dance Archives - Ghosts of Time

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, the Dancing Divinity

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.