The Vision of Salome (1906 Allan), solo dance
The Vision of Salome (1906) is a solo dance performance by Maud Allan (chor.).
Abstract
Based loosely on Oscar Wilde's play, Salomé, and performed to an orientalist musical score by Marcel Remy, Maud Allan's version of the Dance of the Seven Veils became famous (and to some notorious) and she was billed as "The Salome Dancer". After opening in Vienna in December 1906, the show was performed in 1907 in other European theaters, in Budapest, Berlin, and Marienbad (to the delight of the king of England, Edward VII), finally to triumph in March 1908 at the Palace Theatre in London, where it was followed by more 250 performances, breaking all box office records. Wilde's play had been banned in 1892 by Lord Chamberlain. Being a music-hall performance, not a stage play, Allan's show escaped the censor's grip.
This appealing combination of sexuality and "high" culture started the "Salomania" fad of both the high and popular stages, first in Europe and then in the United States, where Allan's performance was successfully imitated by Gertrude Hoffmann.
Original cast
Editions, performances
Premiered in Vienna [Austria]: Wiener Carltheater, 2 December 1906.