Home » Asian Dancers and Performers
- 1876 Philadelphia
- 1889 Paris
- 1893 Chicago
- 1904 St. Louis
- 1906 Paris
- 1906 Marseille
- 1909 Seattle
- 1922 Marseille
- 1931 Paris
"Three Dancing Girls from Egypt." Buel, J.W. Magic City. St. Louis: Historical Publishing, 1894.
"Visitors to the Midway Plaisance theatres will recognize at once in the photographs herewith three girls who delighted spectators by their contortion dances in the Egyptian theatre. While their exhibitions were sensationally, if not sensually, amusing, the girls were not otherwise calculated to attract attention save it be by their immodest costumes. Writers of Oriental stories have created the impression among the uninformed that houris of the East are sylph-like and beautiful; but close contact reveals them as we behold them here, destitute of animation, formless as badly-stuffed animals, as homely as owls, and graceless as stall-fed bovines. But truth compels us to add that the dancing girls in the Midway were not the best types of their race either in form or character, and that their abdominal muscles were the only portions of anatomy or mind which showed any cultivation, while these, to their shame, were displayed to serve the basest uses." Source: Northern Illinois University, University Libraries, Digital Collections and Colalborative Projects
"Javanese Theatre."Buel, J.W. Magic City. St. Louis: Historical Publishing, 1894.
"Our view of the Javanese theatre was taken two months before the Exposition opened, when a light snow lay upon the palm leaf roof of the building, in strong contrast with the airiness of a structure suggestive of a tropical climate. The interior was sparsely furnished, with common chairs on a very slightly inclined floor, and a plain stage destitute of such accessories as wings, scenery or drop curtain. There were 125 natives, of whom thirty-six were women, in the village, and of this number nearly one-fourth took part from time to time in the performances. The show — for it was a show more than a performance — was a sort of pantomime, in which the movements of the actors were explained by an interpreter. A native orchestra, called a gamelan, composed of twenty-four men, made a father harmonious noise on queer instruments, to which dancing girls responded in gyrations that had little in them of graceful motion. As a show, however, the Java theatre was a great attraction, as a sight of the natives satisfied curiosity." Source: Northern Illinois University, University Libraries, Digital Collections and Colalborative Projects
"Performance in the Javanese Theatre." Buel, J.W. Magic City. St. Louis: Historical Publishing, 1894.
"A very beautiful interior view of the Javanese theatre is here presented, exhibiting the actors and actresses as they appeared on the stage. It is a peculiarity of Oriental theatres that the entire stage is always exposed, as there is no drop curtain, and the orchestra occupies a position which interferes at times with the free movement of the performers. The Javanese are great lovers of theatrical amusement, and some of the professionals display considerable ability as pantomimists, for actors never speak while on the stage. The female performers often have the merit of being very beautiful, and there were at least two in the company at the Fair that had this desirable qualification of actresses in a high degree. The performances consisted of pantomime drama and marionette exhibitions, the latter being very amusing, but the former were so tiresome that a short while sufficed to satisfy the curiosity of spectators." Source: Northern Illinois University, University Libraries, Digital Collections and Colalborative Projects
"Swordsmen from Damascus." Buel, J.W. Magic City. St. Louis: Historical Publishing, 1894.
"Some very skillful swordsmen and lance throwers came out of the East to exhibit their dexterity before World's Fair visitors. The two men photographed above were natives of Syria, residents of Damascus, the old city of Biblical fame, the commercial eye of the East twenty centuries ago, the city made famous also by the Damascus blades manufactured there for the soldiery of Saladdin, and Solomon the Magnificent, foes of the chivalrous crusaders. The exhibitions given by these two Syrians were very exciting, as they fought savagely, but always so adroitly that neither one was able to harm the other." Source: Northern Illinois University, University Libraries, Digital Collections and Colalborative Projects
"Egyptian Girl in Street of Cairo." Buel, J.W. Magic City. St. Louis: Historical Publishing, 1894.
"In all countries where Moslemism prevails it is common for ladies to wear a veil over the lower half of the face when appearing on the street. The custom is not so rigidly observed as formerly, and in India it has almost entirely disappeared. Among the Persians and Egyptians, however, it is still a general practice, and will no doubt continue, for in those countries the immigration of foreigners has failed to influence the customs of the natives. In the street of Cairo at the World's Fair there was exhibited the peculiar manners of the Egyptians, and a veiled lady was of course one of the curious objects displayed, though she did not always appear in that unsightly disguise, thus proving that she was not a slave to this requirement of all Mohammedan women." Source: Northern Illinois University, University Libraries, Digital Collections and Colalborative Projects
"La Belle Baya, a dancer in the Streets of Cairo concession, was married on the Pay Streak." Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Seattle, Washington USA 1909. Photo postcards published by M. L. Oakes.
Source: Chalana, Manish. “The Pay Streak Spectacle: Representations of Race and Gender in the Amusement Quarters of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition.” The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, vol. 100, no. 1, 2008, pp. 23–36.