Revised March 26, 2025 The telephone and “Hello Girls” were wildly disruptive when they arrived at the end of the 19th century. They were radical innovations that brought change, not the least for single women, both in the workplace and in the male imagination. Women dominated the ranks of telephone operators early on, starting with…
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…
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…
The following is a reprint of my 2021 article from Mystery & Suspense titled “Supernatural Detectives: Ten Supernatural Thrillers that are Also Great Detective Stories.” For more on crime fiction, see my post “Hard-Boiled Detectives: Unveiling Detective Fiction’s Thrilling Dark Influence.” Any good mystery draws the reader into a sinister puzzle (usually involving murder) while…
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…
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…