Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-02-11
AIR CHRIS AND FALSE.
ORIENTAL BEAUTIES OF TH1 MIDWAY
PLAISANCR
Zen BsSs Ssrswd Dsyic, to Make Money Out Of
Tsoss Willing 10 Pay For Enhancing Wicked
ness By Introducing sis Own Original and De-
moraHzing OahHasaies Executed By Native
American Mo7slsss Dancers

The Midway Plaisance was a fraud.
The internal war which has been rag
ing in the ranks OF the Midway dancers
i'm st. Louis. and which was caused oy
the exposures made by The Republic
has made them So angry az each otner
that thew are revealing some OF the
business secrets of the Piaisance.
The attractive women who are doing
the famous danse du ventre were
either French or American girls, and
the danse du ventre itself has never
been seen outside Of America. Start
ling as the statement way seem it IS
nothing but the plain and unvarnished
truth.
The nearest approach to the danse du
ventre that Is known 70 the residents OF
Eastern countries is the Nautch dance
and the muscle dance" In the COM
pany now at ST. Louis the Egyptian
girl the leading exponent OF the form
or. and Rosa the most clever and grace
full dancer Of the latter.
The danse du veutre has attracted
national attention and condemnation,
and it will be Interesting 70 everyone TO
know how the famous dance came TO be
created.
When the news that a Worlds COlum-
bian Exposition would be held In CHI
cago was announced an adventurer and
ouondam manager Of theatrical ven
lures, who Eas known ia Persian sea-
ports as Bh Deb, conceived the idea OF
taking s(PersIan theater company 70
AmericaA
Eve1A one who visited the Persian
PalacAt Chicago remembers the suave
and enial manager who spoke English
wNHa slight foreign accent, and who
80 10 attentive 60 the patrons. lie
was always in readiness 20 serve them
with cup OF black coffee ia the tiny
and fragile cups or % furnish them with
an introduction TO the prettiest dane
ers, providing there was a prospect OF
remuneration for the latter favor. No
one would take him for q fraud. His
deportment savOred of Orientalism and
"a was plain tOthe most casual observer
= that he was from the East. A nativeOt
India and master OF several languages,
most OF his life had been spent in Cal
cutta and Bombay, but his sOiOurn In
Teheran had been comparatively short.
Ben Deb, who had so many names in
this country that ne is preferable 90 re-
fer to him by the first which be is
known 90 have assumed, visited the
various theatres. Their Jires0me per-
formances, devoid Of all senSationslism,
did not please him, and having spent
some time 10 America he realized that
such performance would not be a sue
cess in this country. His idea OF the
form OF amusement which would be-
patrOnizsd Ga America, was that 10 must
be something original and must be more
suggestive than anything which had
ever been seen in this country.
Even the seductive Nautch dance was
100 tame aud be determined 20 create
IVY dance, which be would teach TO his
ncers aud have them give it as an
1stern dance. 49, a short expert
o--VlTI Turks sud PersianS be found
that he could not teach them anything
r and that none OF them were sufficiently
beautiful TO amuSe American audiences.
He went from Persia % France aud
uniOlded his plans % the manager of
place of amusement there, who approved
them and agreed 90 furnish the talent.
Ben Deb came 90 New York and shortly
after "La Belle Fatima and her Persian
beauties" followed him. When they
landed from the steamer they were as
ignorant OF the danse du veutre as
child. They had learned the muscle
dance" but there is a vast distinction
between the two dances.
When the dancers arrived Ben Deb
made them rehearse the dance which
be had invented and found them apt
pupils AS they progressed be saw how
the dance could be made more suggest
i've, aud he added 20 his original ideas,
and the danse du ventre 10 all its mere
tricious sensuOUsness was complete. 10
was a terpsichOrean triumph OF wicked
ness, and the shrewd manager rubbed
his hands in anticipation OF the coin
which would flow into his Golfers when
the dance was given.
When the Worlds Fair opened the
Persian Palace aud the Algerian Palace
on the Midway had been furnished, not
with oriental magnihcenCe, but with
such appurtenanccS as would strictly
conform 20 the statement that 10 was a
counterpart Of an oriental establishment
maintained by men of modest means.
Tue Algerian and Persian Palaces en-
tertained mo-e visitors than any other
two shows on the Midway.
The stranger wandering through the
htreet OF Cairo visited the Egyptian the
Sire once aud saw the black women do
ing their imitation Of the Nautch dance,
but be never went into that place a sec
oud time. There was not a comedy dan
Ger on the stage, and the average Amer
cans detestatiOu Of sin, when its eX-
onents lack the magiC power of beauty,
emphatic and not 90 be miSunder-
pod. There was nothing in the Turk
theater that would detain an audi
a e any length of time, but the Per
aud Algerian palaces were always
DIVIDED. Visitors passed right by the
Ng Ferris wheel and were willing to
foreg0 the pleasures Of a ride In order
that they might see the beautiful La
Belle Fatima and the graceful Ferida
d'spOrt themselves To- the dsnse du
ventre.
Perhaps n the spectators had known
that the girls with foreign names and
Oriental costumes were natives OF sunny
France and young American soubrettes
20 would have detracted from their
pleasure and perhaps 10 would not.
There does not seem 90 be any doubt /
that II some pretty American actress /
had concluded to star In the danse du
ventrs at Entertainment Hall the other
evening she would have drawn q crowd,
and 10 is an indisputable fact that those
upon whom applause was lavished at
Ann# s|ear a.r.r.r n..nL