Thread: Ghawazees + Almees at the 1889 French Worlds Fair

For those of you interested in the history of Belly Dance I have posted a new movie on YouTube as a companion to the Dancing with Genies CD booklet articles, Oriental Dance through the Ages and A History of Egyptian Dance (which is the script for another of my films, The Egyptian Belly Dance Superstars, released in 2003).
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yftSkqGDlfM]YouTube - Exposition Universelle 1889: Rue du Caire & les Almees[/ame]

This is the blurb about it:
1889: L'Exposition Universelle, the French World's Fair, commemorated the Centennial of the French Revolution. The Eiffel Tower, Edison's Electricity Pavillion and "La Rue du Caire" drew millions of visitors to "The City of Lights" during the 6 months it was open. Those lights allowed people to visit after dark and the scandalous "danse du ventre" by the "almees" was particularly enticing...

This film was created in 2003 for the National Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington DC, for an exhibit about the women impressionists whose work was shown at the Fair.

I really really wanted to see this...why is it not available...???

It*will*play*if*you*click*on*the*title
(please*pardon*weird*typing*defective*keyboard)
Rosette

Click on the title, not in the window itself...

Yasmin, thanks for posting. I really enjoyed the video.

Thanks so much for that!

Thanks, that was really fun!

I'm curious about the voice over - it sounds like a letter - but it contains anachronisms - such as referring to "Lebanon" and "Turkey" which didn't exist until the 1920s. What is it based on and how much has been added?

That was great! Thank you for sharing.

Fascinating, I want to learn more. My next graphic novel will have relations to this subject. I never knew about the Paris Exposition; this eyewitness account strikes me as more open-minded in places than the ones I've read from the Chicago Exposition.

Guess those Ghawazee let their sagat ring, huh? What I wouldn't give for a time machine...

- Leela

Originally Posted by flimflamgirl

this eyewitness account strikes me as more open-minded in places than the ones I've read from the Chicago Exposition.

My problem is that is sounds like an eyewitness acount - but it cannot be with those anachronisms. Therefore, how much of it is made up fantasy? Not knowing which bits are "real" means I cannot trust any of it.

Originally Posted by kashmir

My problem is that is sounds like an eyewitness acount - but it cannot be with those anachronisms. Therefore, how much of it is made up fantasy? Not knowing which bits are "real" means I cannot trust any of it.

The books that I did my research from (about 30) were all printed the same year, in 1889. Many were compilations of the newspapers at the time and reporters' views of what they saw. Some were interviews with visitors, others were guidebooks with maps, etc. Everything was in French. I purchased them when I was living in Paris. The movie however was commissioned for 21st century Americans of all ages. It had to be in English with place names modern people would understand.

The images were actual photographs taken at the time or illustrations taken from the photos. While the "letter" is only a script I wrote to tell the story, the facts in it are correct - except as you so rightly pointed out the place names. I am sorry you are not happy with my editorial liberties. I felt it was more important that the children in the audience understand what I was talking about.

After the movie played, I came out and gave a 15 minute "almee" performance in a costume very similar to the one worn by the girls in the photos. The exhibit ran for a week-end and I did 4 sold-out shows at the museum. The museum did not mind my anachronisms.

Thanks for that. Good to know the underlying work was well researched. Sorry, I just couldn't tell.