The Mystery of Little Egypt, First Belly Dancer in America
Aug 31st, 2010 | By Kyarah | Category: History, Editorials, and Opinions, Leading ArticleThe mystery of Little Egypt, the first oriental dancer to perform in the United States, is still unsolved.
Bird Cage Theatre
When in 1893 a dancer called Little Egypt is said to have performed at the Chicago World’s Fair, America was introduced to raqs sharqi, a dance that was perceived, at that time, to be very scandalous. To Westerners it was, indeed, an unusual type of dance. Women would shake their bellies while isolating each part of their bodies, they would dress in revealing costumes and move to the rhythms of drums and flutes.
The Chicago Fair celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Americas in 1492. It last for six months. It is reported that 716,881 people attended it. Its biggest attraction was a section called “Cairo Street” that reproduced a North African village; it was completed with an entire street with shops and restaurant, a bazaar and even a mosque. Workers came from Egypt, Morocco, Syria and other parts of the Mediterranean Basin; among them were several musicians and dancers. The one that became very famous was Little Egypt who performed in a show titled “The Algerian Dancers of Morocco” put together by an American musician and entrepreneur: Sol Bloom. Bloom had, previously, attended theExposition Universelle (1889) of Paris and had decided to bring the raqs sharqi dancers to the United States. The dancers hardly moved their legs but shacked their bellies as if they were separate from the rest of the body, this is why Sol Bloom coined the English name of “belly dance” already used by the French during Napoleon Bonaparte’s years.
Little Egypt?
But who was Little Egypt? And why is there a mystery behind her legend? It is believed that a dancer named Farida Mazar Spyropoulos, also known as Fatima, was the Little Egypt that performed at the Chicago Fair, however, her arrival to the Unites States is uncertain as she may have lived in Tombstone, Arizona. In fact, hung on the wall of the bar of the Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, there is a panting of Fatima in oriental clothes, dated 1881, hence the confusion on the real identity of Little Egypt. Additionally, Cairo Street was full of raqs sharqi dancers that performed both in the theatre and on the street. Regardless of the real identity of Little Egypt, her stage name became synonymous with “belly dancer” and was adopted by several performers all over the United States.
A popular photo of Little Egypt has been reproduced several times however the dancer in the picture is Ashea Wabe, and not Fatima. Anyway, either Fatima was the real Little Egypt that performed in Chicago or not, we owe her, and the many Little Egypt dancers, the introduction of oriental dancing to this country.
Here’s a video of Little Egypt performing: http://tinyurl.com/24gcc44 and there’s a great book written about the Chicago World’s Faire and the first belly dancers in the US, and fictionalizes all the information in this article…it’s a really good read: http://tinyurl.com/29dd8re