Egham is a town in Surrey adjacent to Runnymede where the Magna Carta was signed. The four photographs in this post were taken at the Studio, High Street, Egham. Date is unknown but I’d guess the 1920s or 30s.
The unusual thing about these dancers is how elaborate their costumes were. I don’t suppose they went to such lengths just for their own amusement so it’s very likely they performed in Music Halls or variety theatres. It’s possible they were in a local pantomime though again their elaborate costumes suggest something grander.
Of course there’s the perennial problem that the studio where the photographs were taken is not necessarily where they are from. If the troupe were touring then their home location could be anywhere.
Once again we’re confronted with the fact that there is insufficient information to identify the dancers or where they performed.
When thinking of “vintage dancing girls” your first thought might be of maypole dancers, such as the ones shown above. Although images of girls dancing around maypoles are common there’s no tradition that confines it to girls alone, You can find plenty of examples of boys and girls maypole dancing and, indeed, adults of both sexes.
Often maypole dancing goes alongside other traditions such as choosing a May Queen and would be part of much wider celebrations with many onlookers.
Postcards of maypole dancers tend to be more collectable and therefore more expensive to buy than other cards, especially if the location and date are given. Topographical RPPCs are probably more popular than any other kind and it seems natural that if you collect scenes from a particular town then you will want to have non-topographical materials from the same area. (Similarly cards showing floods or natural disasters from named towns are even more collectable and more expensive).
The wikipedia entry for maypole gives extensive details of the likely origins and appearance in other countries and traditions. Perhaps surprisingly the general conclusion is that the maypole is not phallic despite the explanation to the contrary given in The Wicker Man film and the popular imagination.
There are many other traditional “folk” dances to be discovered. This pipe dance is similar to Scottish sword dancing. The idea is that the dancers must avoid breaking the pipes as they dance around them.
The garland dance was apparently introduced by mill owners in the 19th century. In this case the wikipedia entry is light on detail though garland dancing can often be seen at folk festivals right up to the present day.
Then there’s clog dancing practiced throughout the North of England and Wales as well as being exported to the USA.
I will leave the consideration of female morris dancers for another post even though there are those that maintain it’s purely a male pursuit. (I’m not one of them).
It’s often difficult to distinguish between amateur dancers, semi-professionals and professionals. This is especially true when it comes to older photographs and RPPCs where you might be looking at a troupe who had a long career in music hall or variety or might have been together for only one specific gig.
In this post I have only included dancers who are clearly professionals and by and large this means dancers from the twentieth century. The photo at the head of this post names the dancers as L to R Margaret Faber, Bobbie Selinger, Sue Faber, Doris Jeaume, Madge Rose, Annabelle Faber. Photo by Maurice Seymour of Chicago.
I have several photographs of the “Opal Girls.” I’ve not been able to trace much about them. Despite the indication of Italian and Belgium photographers there was a printed sheet giving a Ruislip England address which indicates the troupe performs in “Acts and ballets, cabaret and theatre, films and TV, American choreography complete reviews produced and All branches of entertainment.” So a versatile troupe then!
I have a folder of the “The Fabulous Joy Healey Dancers” which I assume belonged to one of the dancers. The cover, shown above, makes extravagant claims about their many appearances.
The George Carden Dancers. Stamped on reverse of this photo is: “Copyright Photograph by Associated Television (ATV) (Reproduction for editorial purposes if credit given).” This troupe appeared in many British TV programmes of the 1950s and 1960s including the Royal Variety Performance.”
I don’t know anything about the Sally Wickham Dancers. shown above.
Dancer and/or showgirl? A page from the Souvenir Programme for Folies-Bergere at the Prince of Wales Theatre London. The show began its run in 1955. (The Folies first ran in London in 1949).
No information on this troupe of dancers except a photo credit to R Foucher-Creteau of Paris.
Of course the most famous name given to dance troupes is “The Tiller Girls” of whom I have previously written. There are also the Windmill Theatre Dancers who I will write about in another post. There are also many many ballerinas, some famous, some not, who I will also discuss elsewhere.
These photos are from a full album of photographs. Very few have any information and certainly none of the performers’ names. All except one of the photographs with any written information give the locations as Par, St Ives and Newquay and are dated 1936. The exception is noted as Bognor 1937.
There is one photograph of the girls in everyday clothes recorded as Stanmore Common which is in the London Borough of Harrow.
Putting the pieces together it seems most likely that the girls are a semi-professional or amateur group of dancers from London who toured the South of England in 1936 and 1937. (The board advertising a demonstation by “London Experts” would seem to confirm this.) As well as photographs showing them in costume and rehearsing their moves there are lots of other shots of them relaxing and having fun.
The girls seem to have enjoyed practicing their moves on the beach.
The dancers found plenty of time to relax when not practicing their moves.
The thing about collecting old photos is that there are always “new” items to be found. In the case of Jessie Matthews there are many examples of publicity stills, often appearing in magazines and advertising endorsements.
I recently acquired two publicity shots, both from magazines published in 1931.
No doubt there are many more items to be discovered. I’ll add updates when and if I find something else “new.”
I’d say that the majority of the cards and photographs in the collection feature two or more dancers but obviously there are plenty of solo dancers.
Because the collection is of “vintage” dancers, most photographs are black and white. Above is one of the rarer colour photos and the subject is identified as “Mrs Shirley Eckloff of Arcadia, California.” From the vibrancy of the colours I think it likely this dates from the 1980s (there are others from the same source.)
This wonderful image features on the homepage of the blog. You can legitimately ask whether she’s a dancer or just posing.
This flamenco dancer is from the same source as the colour photo above.
I have a number of photos of Eva Leary who seems to have appeared in several 1930s dance productions.
It’s back to expressionistic dancing again with this girl.
There are thousands of photos of amateur ballerinas out there. I’ll post separately on professional ballerinas.
And this is my favourite “vintage dancing girl.” She looks so joyful in contrast to the more usual sombre poses.
Above is an example of what I call “The Expressionists” for want of a better term. Obviously these groups of dancers are trying to convey something but it isn’t always obvious what they want to say. As often as not there’s no information on the cards to help.
I can tell you that this card comes from an album featuring Raybury School of Dancing Folkstone, Maidstone and Athelston School. Dated in the 1930s but what it’s about I don’t know. A scene from an opera perhaps?
And this one’s from from an album of photographs and clippings related to ballet in Weymouth during the 1950s and 1960s. I guess they are posing for a photographer while warming up.
I call this one “The Dying Swan.” You can often come across variations of this type.
Another mystery. Representing some sort of myth?
Obviously a ritual to welcome the spring I’d argue!
Ah, must be the dance of the birdhouse!
Homage to the fairies at the bottom of the garden.
Variations on the circle dance are also popular.
Any suggestions on the real subjects of these dances welcome.
In the popular imagination the Tiller Girls are more like the colour photograph above. This one was taken in 1990 by Paul Groves for the Daily Telegraph. Those of us of a certain age will think back to seeing the Tiller Girls on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in the 1960s.
Most people will be surprised to learn that the photo of the “tennis players” above were also Tiller Girls. In fact there have been many Tiller Troupes and Tiller Girls over the years, starting in 1894 when John Tiller established a school of dance where girls were drilled to perform routines with military precision. (He’d probably be banned from Strictly Come Dancing these days).
Above are two Tiller troupes from 1916.
Tiller troupes were popular additions to music hall bills and to pantomimes. On the back of this card is written “Put me amongst the Girls” but the signature is unreadable.
Even these curious ladies are Tillers.
There are so many Tiller-trained groups that some of them went under different names. The Palace Girls for instance were trained in a Tiller school.
Every end of pier show would have their own Tiller Girls and, of course, they were used to sell sheet music.
These Tiller Girls are from 1954.
Another Daily Telegraph photo from 1988 of a Tiller Girls reunion, but which version or are they just a mix from different troupes?
This newspaper cutting gives some idea of Tiller’s involvement in his work. The date’s not certain but the cuttings were with two postcards dated 1916.
If you want to know more about Tiller’s Girls then the book by Doremy Vernon is the place to go. The book’s out of print but easily available on auction sites.
Jessie Mathews was a very popular dancer/singer/actress of the 1930s in the UK. Dirk Bogarde said she was a much better dancer than Ginger Rogers and I think he was right though her style was different. A collaboration between Jessie and Fred Astaire was planned but Jessie’s UK work schedule would not allow it to proceed. One of her choreographers was Buddy Bradley who was an influence on Busby Berkeley.
Jessie was a dancer on stage long before she became a film star and had been a professional dancer since the age of 12. She was often referred to as The Dancing Divinity.
Just like stars before and after her time she was featured on many postcards which have become very collectable.
She was a very versatile dancer able to cover all styles from modern ballet to tap, jazz and expressive.
Jessie was also regularly featured in film magazines of the 1930s.
Original photographs of Jessie often sell for in excess of £100 though I was lucky to obtain this 8/10 original for much less. On ebay some sellers present photos of her as if they were original prints though they are clearly reproductions. This is a common problem to avoid for any collector of such material.
Like today the studios were keen to place stills of their stars in magazines at every opportunity. Such clippings are also collectable.
Luckily many of Jessie’s films are available on DVD and they are sometimes shown on Talking Pictures TV though I don’t recollect seeing them elsewhere. If you like Fred and Ginger I’m sure you’ll enjoy her films.
Long after her film and stage careers were over Jessie found fame as Mary Dale in Mrs Dale’s Diaries on the radio after replacing the original Mrs Dale played by Ellis Powell. She was featured on This Is Your Life in 1961. She died in 1981.
