Adoree Villany Pain Dance
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Shocking Dance: “Phryné Moderne Devant l’Aréopage,” 1913

Phryné Moderne Devant l’Aréopage (Modern Phryne Before the Areopagus) Shocking Dance: About the Book This book (published ca. 1913) is a curated collection of press coverage surrounding Adorée Villany’s controversial nude dance performances in Munich and Paris between 1911 and 1913. Framed by Villany’s declaration—“My unveiled form lays my soul bare”—the volume takes its title…

Adorée Villany and Scandalous Naked Dances
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Adorée Villany and Scandalous Naked Dances

Revised April 22, 2025. Adorée  Villany: Naked Enigma Adopting the Dance of the Seven Veils Adorée Villany tested the European limits on how much skin a dancer could show on stage during the early 20th century. She also pushed the boundaries of early modern dance choreography. Most of all, she was an enigma. Adorée (or…

Nyota Inyoka in performance costume, early 20th century French dancer known for sacred and stylized interpretations of Eastern dance traditions
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Nyota Inyoka: Sensational Theatrical Dance and Artistic Performance

Nyota Inyoka (1896–1971), a French-born dancer and choreographer of European and possibly Indian or North African heritage, rose to prominence during a period when stylized fantasies of the East dominated Western stages. Nyota Inyoka Rediscovered Famous Female Dancer Falls into Obscurity Although widely acclaimed during the 1910s and 1920s for her striking performances and scholarly…

Salome dance: Maud Allan with the head of John the Baptist
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Salome Dance: Scandalous But High-Minded

In early 20th-century performance, art dance emphasized expressive movement, innovation, and aesthetic depth, as seen in modern dance and ballet. Erotic dance focused on sensual display and physical allure, often for popular entertainment. Art dance sought cultural legitimacy; erotic dance catered to titillation, though the boundaries often were blurred, especially when it came to Salome…

Salome Painting The Apparition by Gustave Moreau
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Salome Painting: From Mother’s Helper to Dangerous Seductress

Salome painting over the centuries usually depicted her as the cold instrument of her mother’s murderous intent. The head of John the Baptist, detailed with bloody grotesqueness on a silver platter, is the usual focus. All that changed during the 19th century. Orientalism and Salome Painting During the middle years of the 1800s, a group…

Salomania - Maud Allan
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Salomania: A Sensational History of Salome in Art, Dance, Film, and Opera

Salomania was a performance phenomenon and cultural craze that swept through America and Europe during the early years of the 20th century. It sprang from a popular reinterpretation of the story of Salome, a figure alluded to in the New Testament who danced for a king and, as a reward, requested a head on a…

Salomania: Maud Allen
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Salome Story: Her Shocking Bare Midriff Amazes America

Revised April 2, 2025 A Salome story: I spent many years working with historical documents at the Library of Congress and other cultural heritage institutions. Historical documents, also known as primary sources, provide firsthand evidence about people, events, and ideas from the past. Primary sources can reveal great stories about what has—and hasn’t—changed over time….