bohemian''
p. 299
/ref> She is said to have introduced the dance in Paris in 1900 in the '' Théâtre Marigny'' after she returned from a tour in the United States,See
Le Journal, 20 January 1903
an
Le Figaro, 13 February 1903
/ref> Pénet, ''Mistinguett: la reine du music-hall''
p. 138
/ref> where she had been filmed in 189
in the rag-time cake-walk "Hello, Ma Baby," with which she made a sensation at the New York Theatre
filmed by

Frederick S. Armitage Frederick S. Armitage (June 19, 1874 in Seneca Falls, New York – January 3, 1933 in Ecorse, Michigan) was an early American motion picture cinematographer and director, working primarily for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Often ...

. The ambiguous "cake walk" became very popular quickly an
Fougère appeared on the 18 October 1903 cover of ''Paris qui Chante''
dancing to the song ''Oh ! ce cake-walk''. The lyrics interconnected African and American dance, monkeys and epilepsy.Gordon, ''Dances With Darwin''
p. 177
/ref> A popular theorist of "negro dance," Andre Levinson, complied that it is impossible for Europeans to recreate the moves seen by

African dance African dance refers to the various dance styles of Sub-Saharan Africa. These dances are closely connected with the traditional rhythms and music traditions of the region. Music and dancing is an integral part of many traditional African societi ...

, and that is why the public is amazed by it. While describing a revue at '' La Cigale'' near Place Pigalle in Paris in 1920, where she appeared in the costume of an American negro, Rae Beth Gordon, a Professor in French literature, notes that "at least in this original fantasy, she told the journalist, 'I felt my old self again.' The incorporation of blackness by this white singer suggests that the motivations for adopting a black persona and the effects of such a masquerade went beyond the purposes of simple exploitation. Fougère felt more at home in a black body — or, at least, in a body ruled by black rhythms and movements — than she did in a white body deprived of the opportunity to express itself with no holding back."Gordon, ''Dances With Darwin''
p. 239
/ref>

In the United States

The 'audacious' Fougère made her debut in the United States on 7 September 1891 at Broadway's '' Koster and Bial's Music Hall'' in New York – the gayest night spot in town at the time – where she quickly became "the craze of the hour".Tomars, ''The First Oscar Hammerstein and New York's Golden Age of Theater and Music''
p.29
/ref>Theatre Dancing; Now it is the Lofty Jump That New York Raves Over
''The Salt Lake Herald'', 1 November 1891Koster & Bial’s New Season
''The New York Times'', 11 September 1894 According to a review, "New York never saw anything to equal the performance of Fougere. Imagine an Apache in a setting of petite Parisian femininity." Her influence over the audience was due "to the sparkle, wildness and vim of her performance". Not everyone was impressed; theatre critic

Leander Richardson Leander Pease Richardson (February 28, 1856 – February 2, 1918) was an American journalist, playwright, theatrical writer and author.Naughty Fougere Is Coming Back; Singer of Doubtful Ditties Engaged as a Roof Garden Attraction
''

The Morning Telegraph ''The Morning Telegraph'' (1839 – April 10, 1972) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Morning Telegraph'') was a New York City broadsheet newspaper owned by Moe Annenberg's Cecelia Corporation. It was first published as the ''Sunday ...

'', 24 August 1899 According to New York's ''Metropolitan Magazine'' in 1895:''Metropolitan magazine'', 1895
p. 67-68
/ref> Fougere became one of "the high-priced music hall singers", according to ''Metropolitan Magazine'', who was never out of an engagement, spending her time performing between New York and Paris:''Metropolitan magazine'', 1895
p. 348
/ref> Fougère toured the States for many years during the Gay Nineties, but her performance was often too 'strong' for the audience. Due to complaints about the audacious performances of Fougère and other European music-hall artists, ''Koster and Bial's'' had to set new restrictive rules about the artist's dresses and song texts for the 1894 theatre season.Tomars, ''The First Oscar Hammerstein and New York's Golden Age of Theater and Music''
pp.66-67
/ref>Song And Dress Inspection
'' New York Evening World'', 10 September 1894 She was hissed off the stage in Kansas City. "The people think I'm — ah — what you say? Naught-ee?," she commented. "Ah. monsieur, they don't understand. They will learn. Ah, these Americans, they are just a little slow, but they all like 'the great Fougere' when they know her. But, o-o-ooh ! I'm all breathless, c'est terrible!" Her performances often shocked the puritan North Americans and revealed their hypocrisy. In October 1907, while she was performing at the ''Gaiety Theater'' in Washington, she was brought to the police station where she had to pay a "cash security of USD 50 to insure her good behavior." Despite the fact that the police sergeant enjoyed her show on the front row, in particular her "specialty", he nevertheless said he was shocked and dragged her off to the police station.Fougere "pinched"
'' Variety'', 5 October 1907 Her controversial performances in the U.S. did not stop her from parodying the Gibson Girl – the quintessential perfect archetype of the upper middle class American girl – in Parisian theatres.Hâtez-vous, si vous voulez voir Eugénie Fougère dans sa curieuse et amusante imitation de la Gibson Girl
announcement in '' Gil Blas'', 29 December 1906

"Extravagant"

Fougère performed all over the world, notably in Spain, Cuba, Mexico, Germany and Italy. While performing at the ''Salone Margherita'' a café-chantant in Naples (Italy) in 1902, she contacted

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

boss Enrico Alfano to ask for help in returning some of her missing jewelry. Within a few days, Alfano tracked down the thieves and restored the jewelry. The case hit the newspapers and Alfano was arrested for complicity with the thieves, but was absolved. The Italian comical actor

Nicola Maldacea Nicola Maldacea (29 October 1870 – 5 March 1945) was an Italian actor, comedian and singer.James J. Jeffries (who denied ever having met herJeffries Warmly Welcomed Back
'' The New York Herald'', 23 September 1899) and the Italian comic actor Vincenzo Scarpetta ( it), scion of a famous Neapolitan theatre family, whose father

Eduardo Scarpetta Eduardo Scarpetta (13 March 1853 – 12 November 1925) was an Italian actor and playwright from Naples. Biography Although not from a theatrical family, he was on the stage by the age of four and is today best remembered as the creator of a c ...

only barely prevented him from going to Paris with Fougère.Scarpetta, Vincenzo
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 91 (2018) In May 1906, Fougère and her husband, the actor Albert Girault (also spelled Girod), were convicted of shoplifting a night dress, lingerie, and other items one particular night after leaving a London-based textile company, Lewis & Alleby's.The Fall of Fougere; Parisian Stage Favorite In A Jail In London
''The Syracuse Herald'', June 3, 1906 She was performing at the Oxford Music Hall for a substantial salary (US$400 a week ) and claimed she had forgotten to pay. The charges were dismissed on appeal.Fougere Goes Free; Conviction on the Charge of Shoplifting in London is Quashed
''The New York Times'', July 22, 1906 The King v. Albert Girod and Eugenie Fougere Girod. C.C.R. 2st July
''The Solicitors' Journal'', Volume 50, Issue 39, p. 651, 28 July 1906 She had a reputation for spending money fast. In 1909, she made an appearance in Montreal that shocked and scandalized the audience because of the routines in her performance and the "excessive display of lingerie". A Montreal Gazette article the next day mentioned that, "Mademoiselle Eugenie Fougère, the French music hall actress, who was announced to appear at Bennett's as headliner during this week, made her first and last appearance at that theatre yesterday afternoon. Although such acts as she presented might be quite acceptable in the

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 Bri ...

s of London and Paris, they certainly should have no place in the bill of any Montreal theatre." The manager of the theatre told Eugénie that she would not be allowed to appear again.

Later life

During World War I, she performed with a music hall and café-concert troupe in Spain called ''Los Aliados'' (The Allies) and in Havana (Cuba), where she sang for the French Red Cross. According to Gordon she shortly returned to stage in 1920 "after a long hiatus," in the ''Ambassadeurs'' alongside the French dancer and actress

. That year, she is said to have introduced the rumba in France with the Cuban dancer Enrique Ruíz Madrid at a World Championship in Mondern Dancing, organised by the literary and artistic paper ''

'', after a long stay in Cuba. In 1926, they lived together at 32 Avenue des Ternes in the

17th arrondissement of Paris The 17th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le dix-septième'' (; "the seventeenth"). The arrondissement, known as Batignoll ...

. In an interview with Maurice Hamel ( fr) for ''Comœdia'' in 1925 she complained she had no engagements anymore and about her lost fortune (jewelry worth FF 275,000 had been stolen from her). In 1928 she had a modest comeback in ''La Scala'' as "the unforgettable creator of the ''gommeuse'' genre" (although the genre had long since fallen into disuse). Résurrection
''La Rumeur'', 21 June 1928 In a retrospective in 1934, Hamel recalled her small apartment in Paris in which the walls were covered with photographs, as if she had created her own museum, in which she reminisced about her rich career. She said she had had many difficulties to correct the false notice of her death in 1903 when she was confused with her namesake. In 1936, she lived alone at 64 rue de Lévis in the 17th arrondissement. In 1937 she played a ''vieille coquette'' in the film '' The Pearls of the Crown'' (French: ''Les Perles de la couronne'') directed by

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follow ...

.Les perles de la couronne
Base de Données de films français avec images (Retrieved 4 May 2023) On 16 September 1939, two weeks after the declaration of war, her name appeared on a list of artists who volunteered to perform on stage for the benefit of other needy artists.Le théâtre et la guerre
''Le Journal'', 16 septembre 1939 She was not heard from again after that date. While residing at 5 rue du Mont-Dore in the 17th arrondissement, she died under the name Eugénie Fougère in 1946 at the Salpêtrière hospital and was buried a week later in the Parisian cemetery of Thiais (14th division).

Legacy

Fougère was also an early example of a pin-up model; she appeared on many postcards and on a

trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...

for the cigarette brand Ogden's Guinea Gold Cigarettes. While in Paris from 1894–1897, the American painter Louis Kronberg made a portrait of Fougère (Dancer With Tambourine). Gordon notes that the popularity of performers like Fougère "was comparable to that of Elvis Presley a little more than half a century later."Gordon, ''Dances With Darwin''
p. 12
/ref> She was the inspiration for several noted dancers, actresses, and singers of the time to incorporate the "negro" and African style of dancing she used in their routines and shows. She was also one of the pioneer burlesque music hall and theatre performers. According to Hamel she was "a precursor who introduced the repertoire of foreign songs and dances from every country into the café-concert well before this repertoire became fashionable".Gordon, ''Dances With Darwin''
p. 240
/ref> After the erroneous news of her being murdered in 1903, which also made the front pages of newspapers in the U.S., a somewhat premature obituary said that "many of her songs were insults to people of refinement, but they were clever and sparkling, and her ability to express charmingly shades of more than doubtful meaning was unquestioned."Fougere Murdered; Music Hall Singer or One of Same Name Killed by Robber
''

The New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...

'', 21 September 1903 Fougère was included in a mural in the rooftop bar of the Knickerbocker Hotel at Times Square in New York City, when it re-opened in 2015, to commemorate the time the hotel was the hottest spot in town, in the early 1900s.If This Wall Could Talk
''New York Daily News'', April 26, 2015,Our History
The Knickerbocker Hotel website (accessed 22 September 2017) Ironically, in 1907 she had been kicked out of the hotel because she shared a room with her male manager - although they were married, as became clear later. She was mentioned by name in the classic Frank Wedekind tragedy '' Erdgeist'' (Earth Spirit). During act I, the character Lulu stated in response to a question about her dancing, "I learned in Paris. I took lessons from Eugenie Fougère. She let me copy her costumes too." The Italian actress and singer

Anna Fougez Maria Annina Laganà Pappacena, best known as Anna Fougez ( 9 July 1894 – 11 September 1966) was an Italian actress and singer. Born in Taranto, at 6 years old Pappacena became orphan of both her parents, and was adopted by her aunt. She was ...

adopted her stage name as a tribute to Fougère."Pappacena, Maria Annina Laganà, in arte Anna Fougez"
by Doriana Legge in '' Enciclopedia Italiana: Dizionario biografico'', Treccani, 2014.

Notes

References

Sources

* Bossy, Anne-Marie (2007).
Les Grandes Affaires Criminelles de Savoie
', Romagnat: Editions de Borée, * Gordon, Rae Beth (2001).
Why the French Love Jerry Lewis: From Cabaret to Early Cinema
', Stanford (CA): Stanford University Press, * Gordon, Rae Beth (2009).
Dances With Darwin, 1875-1910: Vernacular Modernity in France
', Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, * Moore Whiting, Steven (1999).
Satie the Bohemian: From Cabaret to Concert Hall
', Oxford: Oxford University Press, * Paliotti, Vittorio (2006). ''Storia della Camorra'', Rome: Newton Compton editore, * Pénet, Martin (1995).
Mistinguett : la reine du music-hall
', Monaco: Editions du Rocher, * Tomars, Adolph S. (2020).
The First Oscar Hammerstein and New York's Golden Age of Theater and Music
', Jefferson: McFarland

External links

A performance of Eugénie Fougère, the famous Parisian chantuese in the rag-time cake-walk "Hello, Ma Baby," with which she made such a sensation at the New York Theatre
from the U.S. Library of Congress. *
Eugénie Fougère (1870-1934)
BnF Data {{DEFAULTSORT:Fougere, Eugenie 1870 births 1946 deaths French vedettes French entertainers Vaudeville performers Music hall performers Belle Époque